Columbia University: Pres. Rupp's Last Graduation

More than 10,000 students from Columbia, Barnard and Teachers College participated in the 2002 Columbia University Commencement ceremony, which took place on Low Plaza on Wednesday, May 22nd, while more than 20,000 family members and friends looked on from the white chair rows of South Lawn. President George Rupp officiated his last graduation before stepping down from his position in July.

Former Senator George Mitchell, author Joan Didion and Columbia President-elect Lee Bollinger were among those who received honorary degrees. Also receiving honorary degrees were Brown University President Ruth Simmons, Latin American literary scholar Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, neuropsychologist Brenda Milner, and Jack Beeson, Columbia's MacDowell Professor Emeritus of Music. Molecular biologist and geneticist George Yancopoulos received the University Medal of Excellence, which is given each year to a Columbia alumnus who has made significant contributions to society. Each school within the University also held its own graduation ceremony. The featured speakers at these ceremonies represented a variety of fields, including politics, business and academia.

The following are excerpts from President Rupp's speech:

"Our destiny cannot be divorced from the fate of the rest of the world, including those furthest from us in geography, ideology, and socioeconomic status. The United States may be the world's lone superpower. But we cannot simply impose our will, even on those who seem relatively powerless.”

"One challenge we face together is, then, to make globalization work for the impoverished as well as the wealthy. To meet this challenge will certainly require more generous programs of foreign assistance than the post-Cold War world has so far produced. But it will also entail designing incentives and, when necessary, enforcement mechanism to assure that all the players follow the rules of the game.”

"So today we are challenged to rethink and re-order the ways we live together. First, globalization requires a reorientation of our stance in the international arena'a reorientation that recognizes how intimately we are interconnected with even those most distant from us. And second, along with our embrace of markets, we must affirm the legitimate role of public institutions in requiring adherence to rules of conduct and standards of quality to which all participants are held accountable.” #

Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2002.