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Grads charged to ask, listen and lead
May 31, 2007
At the Spring Commencement ceremony May 27, the Class of 2007 was charged to ask questions, listen and be leaders.
More than 6,500 people packed the Tacoma Dome in support of the 625 undergraduate and graduate students who received their degrees. The ceremony featured a keynote address by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, as well as speeches by graduating seniors Jennifer Henrichsen and Jessica Holden.
Reich has served in three national administrations, most recently under former President Bill Clinton, and is currently a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He charged the graduating Lutes to be leaders and address the issues that no one else wants to tackle.
“Go forth and be leaders. Go forth and have not just careers and professions. Find your callings and your vocations in leadership. Make the world in any way you can a better place than you found it,” he said.
Leaders don’t have to have any official authority to make a difference, Reich said. For example, in the 1960s Rachel Carson wrote a book, “Silent Spring,” which alerted Americans to the danger of pesticides, pollution and environmental degradation. She had no official title, but her influence led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency, numerous environmental movements and the Clean Air Act.
“The role of a leader is to help focus people’s attention on certain things that people may not want to focus their attention on,” Reich said. “That’s what a leader does.”
During her time at PLU, Henrichsen studied abroad in Switzerland, Norway and Germany. The study abroad experiences offered at PLU allow students to ask questions and learn what it means to be a world citizen, she said.
“These experiences inspired in us thoughtful inquiry,” she said. “They forced us to reflect on our role as students and how we could contribute to create a more caring, compassionate and just society.”
Henrichsen encouraged her fellow graduates to be socially conscious and responsible by continuing to ask questions, even after they leave the nurturing environment of PLU.
In her speech, Holden stressed the many things she learned from the campus community during her time at PLU. Among those lessons was the importance of saying thank you, recycling, volunteering and seeking out opinions and voices that differ from your own.
Additionally, Holden encouraged her fellow graduates to listen to their gut, understand the power of forgiveness and to continue to ask the big and small questions.
“We have the choice, ability and power to make the world so much better,” she said. “That’s worth celebrating.”
To view Spring Commencement in its entirety, click here.
Reich has served in three national administrations, most recently under former President Bill Clinton, and is currently a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He charged the graduating Lutes to be leaders and address the issues that no one else wants to tackle.
“Go forth and be leaders. Go forth and have not just careers and professions. Find your callings and your vocations in leadership. Make the world in any way you can a better place than you found it,” he said.
Leaders don’t have to have any official authority to make a difference, Reich said. For example, in the 1960s Rachel Carson wrote a book, “Silent Spring,” which alerted Americans to the danger of pesticides, pollution and environmental degradation. She had no official title, but her influence led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency, numerous environmental movements and the Clean Air Act.
“The role of a leader is to help focus people’s attention on certain things that people may not want to focus their attention on,” Reich said. “That’s what a leader does.”
During her time at PLU, Henrichsen studied abroad in Switzerland, Norway and Germany. The study abroad experiences offered at PLU allow students to ask questions and learn what it means to be a world citizen, she said.
“These experiences inspired in us thoughtful inquiry,” she said. “They forced us to reflect on our role as students and how we could contribute to create a more caring, compassionate and just society.”
Henrichsen encouraged her fellow graduates to be socially conscious and responsible by continuing to ask questions, even after they leave the nurturing environment of PLU.
In her speech, Holden stressed the many things she learned from the campus community during her time at PLU. Among those lessons was the importance of saying thank you, recycling, volunteering and seeking out opinions and voices that differ from your own.
Additionally, Holden encouraged her fellow graduates to listen to their gut, understand the power of forgiveness and to continue to ask the big and small questions.
“We have the choice, ability and power to make the world so much better,” she said. “That’s worth celebrating.”
To view Spring Commencement in its entirety, click here.