The Challenge for Our December 2006 Graduates
As I write this blog, our students are in the midst of final exams. This Friday and Saturday, we will celebrate our Baccalaureate Mass and our 86th Commencement Exercises for Ohio Dominican’s December 2006 graduates. This is the fifth year that we have conferred degrees in December. This recent tradition was initiated in response to our many students who complete their degrees in the Fall semester and are unable to return in May.
As with all Commencement exercises, it will be a wonderful celebration. The achievement and success of our graduates will be recognized. Our December Commencement typically includes more non-traditional students. There is a special joy for these older students who have achieved their degree through much sacrifice, great challenges and a significant impact on their families.
We will also welcome and recognize one of our own. Tom Fitzpatrick, Class of 1969, will receive an honorary degree and deliver the Commencement Address. Tom has had a very successful career as a businessman, but is being recognized primarily for his extraordinary service to the community in so many ways.
As I hand our graduates their diplomas, I always wonder if we have been successful in providing a true Ohio Dominican education. I know that our graduates are well educated and fully prepared to pursue their professional goals. But the uniqueness of an Ohio Dominican education is that it is value-centered. Our goal is to graduate moral and ethical women and men who complement their professional success with lives of significant service and exemplary citizenship.
The world needs a new generation of college graduates who are willing to rise beyond self-interest to help solve the problems of the world. We are facing wars and global crises in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Lebanon, Darfur, etc. The environmental issues that threaten the quality of our lives and the future of our planet are numerous. Too many people throughout the world face homelessness, poverty, physical abuse, mental illness, lack of educational access, racism, and discrimination of all types. There has not been a period in my lifetime where the lack of ethics, integrity, and civility has been greater.
My hope and prayer is that our world, our country, our state, our city, our neighborhood, our family … will get better. And this will happen in part because of the efforts and the contributions of our alumni/ae … especially our December 2006 graduates.
Finally, at this special time of the year, I wish you a blessed holiday and a peace-filled New Year.
(As always your comments and questions are welcome. Blog entries will return in 2007)