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New School University: Pres. Kerrey Reflects on 9/11
Excerpts of President Robert Kerrey's Commencement
Address:
"Today
we grant 892 undergraduate and 784 graduate degrees to students
from 100 countries and all continents on the face of the earth
except Antarctica. At the Graduate Faculty our graduates have
learned to understand what it means to be human and to help us
understand what is going on between human beings throughout the
world. At Parsons School of Design our graduates have gained the
ability to design solutions to human problems and to create art
which helps us understand our humanity. At Eugene Lang College
our students have gotten a progressive education in small, seminar
style classes. At the Actors Studio Drama school our students
now have the skills to write, direct and act the stories that
allow us to connect with the pathos and humor of our lives. At
Mannes College of Music our students have prepared for orchestral
and operatic careers in order to bring music's unique power into
our lives. At the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program our students
have acquired a thorough grounding in a special and endangered
idiom which has the capacity to change the way we feel about our
lives. At the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and
Urban Policy our students have thoroughly prepared themselves
to solve the problems of modern urban civil society. And, finally,
at The New School our students have juggled careers and classes
and faced other obstacles in their pursuit of greater knowledge
and richer lives.
"Students
aren't the only ones facing challenges at our university. This
is my second commencement and I have learned a lot since last
year. Most of all I have learned how much love there is between
the students, faculty and staff of New School University. I have
seen that love expressed by men and women who were willing to
go above and beyond the call after the September 11th attack on
the World Trade Center. The men and women who have chosen to work
and teach at this university simply decided to work a little harder,
to sustain the effort through physical fatigue and in short do
the one thing that has confounded skeptics over and over again:
They refused to give up.
Let
me stop my address and gaze across the faces of great accomplishment
and promise, and say: I am proud of your success, hopeful for
your future, and prayerful for the courage you will need to carry
you through the fascinating disappointments of every good life.
Best wishes to you all.”
Honorary degrees were presented to investment banker and New School
Trustee Henry H. Arnold; President and CEO of Thirteen/WNET William
F. Baker; Middle Eastern historian Bernard Lewis; jazz singer
Abbey Lincoln; Chairman of the September 11th Fund
Franklin A. Thomas; and Chairman and CEO of Tishman Realty &
Construction and New School Trustee John L. Tishman.#
Education
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