Grads bid farewell

Shades of green, yellow and neon pink accompanied the traditional Carolina blue robes as members of UNC’s 2005 graduating class entered Kenan Stadium Sunday morning carrying balloons, signs, umbrellas and beach balls.

Music played as parents and siblings jumped and stretched their arms wildly in hopes of spotting their graduate across the stadium.

But as the commencement ceremony began with a crowd of 24,600, the focus turned from the graduates and their successes to those who made their college experience possible.

Gretchen Bataille, UNC-system senior vice president for academic affairs, was one of the first to speak and urged students to give back to the state and the country that has provided them with a wealth of opportunity.

“Go forth and help others just as you have been helped,” she said.

Fifteen Public Service Scholars were among the estimated 4,625 graduates at UNC this year. These students clocked at least 300 community service hours, enrolled in service-learning classes and maintained at least a 2.5 grade point average.

Even after leaving such an impact, Richard “Stick” Williams, chairman of UNC Board of Trustees, urged that this service should not wane after graduation.

“The contributions you make in your community can catapult you to greatness. Your fulfillment extends far beyond your person and into your community.”

Peter Gomes, professor and chaplain of Harvard University, parlayed these insights in his commencement speech, “The End is Where We Start From,” beginning with his thoughts on public higher education.

“(N.C. citizens) have invested in you, as they have over 200 years, presumably because they believe that an educated citizenry is a good citizenry — that education and virtue somehow go together,” he said.

Chancellor James Moeser said this year’s class is equipped to show this — noting the resilience and strength the undergraduate group displayed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which occurred early during the graduates’ freshman year.

“As a class they have gone through the changes our country has experienced, and they are ready to enter a world that today seems far less certain and much more dangerous than it did (before the attacks),” he said.

But the core of Gomes’ address laid in three pieces of advice.

With a voice only to come from a life lived at the pulpit, Gomes encouraged the new graduates to cherish their failures.

“Cherish the things that have not gone right for you,” he said. “Why? Because my sense is that most of us learn more from our failures than our successes.”

The divinity scholar said considering failures allows for reflection. “Those are the occasions that invite the kind of inner reflection for which your education in this great place has prepared you.”

Gomes also told the young adults to redefine personal success. He said he hopes they will do something not because they are good at it or because it pays well but because it is worth doing.

Finally, acknowledging the laughter and chattering from the end zone where undergraduates sat, Gomes said, “I want to suggest that you all try a little happiness.”

“My advice to you is toss your balls while you can,” he said as the beach balls popped back into the air.

“But all of your life has been a mere prelude to the day after tomorrow,” Gomes said. “The day after tomorrow it will hit you. You are no longer a candidate for anything.

“Life has hit you full on and, by God, you better live it or die.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.