share interactive transcript request transcript/captions live captions
download
|
MyPlaylist
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING] ANNOUNCER: Leading the procession is the university marshal, Professor Charles Walcott. Following the university marshal is the banner of the Class of 2011.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The banner bearers are class officers Catherine [? Riley ?] and [? Teresa Cedaroth ?] First to arrive behind the class banner are the PhD candidates of the graduate school.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The symbol banner is carried by Ashley Woods. Candidates are led by Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Barbara A. Knuth and faculty marshals Professor Brian Kirby and Professor Kathryn March. The PhD banner bearers are Katie Marie Schoenberg and Frank [? Charamello. ?] The degree marshals are Susan [? Wornamont. ?] And Andrew [? Rumbach. ?]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
Once again, the PhD degree candidates from the graduate school.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Next are the master degree candidates of the graduate school. The master banner bearers are John Paul Lindsay II and Carter [? Dredge. ?] The degree marshals are Philip [? Lakey ?] and [INAUDIBLE].
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the master degree candidates from the graduate school.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Next in the procession are the candidates from the College of Veterinary Medicine, led by Dean Michael Kotlikoff and the college banner bearers Katrina [? Colgard ?] and Megan Brown. Degree marshals are Ann Schneider and Claire Freeman. The symbol banner bearer is Erica [? Harlick. ?]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
The law-school candidates are led by Dean Stewart Schwab and college banner bearers Jason Carey Beekman and Adisada Dudic. Degree marshals are Jason Bernard Moore and Andrew Simon Jerjian. The symbol banner bearer is Rafael Ramon Garcia-Salgado.
Degree candidates from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management are led by Dean Joe Thomas. The college banner bearers are Sam Asgarian and Richard [? Mock. ?] The degree marshals are Hannah Dukes and Shamis Renee [? Achmed ?] Abdi. The symbol banner bearer is Jerry [? Laxson. ?]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
For your information, degree candidates from the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar participated in a separate commencement ceremony earlier this month. Degree candidates from the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City participated in a separate commencement ceremony on May 23.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the Johnson Graduate School of Management.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Now entering the stadium are the first of the undergraduate degree candidates.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The senior class council banner is being carried by [? Dara ?] K. Shaw, Courtney Osborn. The class marshals are Michael Katz and Alexandra Meier, also members of the senior class council. The first undergraduate group is the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, led by Dean Harry Katz.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The college banner bearers are Patricia Moscoso and Shaun Werbelow. Degree marshals are Kimberly [INAUDIBLE] and John I. Kerry. The symbol banner bearer is John [? Ertel. ?]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning is led by Dean Kent Kleinman and college banner bearers Rachel Marie [? Simcover ?] and Kelly [? Holscamp. ?]
Degree marshals for the Architecture program are [? Mason ?] [? Cisco ?] and Eric Ross Bernstein. Degree marshals for the Fine Arts program are Lauren Elizabeth Valchuis and Maggie Prendergast. Degree marshals for the Planning program are Sasha Truong and Lauren Jeffers Tsuji. The symbol banner bearer is Anuja Thatte.
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The School of Hotel Administration is now led into the stadium by Dean Michael Johnson and college banner bearers Grace Smith Oplinger and Yue Woon Hiang. Degree marshals are Ian Ratner and Robert Brewer. The symbol banner bearer is Stephen Hassman.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the School of Hotel Administration.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
Now entering the stadium are the degree candidates from the College of Human Ecology, led by Dean Alan Mathios and college banner bearers [? Allie ?] [? Plikta ?] and Ann Simons. Degree marshals are Samantha [? Lefland ?] and Samantha Rubin. The symbol banner bearer is Claire Lyons.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
Please move to the center of each section. And please do not sit in the aisles, for safety reasons. Thank you.
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the College of Human Ecology.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
The College of Engineering is led by Dean Lance R. Collins--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--and college banner bearers Christopher Dembia and Mengliang Yu. Degree marshals are Matthew Monaghan, Eun Gi Chung--
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
--and Andrea Bowring. The symbol banner bearer is Madison Pearsall.
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
[BAND PLAYING]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the College of Engineering.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is led by Dean Kathryn J. Boor and college banner bearers Andrew Chen and Esha Dasgupta. Degree marshals are Vishal Saggar and Paul Bagi. The symbol banner bearer is Matthew Brett Sumpio.
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
[MUSIC - EDWARD ELGAR, "POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE"]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
The degree candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--are led by Dean Peter Lepage and college banner bearers [? Kathryn ?] Finnerty and Gary Peng. The degree marshals are [INAUDIBLE] and Frederick Howard. The symbol banner bearer is Rachel Elkin.
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
[MUSIC - "76 TROMBONES"]
[MUSIC ENDS]
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the degree candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will all candidates for degrees please stand, at this time? Thank you. Now entering the stadium is the administrative staff of the university, led by Provost Kent Fox and two faculty marshals, Professor Howard Evans and Professor Ann Lemley.
The members of the faculty are now entering the stadium. They are led by the dean of the university faculty, Bill Fry. The faculty marshals are Professor Steve Carvell Professor John Hermanson, Professor Risa Lieberwitz, and Professor Drew Noden.
[BAND PLAYING]
Thank you to the Cornell University faculty.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Next in the procession are members of the university's board of trustees. The trustees are led by Chairman Peter C. Meinig. The faculty marshals are Professor David Gries and Professor Donald Viands.
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
University marshal Charles Walcott will now escort President David Jay Skorton and the mace-bearer, Professor Laura Brown, to their places on the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[BAND PLAYING]
[BAND FINISHES PLAYING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Mr. President--
Mr. President--
Mr. President, for the 143rd time, candidates for degrees from Cornell University have gathered for conferral of degrees and to celebrate this commencement. Members of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, administrative staff, candidates, and guests are in the places. The assembly is hereby called to order. Please remain standing.
Please join the Cornell University Glee Club and Women's Chorus, accompanied by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble, in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
[DRUMROLL]
[MUSIC - "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"]
ALL: (SINGING) O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous night, o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
[MUSIC ENDS]
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will everyone please be seated.
DAVID SKORTON: Good morning, and welcome to the 143rd commencement of Cornell University.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
I first offer congratulations to all of our graduates, and to the faculty, staff, and other students and loved ones, both here and back at home, who helped along the way. And all, would you please join me in recognizing the many staff and volunteers who have made this wonderful and meaningful commencement weekend possible, under the leadership of Connie Mabry, director of University Commencement Events, and Mary Opperman, vice president for Human Resources and Safety Services.
[APPLAUSE]
All university commencements are memorable. They provide occasions to bask in the glory of hard-won achievements, to savor magical hours in a special time and place, to begin the next phase of the journey of life, with all its uncertainties and boundless possibilities, to remember those whose commencement this would have been, as some of us are doing this morning by wearing pins in memory of Brian Lo, who would have earned his degree today from the School of Hotel Administration, and by keeping--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--and by keeping an empty chair in the front row of the proceedings to honor others of your classmates lost during your time here and whose families and friends are in our thoughts today.
Graduating seniors Alex Silver and Jon Tai posted a video tribute to Cornell in Vimeo, a few days ago--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--which, as many of you know, ably captured the bittersweet essence of this time. "The sunset on the Slope, the chimes in the distance, walking over hills"-- "a place where the sun shines far too little and where it snows far too much"-- "It's being part of a community, and it's being part of us." "This is a place where we walk in the footsteps of giants, where there's magic in knowledge." "This is us saying goodbye. This is you saying hello." Alex and Jon, thank you!
[APPLAUSE]
Of course, behind every proud graduate stands an equally proud and very relieved family.
[LAUGHTER]
In his book Fatherhood, Bill Cosby deemed having a child "the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit."
[LAUGHTER]
Your families, in all their endless beauty and variations, have been there for you during your Cornell years, providing support, both financial and emotional, when you needed it most. So, graduates, will you join me in taking just a moment to recognize these family and friends who have made this day possible.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
And now, as you head off to new adventures, the memories of these years come flooding back. When many of you arrived, in the fall of 2007, Cornell had just been named the Hottest Ivy in a Newsweek poll.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
This accolade was in part for our approach to education and inquiry, which, Newsweek noted, emphasizes problem-solving as well as scholarly debate. You jumped quickly into discussions of Nadine Gordimer's novel The Pickup, the new student reading selection, about life in post-apartheid South Africa. And a surprising number of you, including those in my discussion group, did not like it.
[LAUGHTER]
And throughout your time here, you have demonstrated the keen intellect and inquisitive spirit and capacity for problem-solving accurately noted by Newsweek. Here is just a tiny sampling of some of the many impressive initiatives undertaken by these degree candidates. 50 seniors who were Hunter R. Rawlings III Presidential Fellows carried out research on topics broad, from genetic and tissue engineering, to prisoner interrogation, to the agricultural and economic challenges facing Mongolian vegetable farmers. Several of today's graduates, in a joint Department of Horticulture and International Agriculture and Rural Development course, spent spring break in Belize working with Mayan children and teachers in a rural school.
This year, the Cornell Student United Way, led by graduating senior Nathaniel Houghton and others, earned the inaugural United Way Worldwide Student United Way Campus Organization of the Year award, for service to this community and for innovative fundraising.
And how about Big Red Athletics!
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Again, a small sampling. We earned Ivy titles in women's ice hockey and wrestling last winter. This spring, the women's polo team earned the national championship for the 13th time. And the men's team was national runner-up.
The men's tennis team earned its first-ever Ivy title. And the big men's lacrosse team again won the Ivy championship, with an overall 14-3 record for the season.
We are also so very, very proud of the many Cornell students who earned a large array of the most prestigious and competitive academic awards in higher education. Among today's graduates are Marshall, Luce, Udall, Goldwater, Truman, and Gates Cambridge scholars, a Carnegie Junior Fellow, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows, as well as winners of several other graduate and professional student awards. Your success confirms that a rigorous Cornell education is in itself a significant achievement and that it is recognized as such nationally and internationally.
And all of you have gotten thereby receiving the enduring benefit of an education taught by Cornell's spectacular faculty. For the faculty.
[APPLAUSE]
They, your faculty colleagues, and I have no doubt that all of you will go on to do significant things-- whether you are headed for employment, for graduate or professional school, for service in our military, in the Peace Corps, in Teach for America, an internship or volunteer opportunity, or are taking time for further exploration before your next step. Times have been tough. Good jobs are not as plentiful as they once were.
But even last year, even last year, when the job prospects for new graduates were especially difficult, Cornell graduates ultimately did very well, and the trend continues upward. Nine days before commencement last year, about 40% of the graduating seniors had accepted jobs. And this year, at the same point in time, more than 47% have. And we continue, daily, receiving job postings for employers seeking our graduates.
Including those accepted to graduate or professional school or planning to undertake some other kind of educational or professional development after graduation, more than 80% of our graduates know what their future holds, up from 75% at this time last year. So you're doing well, and the trend is positive.
Equally important to your long-term success, though, will be what you've gained from being full and contributing members of the very special and multifaceted Cornell community and from the bonds to your families that are so evident today. These will sustain you. And I hope you will make it your highest priority to keep these bonds strong.
First, your families. Today's families are nuclear, multigenerational, blended. Some span nations and even continents, with members separated by the pull of opportunity or by other forces beyond their control. Some of you here today have had to create substitute families to take the place of ones that you did not have. Among the ties that bind families and that connect generations are stories, stories that provide insights into who and what we are.
Tea Obreht, who earned her MFA from Cornell in 2009, tells such stories in her debut novel The Tiger's Wife. This semi-autobiographical novel involves a young doctor in an unnamed Balkan country, who is simultaneously vaccinating war orphans in a village monastery and attempting to understand the death of her grandfather under mysterious circumstances. "Everything necessary to understand my grandfather," the young doctor comes to realize, "lies between two stories-- the story of the tiger's wife, and the story of the deathless man. These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories of his life."
Every family has its stories, extraordinary or mundane, true or imagined, funny or heartbreaking, literal or allegorical. These stories connect us to our history and, if we are lucky and attentive, illuminate our lives. In Schoellkopf today, among the many parents and grandparents and great grandparents and aunts and uncles and siblings and cousins and spouses and partners and children, and wherever members of families gather, there are stories to be told. There are stories to be heard, invented, remembered, and passed on.
Even as we rush to the next opportunity and hurl ourselves headlong toward the future, let us take time to listen to our family stories and reflect on their meanings for our own lives, and for those who will come after us. Families are bound together, through thick and thin, giving and receiving support. On joyous occasions like this one and, equally important, when times are not joyous.
Our families will be there, even when it is not easy nor convenient, even when they'd rather be doing almost anything else, and, when the need arises, we will do the same for them. And ultimately, the responsibilities we fulfill as members of our families, what we get, and especially what we give, is what brings meaning to our lives. So today we recognize and celebrate the deep bonds that connect the graduates to their families and that will continue to be important, increasingly important, as the years go by.
Each of us-- each of us-- is also part of a larger and even older family, the nearly 150-year-old family of Cornell. This is a family that is also a community.
We talk sometimes about the "Cornell community" as if it were a single entity, but the reality is that all of us on campus are members of so many communities. Communities that reflect a professional or career focus-- the international-development community, the physics community, the design community, the medical community. Communities that reflect shared heritage or background-- the community of the American Indian Program, the Jewish community, the Muslim community, the African-American community, the LGBTQ community.
The communities born through close association and through shared experience, whether on athletic teams or West Campus residences or Greek houses or co-ops or apartments in Collegetown. Communities that coalesce around specific issues of importance, such as fair labor practices, sustainability, or local foods. Communities that reach beyond the campus into Ithaca and much farther afield. Communities that challenge and stretch us, and communities which provide a safe harbor.
In 1976, before many of today's graduates were born, Jimmy Carter, the Nobel laureate and 39th president of the United States, talked about the United States not as "a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." The mosaic of backgrounds and talents and aspirations that we have at Cornell adds immeasurably to the richness of the experiences and the experience of this campus.
Equally important, and holding the individually beautiful pieces of our mosaic together, are shared values that define us as Cornellians, no matter what else we may be. Those values include, among others, respect and affection for each other, embracing and celebrating differences, openness to new ideas, willingness to reach out to others in friendship, and, in widely and wildly varying ways, to lift the world's burdens by what we must do every day, in ways large and in ways small.
Going forward, how will your experiences in the Cornell community transfer to the other communities you will join or even form? How will you find your places in these new communities? How will you achieve a coherent identity that draws on, and draws in, the disparate communities with which each of you identify? And what will they mean for you as alumni of this institution?
Some of you will be involved in building communities around this world. Earlier this year, Cornell earned a top-25 ranking in the Peace Corps annual list of Top Peace Corps Volunteer Producing Colleges and Universities. And, as of January of '11, 55 undergraduate alums of Cornell were serving as Peace Corps volunteers, and about 20 of those graduating today will join this proud group, and I thank you.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
In fostering community development, many of you, no doubt, will use your experience and expertise with the internet and social media, expertise that you have very generously shared with me. Events in the Middle East this spring have highlighted the role of social media, not only in communicating, not only in connecting, but in organizing communities of like-minded individuals and coordinating the efforts of those seeking to bring about social justice. Wikis and open-source technologies are enabling people in widely different locations to develop knowledge and to use knowledge. And I can guess and predict that some of you, particularly those who have worked with our superb faculty of Computer and Information Science, will help create new media that we cannot even imagine today.
And there is still much community-building, of course, to be done person-to-person and face-to-face and heart-to-heart, and there always will be. As we approach a new presidential election cycle in this country, the opportunities for civic engagement will be manifold, no matter which candidate you may decide is worthy of your support. But whether your passion is politics or public service, professional leadership or a more individualized pursuit, I encourage you to do what you have done here-- to find some communities in which you feel safe and at home, but also to find others that will stretch and challenge you. It is through our communities that we amplify our individual abilities, combine our varied talents, and ultimately forge the collaborative relationships upon which a functioning democracy depends.
And, just as you have, each of you, contributed so much to the Cornell community during your short time on this campus, you have a role to play at Cornell going forward. Thanks to the class leadership, who many of you met at yesterday's Senior Convocation, and the support and participation of so many classmates, the class of 2011 is leaving a wonderful legacy for those who will follow as students on the Hill. And I hope that all of you, as well as those earning graduate and professional degrees, will stay connected with Cornell-- to mentor new generations of students, to help shape our shared future, and to carry forward the values that you have divined during your time at Cornell.
Alex Silver and Jon Tai, in their wonderful video, got it, I think, exactly right. "It's being part of a community, and it's being part of us." "This is a place you'll always call home." "This is us saying goodbye. This is you saying hello."
Class of 2011, candidates for advanced degrees, congratulations on your achievements. Go out and do great things. But remember, you will always be at home here at Cornell. And we look forward always to welcoming you back, as family and as community. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[CHOIR SINGING]
[CHOIR FINISHES]
[APPLAUSE]
CHARLES WALCOTT: We will now proceed to the conferring of degrees granted in course. The first groups to be presented to the president for conferral of degrees are the graduate candidates who have completed work in the graduate school or in one of the professional schools. Will the vice provost and dean of the graduate school, Barbara A. Knuth, please step forward. Will the candidates for the doctoral degree from the graduate school please rise and the degree marshals come up onto the platform.
BARBARA KNUTH: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the graduate school for the appropriate degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Doctor of the Science of Law.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Vice Provost and Dean Knuth. Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the doctoral degree appropriate to your field of advanced study and research, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations, doctors.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Cornell University welcomes the new doctors of Philosophy, of Musical Arts, and of the Science of Law to the ancient and universal company of scholars. Will the doctors please be seated.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Michael Kotlikoff, please step forward.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the candidates for the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine please rise and the degree marshals come to the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
MICHAEL KOTLIKOFF: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the degree Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
DAVID SKORTON: Thank, you Dean Kotlikoff. Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer on each of you the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. My heartiest congratulations.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the doctors of veterinary medicine please be seated.
Will the dean of the law school, Stewart Schwab, please step forward. And will the candidates for the degrees of Doctor of Law or Master of Laws please rise and the degree marshals come up onto the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
STEWART SCHWAB: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the law school for the degrees of Doctor of Law and Master of Laws.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Schwab. Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer on each of you the degree of Doctor of Law and Master of Laws, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the doctors of law and the master of laws graduates please be seated. Will the vice provost and dean of the graduate school, Barbara A. Knuth, please return to the microphone. Will the candidates for the master degree in studies that have been directed by the graduate school please rise, and will the degree marshals come up onto the platform.
BARBARA KNUTH: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the graduate school for the Master degree, be it Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Engineering--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--Master of Fine Arts, Master of Health Administration, Master of Industrial and Labor Relations--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--Master of Landscape Architecture--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--Master of Management and Hospitality--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--Master of Professional Studies, Master of Public Administration--
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
--Master of Regional Planning.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Vice Provost and Dean Knuth. Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the degree master degree to which you are entitled, with all of the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations to all of you.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the master graduates please be seated. Will the dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Joe Thomas, please step forward. Will the candidates for the degree of Master of Business Administration from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management please rise and will the degree marshals please come up onto the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
JOE THOMAS: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and are duly recommended by the faculty of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management for the degree of Master of Business Administration.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Thomas. Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the Master of Business Administration degree, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Well done, and congratulations.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the master graduates please be seated. The next groups to be admitted to the fellowship of educated men and women are the candidates for bachelor degrees. Will the two class marshals, representing the entire Cornell University senior class, please come up onto the platform.
[APPLAUSE]
In a moment, each college group will be called to rise for presentation to the president and then asked to be seated. After all the bachelor degree groups have been presented to the president, all the groups will be asked to rise again for the awarding of the degrees. The degree marshals for the bachelor degree groups will come forward to the base of the platform, as each group is called.
Will the dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Henry Katz, please come forward.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
HENRY KATZ: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Katz.
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Kent Kleinman, please come forward? Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Science from the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning please rise and the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
KENT KLEINMAN: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning for the degrees of Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Kleinman.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the School of Hotel Administration, Dean Michael Johnson, please come forward.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the School of Hotel Administration please rise. And will the degree marshals come to the front of the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
MICHAEL JOHNSON: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the School of Hotel Administration for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Johnson.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the College of Human Ecology, Alan Mathios, please come forward. And will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of Human Ecology please rise, and will the degree mashals please come to the front of the platform.
ALAN MATHIOS: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Human Ecology for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Mathios.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the College of Engineering, Lance R. Collins, please come forward.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of Engineering please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
LANCE COLLINS: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Engineering for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Collins.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kathryn J. Boor, please come forward.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will all the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
KATHRYN BOOR: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the degree of Bachelor of Science.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Boor.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will the candidates please be seated. Will the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Peter Lapage, please come forward. Will the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences please rise, and will the degree marshals please come to the front of the platform.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
PETER LAPAGE: Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates, who have fulfilled all the requirements and who are duly recommended by the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
DAVID SKORTON: Thank you, Dean Lepage.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will all the bachelor degree candidates please rise, at this time.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
DAVID SKORTON: It is my privilege and my great joy to recognize the candidates recommended by the deans and the faculties of these several schools and colleges for the appropriate bachelor degrees. By the authority vested in me by the trustees of Cornell University, I hereby confer upon each of you the bachelor degree appropriate to your field of study, with all the rights, privileges, honors, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. My heartiest, heartiest congratulations to all.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
CHARLES WALCOTT: Will all the bachelor's degree marshals please come up onto the stage to shake hands with President Skorton.
[APPLAUSE]
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
Will the assembly please stand for the singing of "Evening Song" and the Alma Mater.
[MUSIC - "EVENING SONG" SUNG BY CHOIR]
ALL: When the sun fades far away, in the crimson of the west, and the voices of the day murmur low and sink to rest, music with the twilight falls, o'er the dreaming lake and dell. 'Tis an echo from the walls of our own, our fair Cornell.
Welcome night and welcome rest, fading music fare thee well. Joy to all we love the best. Love to thee, our fair Cornell.
Music with the twilight falls, o'er the dreaming lake and dell. 'Tis an echo from the walls of our own, our fair Cornell.
[MUSIC ENDS]
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC - "FAR ABOVE CAYUGA'S WATERS"]
Far above Cayuga's waters, with its waves of blue, stands our noble Alma Mater, glorious to view. Lift the chorus, speed it onward, loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater! Hail, all hail Cornell!
Far above the busy humming of the bustling town, reared against the arch of heaven, looks she proudly down. Lift the chorus, speed it onward, loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater! Hail, all hail Cornell!
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
[MUSIC ENDS]
CHARLES WALCOTT: This concludes the 143rd Cornell commencement. We thank you for being with us and congratulate our new graduates. Please, remain standing during the recessional, until the faculty have left the field. Thank you.
[MUSIC - JOHN PHILIP SOUSA, "THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER"]
[MUSIC ENDS]
Ceremony at Schoellkopf Stadium for all Class of 2011 undergraduate and graduate students.
