>> Good evening everybody.
[Clapping] Please take your seats thank you.
I'm Susan Collins, the Joan and Sanford
Weill Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School
of Public Policy, and it was such a
pleasure to meet so many of you yesterday
at the third annual graduation open house.
And tonight, it is a great honor
to welcome students, family,
friends and community members here for
the formal highlight of our academic year,
the Ford's School's 2011 Commencement Ceremony.
I'd like to begin by introducing to
you the members of the platform party.
With me, on stage, is Robyn
Wright, our commencement speaker
who will be introduced more fully in a few
minutes, to Robyn's left is Janet Weiss,
the Dean of the Rackham Graduate School
and the Universities Vice Provost
for Academic Affairs for graduate studies.
Officially, Janet is here to
represent the University of Michigan,
but it is our great fortune to count her
as a member of the Ford School faculty,
and we're honored that Janet
can be with us today.
Also on stage are four additional faculty
members, John Chamberlin, Mary Corcoran,
Ana Delbanco, and Yazir Henry, each of whom will
speak or be recognized later in the program.
And finally, elected by their
respective classmates
to provide the student commencement addresses,
we have soon to be Ford School MPP
graduate, Joseph Person [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> And B.A. graduate Tomaso
Pavone [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> The wave of revolutions and protests
in middle eastern North Africa this winter
and spring, have reminded us of
the power of collective action.
The power that young people in
particular have when they work
in concert and with a shared passion.
In February, President Obama
said of the events in Egypt,
that we had witnessed a new generation emerge,
a generation that uses their own creativity
and talent and technology
to call for a government
that represents their hopes and not their fears.
A government that is responsive
to their boundless aspirations.
In the words of one activist, we use
Facebook to schedule the protests,
Twitter to coordinate, and
YouTube to tell the world.
Tonight we are gathered to celebrate
the achievements and launch the careers
of young people, somewhat closer
to home, the classes of 2011.
Our graduates leave the Ford School tonight to
engage with, and shoulder, a significant bundle
of public policy challenges, an uncertain
economic recovery, global climate change,
violent conflicts, nuclear
proliferation, partisanship and divisiveness
in our public dialogue, budget crisis, and more.
They will set out to apply their skills and
energies to find creative solutions for those,
and other public policy challenges.
But before the Ford School classes of 2011 go on
to shoulder their professional responsibilities,
this seems like a good opportunity
for their family and friends to learn,
in case there's still a few questions, just
what is a school of public policy anyway,
and what is a degree in public policy all about?
So let me take just a few moments to tell
our guests a bit about the Ford school
and help them understand and
appreciate all of your accomplishments.
The University of Michigan established
our programs forerunner 97 years ago
as the first program of its kind in the
nation created to train professionals
for public service, primarily at the
time in state and local government.
In 1968, we were renamed and
reoriented towards the application
of social science to building
sound public policy.
And like today's MPP and MPA graduates,
those students received rigorous training
in the quantitative analysis of economic,
political, and organizational questions.
Over time, our focus has broadened considerably
to encompass national and global issues as well.
In 1999, the school was named for the
universities most distinguished alumnists,
President Gerald R. Ford, it's a name
we are extremely proud of in light
of his lifelong commitment to
exceptional principled public service,
his integrity and his civility.
Next Tuesday, I will be in Washington, D.C.,
when the U.S. Congress dedicates a new statue
of President Ford in the Capitol Rotunda.
Congressman Fred Upton lead the House effort
to install that statute, call President Ford,
and I quote, a Michigan original and a model
for all those who are called to public service.
He went on to say, a seemingly ordinary American
who unexpectedly found himself in the Presidency
at one of our nation's most tumultuous times.
Gerald Ford led with honesty and integrity
by standing above the political fray,
President Ford allowed a wounded nation to heal.
Being named for President Ford remains a
point of extreme pride for our students,
it was also an important milestone in our
school history propelling us to a new era
in tremendous growth, our faculty, our
students, and as many of you had a chance
to enjoy yesterday, our facilities.
It was transformational to move
into our beautiful new building,
Weill Hall, just five years ago.
But it was the growth in our
educational programs over the past decade
that has truly reshaped our identity
making us a full service source
for outstanding public education.
Many helped, but two faculty leaders are
particularly responsible for that leap forward,
Mary Corcoran, the founding director
of our innovative joint PhD program,
and John Chamberlin the founding
director of our undergraduate program.
Mary and John are both stepping down for
their leadership positions this summer,
and for that reason, we'd like to take a few
moments to recognize their contributions.
Each was the chief architect of an
academic program with the highest
of intellectual standards at one of the
world's most prestigious universities.
If you listen to the members of our community
talk about Mary and John, and their programs,
you'll certainly hear about quality
and rigor of the academic training,
but about both those professors, you'll also
hear over and over again, of their availability,
of how much they care for each student, of
their ongoing mentoring connections with alumni,
and of the personal human touch that
they brought, and bring, to their roles.
In 2001, the school launched its
joint PhD programs with economics,
sociology, and political science.
Almost immediately this was a great success,
attracting high quality applicants who's
advisors enthusiastically recommended the
program in large part because of Mary's sterling
reputation as a researcher and a teacher.
As a director, Mary has whether,
formally or informally,
mentored each of the 83 students
who have matriculated.
We have 37 graduates to date, and they have gone
on to tenure faculty positions at universities
and colleges, research work for
private sector, think tanks,
and prestigious post apteral fellowships.
When asked to support our nomination of Mary
for our Rackham Mentoring Award just last year,
her former students responded with
effusive personal and professional praise.
They described her has empowering, the ultimate
role model, full of enthusiasm and energy,
and they told us how overwhelmingly
supported Mary makes her students feel
and they commended her encouragement
of broad creative thinking.
So Mary, it is my great pleasure to thank you,
publicly and on behalf of the Ford School,
for all you have done to craft
and nurture our PhD program.
[ Clapping ]
>> These flowers are from our PhD students.
[ Clapping ]
>> We launched our undergraduate
program in the fall of 2007.
It was a major intellectual and
administrative undertaking for the school
to create a new degree program
and it took years of planning.
A liberal arts degree for
undergraduates is a very different endeavor
from the professional graduate policy education
that we have offered for so many decades.
As a trusted and respected campus leader,
John Chamberlin was exactly the right person
to guide these efforts, to pull the right people
to the planning table to ask the right questions
and to get things done in a wonderful way.
Yesterday the B.A. graduates presented John
with a beautiful photo album and memory book
as a token of their affection for him.
In it, the students thanked him
for the community that he created,
they said that his door was always open,
and he was always available for them.
John leaves behind the legacy of a high
quality, thriving undergraduate program
with top notch University of Michigan students
applying to attend and very committed faculty
who actively lobby to teach them.
John, from the faculty, students,
and staff of the Ford School,
a heartfelt thank you for
all that you have built.
[ Clapping ]
>> John, Mary, and all of the members
of the Ford School's outstanding faculty
and staff are wearing lapel flowers
this evening so that you can spot them.
Our excellent faculty have broad interests,
their joint appointments connect us throughout
the university to economics, political science,
sociology, math, history, business, social
work, education, natural resources, information,
urban planning, and more, we also have
a terrific professional staff team
that keeps the education, the research,
and the public service missions
of the school moving forward.
I'd like to ask all of the faculty and staff
now to stand please, and I'd like you to join me
in thanking them for all that they do.
[ Clapping ]
>> And now, for the accomplishments
of tonight's graduates,
what have they learned during their time here
and what have they already given back to us?
Let's start with the six new PhD graduates,
their training at the University of Michigan was
in disciplinary and policy relevant.
Students developed a strong theoretical
grounding in a social science discipline
and paired that with rigorous coursework
and empirical methods and policy analysis.
This particular group is extraordinarily
accomplished and we're very proud of them.
The 98 students receiving
a Master's Degree tonight,
let me talk about them very briefly next.
The Ford School's rigorous MPP
and MPA curriculum is designed
to give students the skills to collect,
analyze, evaluate, and present information
about a wide range of public concerns.
We encourage students to take seminars
that involve real world policy projects,
and we require that our MPP students complete
a summer internship applying what they have
learned in the classroom in the real world.
Our graduate students are incredibly
diverse, they speak 19 different languages,
they come from 14 different countries,
and they include eight different Sarah's.
>> [Laughing]
>> About 40% of the classes already
finalized their immediate employment plans,
and I'd like to personally reassure
the parents, that if anything,
our current employment rate is
a bit ahead of recent years,
all of our graduates will find work in
city, state, or federal governments,
in the private sector, in think
tanks, or NGO's in the U.S. or abroad.
Now let me turn to the 57 students graduating
today with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy.
A true liberal arts degree, our program
emphasizes thinking across disciplines
to understand a policy challenge
and develop solutions.
Our first two classes, two that have
graduated, are already finding success
in teaching politics, research, and analysis,
sales and graduate programs
such as law and medicine.
The B.A. students are curious,
hardworking, and engaged, and bring vitality
to the school approaching their
studies with great seriousness.
This group boasts 13 Phi Beta Kappa's and 26
Angel Scholars, and leaders from a variety
of campus rounds including athletics,
publication, politics, and more.
The B.A. and MPP graduating classes presented
the school with a very generous parting gift,
totaling more than $14,000 to fund
internships for future classes.
The students' generosity speaks volumes
about how much these students believe
in the value of a Ford School education.
We know that our graduates did not
arrive at their accomplishments alone,
we're also joined by some 800 family members
and friends this evening, and I know that all
of our graduates value the love and the support
that you've all have provided over the years.
I'd like the give the graduates, as
well as the Ford School community,
a chance to thank the family and
friends of our graduating classes.
[ Clapping ]
>> And to you, graduates, on behalf of
the Ford School, I'd like to say thank you
for your investment in this, in our
shared community, it's been a pleasure
to work with you and to get to know you.
I know that many of you have very mixed
feelings about what today represents,
you'll miss your classmates, the charity
auction, Gamma Ro Phi, being snowed in,
D.C. career trips, snowed out D.C. careers.
>> [Laughing]
>> Dominick's, Denard, Big Lebowski bowling
nights, and so much more, but in spite of all
that you'll miss, today is also full of the
promise and hope of the future, with new jobs,
new cities, new friends, and new challenges.
The legendary ground breaking entertainer and
civil rights activist Lena Horn once said,
it's not the load that breaks you
down, it's the way that you carry it.
We all know that just outside
of these doors, our nation,
and our world faces significant
challenges, heavy loads for public servants
and citizens alike, and so, to our
graduates, I say, carry your load together,
carry it with the same commitment
to community, and friendship,
and connection that you found
here at the Ford School.
Carry it in concert with others, with
your classmates, and with colleagues
and friends that you'll meet along the way.
From my part, I have great optimism because
I know that you are among the ones headed
out to shoulder the challenges of our
time, and I know how hard you've worked,
I know that you've armed yourself with the
best public policy education available.
We are so proud of you, we will remember
you, we will follow your achievements
with great interest, and we truly hope that
you will remain engaged with the Ford School.
Please follow us on Twitter, read our magazine,
talk about the school in your professional
and personal circles, join our
LinkedIn group, hire our students,
maybe even fund an internship, but know
that you will always have an
academic home here in Ann Arbor.
So congratulations and best wishes
to all of you in the class of 2011.
[ Clapping ]
>> And now, I would like to introduce our
2011 commencement speaker, Robyn Wright,
a senior fellow at the United
States Institute of Peace
and the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars.
Robyn grew up right here in Ann Arbor,
she graduated from Pioneer High School
and then earned a Bachelor's Degree and a
Master's Degree from the University of Michigan.
She's remained a good friend to her
Alma Mater while forging a very broad
and deep international career in journalism.
Robyn was a long time foreign
correspondent covering U.S. policy, wars,
and revolutions in the Middle
East, Europe, and Africa.
She's reported for more than 140 countries
on six continents for the Washington Post,
the Los Angeles Times, the
Sunday Times of London, CBS News,
and The Christian Science Monitor.
She's also written for the New Yorker,
the Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Policy, the New York Times, the
International Herald Tribune, and others.
If you watch national news programs such as
Meet the Press, Frontline, and Face the Nation,
you've surely have heard her incisive analysis.
She is the author of several books on
Iran, including the Last Great Revolution,
Turmoil and Transformation
in Iran, which was named one
of the 25 most memorable
books for the year in 2000.
Robyn, I'm so pleased to welcome you back
to Ann Arbor, we're honored and very proud
to have you here with us today to
deliver our 2011 commencement address.
[ Clapping ]
>> Thank you very much Dean Collins.
I want to begin on a light note, as I watch
the soon to be graduates walk in, I thought,
now you know what Kate Middleton
felt like yesterday.
>> [Laughing]
>> I'm honored to be here, I love
this town and I love this university.
It's a great place to get a really good
grounding, to get a sense of yourself,
both professionally and personally.
I got, what I call my, accidental career here
when I met one of my classmates in the hall
of our dormitory, and she was going
off to join the Michigan Daily.
I had no interest in journalism, but I decided
wouldn't it be a lurk, my father had only girls,
and he took us off to every Michigan sporting
event, in the days we had good coaches.
>> [Laughing]
>> I know, sorry.
>> [Laughing]
>> I follow Michigan football and
basketball avidly to this day.
And so I decided I, wouldn't
it be fun to write sports,
we'll there've never been a female sports
editor at the Michigan Daily and I was the first
and I broke the gender barrier at the Rose
Bowl which is my very first scoop and I'm proud
to hear there's one of my successors in the
audience, Nicole Arbach [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Today you join an amazing
fraternity of Michigan alums all
over the world, I find them everywhere.
In 1975, I lived in Mozambique during
its transition to independence,
there was a nine year waiting list for
telephones, and I went down to the ministry
of information and I said look, I'm a
journalist, I'm covering your independence,
I really need a telephone, and I finally found
someone who spoke English not Portuguese,
and he, nothing I can do to
help you, if you want to stay
around nine years you can get your phone
and so forth, and I finally said to him,
you speak such good English, of course,
he went to the University of Michigan,
so he said if I could sing hail to
the victors, he would give me a phone.
>> [Laughing]
>> I stood on a chair, I
sang, hail to the victors,
and not only did I get my
phone, I never got a bill.
>> [Laughing]
[ Clapping ]
>> In Angola during the Civil War, I was in
the southern third of the country and we were
under shell fire and so forth, and once again,
I found someone who spoke very good
Americanized English and I said to him,
where did you learn your English, and of
course, it was the University of Michigan,
and all he wanted to do was
talk Michigan football
because all four years he was here he sat in
34A, and every time I come home I ought to go
to the stadium and figure
out exactly where that was.
When I was invited to give the charge
to the class, I thought long and hard
about what it was I could talk to
you about, what I could bring to you.
And I was struck by the memory of
JK Rowling's commencement address
at Harvard when she talked about failure.
It was a fascinating commencement address
because here was the richest author
in the world talking about the first
13 rejections of her Harry Potter book,
and she talked about how failure had
become an incentive and it had pushed her.
So I though what I could bring, as I
said, and after covering a dozen wars
and assorted revolutions and uprisings around
the world, I realized that the defining force
in my life, both personally and as a journalist
covering other people's life, has been fear.
I received my M.A. from Michigan exactly
40 years ago, I don't tell everybody that.
>> [Laughing]
>> So I've been around a while, but for all the
dangerous places and crazy war zones I go to,
I still have very deep phobias about
many things, including elevators.
They booked me on the 15th
floor of the campus inn,
and I walked down all 15
floors to get here today.
Many years ago, I covered, as I mentioned this
war in Angola, and it was a colorful conflict,
involved colorful European Mercenaries
on one side, and Cuban troops
and Soviet advisors on the other.
It was also a particularly deadly war, I was
the only journalist in the pen ultimate battle
for the entire northern part of the country.
It took place in a small town
at the mouth of the Congo River.
Only 22 out of 350 of us, made it out alive,
in an old tugboat that made the
African Queen look like a luxury liner.
Afterwards I won an award for the best reporting
in any medium requiring exceptional
courage and initiative.
My mother went to New York to accept it because
I was still off covering the last battle
in that war, and she actually got up in front
of the major editors and television anchors
from across the country and told the story about
how surprised she was that I won this award,
because I was so frightened of things as a child
that she had to pay the neighbor boy to walk me
to school until I was in the sixth
grade, she never told me that story.
>> [Laughing]
>> I first heard about it from
friends who attended the ceremony,
but age and experience haven't
changed it for me.
I'm still terrified of flying, even though
I do tens of thousands of miles a year,
and even though as a graduate student I took
flying lessons, pilots lessons in Ann Arbor.
Needless to say, I was never meant to
cover wars, but by accident I landed
in the Middle East on October 6th, 1973, the
day the fourth Middle East war broke out.
My undergraduate degree was in history, and I
still think of myself primarily as a historian.
I discovered that war actually living
contemporary history as it played out.
As a result I've covered all six Middle East
wars since then and many on other continents.
I've been terrified through them all.
But it's also through my
fears that I know I've lived.
I know I've pushed myself, and I've gotten
far more out of life than I ever envisioned.
I witnessed some of the greatest moments of my
life, up close, and I've met and talked to some
of the characters who made that
history, from the leader of Hezbollah
in Lebanon during the five
years I lived in Beirut,
to Nelson Mandela when I covered South
Africa, from Muammar Gaddafi in Libya,
to Pope John Paul the Second when I lived in
Rome and traveled with him around the world.
Over those 40 years, the people and
events that have inspired me the most,
have been people often far less famous than the
one's I've mentioned, who overcame their fears.
In Africa, I was in Soweto, the
township outside Johannesburg in 1976,
on a day a group of school
children took to the straights
to launch the first black mass uprising when
the government overnight, changed the language
that children would learn in schools.
It was that protest that was bookend it
started and launched the protest that ended
with the collapse of apartheid
almost a generation later.
In Europe I was there as
people literally began to take
over the Berlin Wall marking the
decisive challenge and end to communism.
Two weeks ago I finished another book
about the uprisings across the Middle East,
which all started in Tunisia, when
a 26 year old street vendor refused
to tolerate the governments corruption and
abuse, his act of defiance triggered a movement
that forced out a man who had held
power for almost a quarter century,
a movement that accomplished through
peaceful civil disobedience in 30 days.
Egypt's protests were triggered by two
young bloggers, one who posted video
of police corruption and drug dealings on
the internet and the other who mobilized,
again peaceful protest, after the first blogger
was murdered in public view by two policemen.
They spawned a movement that ended a
dictatorship that had prevailed for 30 years
and this time they did it in 18 days.
In Syria, the current protests were
started by a group of school children
who wrote anti-government
graffiti on a public wall.
These are your peers, these are all people who
overcame their fears and jeopardized everything
for principle and for freedoms that
we too often still take for granted.
So how does this affect your life?
Two trends had defined my
lifetime, one was the cold war
and the other was the rise of extremism.
Two trends will define your
lifetime, whatever you choose to do.
The first one is globalization, the evolution
of nations into regional blocks on the road
to globalization as the basis for everything,
governance and trade and culture and even sport.
We're already deep into the
stage of regional blocks,
militarily the United States now
fights a good number of its conflicts
through NATO in Afghanistan and now in Libya.
Economically, our commerce is
increasingly defined as part of NAFTA,
the North America Free Trade Agreement, or
APEC, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation,
or a host of other regional blocks, almost
every country in the world today is a member
of a regional block for all kinds of political,
and military, and economic environmental
and cultural causes, so we are already
in the midst of a global shake up.
The map of the world will
certainly look very different
when you finish your careers than it does today.
When I graduated, I kind of thought, well,
oops, this is the way the world was going to be.
The United Nations was formed the year
I was born and there were 57 members.
Today there are 193 countries, the number
more than tripling, and in my lifetime,
I've witnessed politically and
ideologically the demise of communism,
the end of military dictatorships in Latin
America, the end of a apartheid in minority rule
in African, and there is
so much more change ahead.
And that takes me to the second trend, the
transformation of the Islamic world particularly
in the Middle East, the last block of countries
to hold out against the democratic tide.
The change will be profound, just as the
first decade of the 21st century was defined
by the tragedy of 9/11, the
second decade of the 21st century,
as you go out into the world will be determined
by the outcomes of the political evil's
that are now beginning in the Middle East.
For all of us, as people or as policymakers,
change is scary, new trends make us fret
and fear, old ways are better known, they feel
safer, it's really hard to break new ground,
I live in Washington, I can
tell you how true that is.
The Middle East is the best example.
For 60 years the U.S. opted for stability rather
than the values that define us as a nation.
The last, the current and the previous
President have both given important speeches
about democracy, but then did
very little tangibly about it
until the protests began to lead the way.
So you may see now where I'm headed.
Whether as part of a community,
a company, or a government,
so much will change during your
personal and professional lives,
and you will often be part
of figuring out how to adapt.
As policy maker's you will be constantly
challenged to come up with analysis
and assessments and most of all solutions,
whatever your field or your specialty.
The key to each will be to overcome fear, to
look beyond the past, to offer ideas that differ
from conventional wisdom, to be bold enough
to suggest something different, or new,
or original, and not to be overcome
by the unknown or the fear of change.
It's always much easier to go along with the
old and familiar, but fear keeps us from getting
to the truth and understanding it, fear of being
different inhibits imagination and creativity,
fear keeps us from our full
potential, and fear prevents us
from exploring, especially, as policymakers.
It's just as true that conquering fear was
behind some of humankind's greatest achievement,
whether the journey of man out of Africa
millennia ago, or exploring the universe today.
Overcoming fear has lead brave
people to demand individual rights,
whether no tax without representation
in this country,
or to people in Egypt's liberation square.
One last piece of advice that I'll share from
my father, who was a very wise law professor
at this university, he told us, whatever issue
you face, whatever your original knowledge
or understanding of it, stand
on top of the world and look
down because you may well see a
broader or a different perspective.
It's the single most important piece
of advice I've heeded in a lifetime
of covering wars and revolutions.
Standing on top of the world is now my
best trick in overcoming my own fears,
it's the best way, for me anyway, to move
beyond simply seeing what is happening
to understanding why it's happening, he
was right, because at the end of the day,
no policy will work unless all sides are
taken into account, not only our own.
So my final bottom line to you,
which I'll close with a simple,
go not fearfully into the world even as
you live through fear producing times,
let fear be only a force to push
frontiers in your life not to limit you.
Your lives will witness one of the
great transformations in human history,
and for all I've done and seen
in my life, I am so envious.
So congratulations to the class of
2011 you have great adventures ahead.
Thank you very much.
[ Clapping ]
>> Thank you so much.
Amazing Blue is the University of
Michigan's oldest coed acapella ensemble,
and I'm delighted to welcome Amazing
Blue to the stage to perform two classics
from the University of Michigan's songbook.
[ Silence ]
[ Singing ]
[ Clapping ]
>> Thank you.
Each year the four schools graduating
students are asked to elect people
to play key roles at commencement.
One faculty member is spoken, is
chosen to speak to the classes,
both sets of graduating classes were
also asked to choose a student speaker.
As the faculty speaker, the
classes of 2011 elected Yazir Henry.
Yazir was born and raised in Cape Town, South
Africa, he first came to the Ford School in 2007
as art house foundation policymaker
and residence.
Yazir's intellectual work focuses on the work of
relationship of political structure and violence
to civic, indigenous, and human rights.
Since 2008, he has taught courses at the Ford
School on professional and political ethics,
on social movements and democratic
processes in the global south,
and on transitional justice mechanisms and
related policies after political conflict.
As a young man in South Africa, Yazir
worked in the political underground movement
that spearheaded the downfall
of the apartheid government.
After the fall of apartheid, he founded
and developed several programs in Cape Town
that sought to continue the difficult
work of the peace building inspired
by his experience working with the South
African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Yazir has advised government
institutions, community groups, and G.O.'s
and social movements on capacity building,
political strategy, program design, and more.
He has written and lectured widely on issues
related to peace making, political memory
and trauma, and post conflict reintegration.
It is a tribute to Yazir, standing
among the student, that they choose him
to deliver the faculty address, and
so I am delighted now to invite him
to speak on behalf of the faculty.
Yazir.
>> [Clapping]
[ Silence ]
>> Good afternoon all, students, undergraduates,
your families and friends, faculty,
esteemed members of the university
administration
and leadership, honored and esteemed guests.
When I first came to the university
it was in the middle of an ice storm.
>> [Laughing]
>> The storm was both shocking
as it was beautiful.
I've never seen an ice storm before so it
was really scary, that drive along the I94
to Ann Arbor, I wondered what,
what did I get myself into.
I'd survived the political horror of my homeland
to be humbled by a taxi drive from the airport.
>> [Laughing]
>> Although I knew different, I told
myself as I entered into Ann Arbor,
as the taxi lights turned the trees into
exquisite spectacles of light and color,
almost as if they were rainbows perched upon
the covered branches of ice, I told myself,
this must be where the idea of
Christmas lights must have come from.
I made it safely to my hotel,
on the third floor.
>> [Laughing]
>> And I enjoyed the dangerous beauty
that has stayed with me to this day.
As students, there may be much fun and
enjoyment and laughter to be had in Ann Arbor.
The excitement and confusion after having
stepped into a new body of friends and community
at the Ford School as well as the University
of Michigan, the initial disorientation
of coming here; however, completing
your degrees takes effort, dedication,
fortitude, focus, and application.
Contrary to some popular notions,
completing these degrees are not easy,
it takes an inordinate amount of sacrifice,
both self and social, sacrifices have to be made
by you, and all those around you,
everything and everybody responsible
for seeing your journeys through to this moment.
At times, your head spinning with several
term papers for different courses all due
at the same time, you wondering
what was I thinking.
>> [Laughing]
>> Undergraduates cranking out pages and pages,
wondering how their thoughts are
going to, are going to matter.
Graduate students nostalgically remembering
the job you left to come here, complaining.
>> [Laughing]
>> Just remember the more you laugh,
the more time it's going to go.
>> [Laughing]
>> Complaining about those of us who
chose the ivory tower for a living,
wondering how what we do has anything to
do with reality, well this is reality too.
[ Silence ]
>> Having achieved this particular
milestone in your particular careers,
just take another moment now,
to reflect upon your achievement
and why you came here in the first place.
Why you submitted yourself to this very
complex regime of trading and preparation.
Take today, and take another week to
savor your family and your achievement.
Celebrate what we as a society has achieved
through you, what we as the world have achieved
through you, let today only be the
beginning of marking this very real
and very amazing achievement, do this
carefully, and do this with joy before you rush
onto your next milestone, you're
new job or you're new job search.
>> [Laughing]
>> Wasn't met to be funny but.
[ Silence ]
>> Share the hugs and share the tears with those
who have supported you through
this arduous process.
Remember the distance you
have traveled to get here.
In this remembering, in this remembering
understand your power along with the power
of these degrees that our society as a
whole, as a whole has bestowed upon you.
It is in the totality of this experience
as a student, or mine as an educator here,
that you will find the purpose and
the true beauty of this University.
Just as in this university, a common denominator
in all political economic legal social culture
and spiritual systems is, is people, it is
people, you, me and each and everyone one of us,
your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers,
distant cousins, and your loved ones,
your neighbors, those who live right next door,
and those who live at the
other side of the world.
We sometimes go to great lengths to forget
the simple truth, the elixir of life here
on Earth is not immortality nor is
it eternal youth, it is just people,
ordinary and everyday people, you and
I, and it is in this search that we
as ordinary people struggle
and dance to find our place,
our individual chanson de cur [assumed
spelling] our collective reasons for being,
our collective, both social and professional
search for a more caring, more tolerant,
more empathic list, but the list
cynical, humanity and mutuality.
Humanity, a humanity that is better able to
manage this Earth's resources, our country,
our globe, and to find ways that will spare
your children, and their children's children,
this default to cynicism
and batons is an easy one.
I want to argue that it is infinitely more
difficult to bold, to see the potential,
to see the possibilities, to seek
solutions, and create that that you wish
to see carefully, slowly, and with purpose.
Graduates, graduates, this in my mind, is
yours and mine generations responsibility,
it is in your and your future leadership
that our society places its hope,
that it places our ideals that
we place our collective dream.
I was one of those children that Robyn spoke of.
I want to dedicate the rest
of this words in honor of you,
but also to those who didn't make it to these
empty chairs because of all our senseless wars.
Imagine climbing a mountain, I was born at the
foot of one so just bare the metaphor with me,
and all you can see is the mountaintop and after
days of growing and climbing, you reach the top,
it is however covered in a misty haze.
After hours of rest at the mountaintop,
this haze slowly lifts and instead
of the wonderful land and ocean
scapes you had previously imagined,
all you see are more mountaintops
in the distance,
some even larger than the
one you had just climbed.
At this point it is easy to get lost in the
intellectual difficulties of the climb ahead
or the pain of having to turn back, and this is
especially so because this is most likely true.
It is at this point that I want you to
remember that you must celebrate how far
and how much you have already climbed,
how much you have already achieved.
It takes strength in the
knowledge that you have learned
to successfully climb the mountain you
are standing atop before you will learn
as much as climbing the next one.
Standing atop and looking down
and remembering your journey.
Now you have heard this before and you
will hear it again, our world is in crisis,
poverty levels are increasing, a large part of
the world is at war, shifting weather patterns,
earthquakes, tsunami's, tornadoes
and twisters are wreaking havoc,
millions of people are affected, many
have been killed, and many die as I speak.
As professionals and leaders you are going to
be asked to transcend yourselves, your likes
and your dislikes to understand your social
and your professional purpose beyond
managerial and social gratification.
Still, still, you need not, and in fact I would
argue, it is important that you do not fall
to the wounds and ideas of simple self
sacrifice, of mere self sacrifice,
this misconception that you reach
the mountain by growing wings
and flying to the top is a misnomer.
If I have learned anything in my short life on
this Earth, it is to lead as best as you can
in the scope of the capacity with the
power available to you at that time.
Do not fear yourselves and do not fear
life, live it fully and live it in ways
that will facilitate the collective
resolution of the social, political,
and economic ills that face us all as
people, just people, ordinary people.
The most successful of you, the most
successful of you, will be those prepared
to undertake these takes and
process it directly, slowly,
humbly with fortitude, love,
yes love, and imagination.
It is a good thing to bask in the long
shadows of peace, it is a good thing to back
in the long shadows of peace; however,
I would argue that it is much better
and far more important to
keep sight and understand of,
understand how these shadows came
to be there in the first place.
To remember both the rays of the sun,
along with the reasons they cast these shadows
simultaneously, those of you who know me well,
know this is an important for me know either or,
simultaneously we are to
manage the grave together.
Each step that you take from here
on in is an act, another one,
even if there are countless
theories telling you to the contrary.
Each step you take from here on in as
professionals, as leaders, is an act,
each step has consequences even if you are
not able to fully comprehend them at the time.
Walk from here with care, with humility
and empathy, with courage and compassion,
proud of who you are and what you
have achieved, proud of those you love
and those you have supported you, just like
you, we, and the faculty, are human beings too
and we have done the best we can with
our engagement with you, we have,
you have given meaning to me and to
the aspirations I hold in the world,
I can say to you now, you have done
so for many of my colleagues as well.
Thank you for granting me this opportunity, this
privilege and this honor to share in this moment
with you, your family, and your friends, and
those you love, I am proud to have been a part
of this faculty and this journey
undertaken over the past two to five years.
I'm happy and I have no regrets
at having walked along side you.
Though this has been difficult, it has also
been beautiful, this might sound cliche,
but there is not rose that
is a rose with no thorns.
Walk proudly now with strength
and enjoyment and in celebration,
walk in honor of what you have achieved and walk
in honor for the privilege and the difficulties
that await you in the face
of what you have achieved.
Without you, we, as a school
and a faculty do not exist.
May all our deities, bless each and every
one of you, in the times, both trying
and beautiful, that lay ahead of you.
Thank you.
[ Clapping ]
>> Yazir, thank you.
The undergraduate class of 2011 elected
Tom Mahoney to speak on their behalf.
Tom already has an outstanding research
portfolio, and in fact, just this week,
took first place in a national
undergraduate research paper competition.
He was on the editorial board
of the Michigan Daily
and penned 28 opinion columns for the paper.
Tom has already started graduate course
work at the University of Chicago,
and just one year from now he expects to
complete a Master's Degree in Social Science.
Tom also has been accepted into the University
of Michigan's Law School for fall of 2012.
He plans to study European law and
international human rights law.
He was born in Rome and is fluent in
three languages in addition to stata.
>> [Laughing]
>> Tom it is a pleasure to
welcome you to the podium.
[ Clapping ]
>> Thank you Dean Collins for that gracious
introduction and hello 40's and 40's wannabees.
>> [Laughing]
>> As I stand before you today, I'm reminded of
how jealous I am of Dean Collins' fancy title,
the Joan and Sanford Weill etcetera etcetera,
I say jealous because the title is so long
that if I had such a title by the time
I'd be done delivering it here, times up,
done with speech, it would be a lot easier, so
never make fun of Dean Collins' title again.
As I was trying to narrow the focus for my
remarks, I though perhaps its best to start
with a question, like now that
we're graduates, what's next.
But when you think about
it, perhaps it's best not
to ask any question whose
answer is unpaid internships,
so I thought perhaps a more appropriate question
might take a more retrospective approach,
like what is public policy, but when you
think about it, perhaps it's also unwise
to ask any question that nobody here, except
apparently the Dean seem to know how to answer.
>> [Laughing]
>> Long story short, I decided to scrap
the question idea and focus my attention
on what distinguishes the Ford School from other
departments here at the University of Michigan.
What makes it unique?
I immediately thought, I got it, it's the
popularity of the professors, exhibit a,
there happens to be a facebook group titled
the Dr. Barry G Rabe appreciation society.
[ Clapping ]
>> Which I am happy to inform is
quickly approaching one million members.
>> [Laughing]
>> Now admittedly, there is one facebook
group featuring a Ford School faculty member
that isn't doing so well, in fact last
I checked, only one person was a member
of the group titled, I have more
degrees than Profession John Ciorciari.
>> [Laughing]
>> Coincidently that member is John Ciorciari.
>> [Laughing]
>> Only one qualifies, so.
But in all seriousness, what distinguishes
the Ford School isn't its top notch faculty
with an average of 3.59 degrees, 17
page CV's, 22 years of education,
and four personal copies of
the West Wing season four.
>> [Laughing]
>> It isn't even the Ford School chillers,
apparently more temperamental than most
as evidenced by my personal stack of
759 emails titled the chiller is down.
>> [Laughing]
>> No, what makes the Ford School special, at
least to me is it's vibrant sense of community.
Let me tell you why I do not
take community for granted.
When I was growing up, I moved
to three different countries
within the time span of six years.
And during the same time period,
I attended four different schools,
so while all of my classmates had had
the time to build lifelong friendships
with the kids they had grown up with,
I constantly felt like an
outsider, like the new kid.
Then we moved to the United States and high
school came and I was excited by the prospect
of beginning anew, but as it
turns out, it wouldn't be so easy.
For just as I was about to muster the
courage to come out, I read a testimonial
in the high school newspaper of a
fellow classmate that was almost beaten
after school just because he
decided to be open about who he was.
So I thought, you know, maybe new beginnings
will have to wait, but then came college,
here at Michigan, 40 billion students, 30,000
languages, 40 million majors, and one taxi.
>> [Laughing]
>> It was as if I had upgraded from a black
and white television to a multi-colored one.
But size also has its downsides, and in
a school with nearly 25,000 undergrads,
it's easy to feel like no more
than just a grade on a test
and that is where the Ford School came in.
Here, I know almost everyone in the
building, and for better or for worse,
almost everyone in the building knows me.
Here, I can use the phrases visa
vi, as it were, ex post facto,
and a priori in the same
sentence and not be ridiculed.
>> [Laughing]
>> Admittedly that'd be a
really crappy sentence.
>> [Laughing]
>> Here I'm always invited
to trivia night at Charley's,
even though I have never
contributed a correct answer.
Here, I can engage in rigorous
intellectual debate with the same colleagues
with whom I engage in far
less academic activities,
at gammero five on some Thursday
nights, the one I remember.
>> [Laughing]
>> And here I know I will always be able
to rock it out to Lady Gaga and Necto
and be welcomed back to a supportive community.
>> [Laughing]
>> I cannot tell you how honored, how grateful
I feel to have been surrounded by passionate,
kind, and intelligent people
for the past two years.
I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to
be constantly encouraged to be my own person.
And I cannot tell you how moved I am
that my B.A. classmates have provided me
with this opportunity to let all of you
know how much I love the Ford School
and this community right here
that gives Weill Hall life.
These may be tough economic times,
the labor market might be tight,
the unemployment rate might be high, the jobs
out there might be few, but I have no doubt
that the Ford School spirit will live on in
each one of us and that it will open doors
that would've otherwise remained closed.
And I also know that if we
remain true to ourselves
and to the values we have acquired here in the
halls of Weill Hall, we will make Gerald proud.
And so I say to my B.A. friends for the very
first time as one proud Ford School alumn
to another, congratulations, I love
you all, and thank you so much.
[ Clapping ]
>> And then he worked for
the university for two years,
coordinating [tape cuts out] intergroup
relations, later he lived in Sydney,
Australia working with the
government of New South Wales.
Joe I am delighted to invite
you to [tape cuts out]
[ Clapping ]
>> I have to adjust the microphone a bit.
My beloved 40's, congratulations on arriving
at this day after much academic rigor,
arduous effort and the occasional sleepless
night induced by either program [tape cuts out]
as a warning though, both
are equally treacherous.
[tape cuts out] years ago many of us were
frivolously finalizing our Ford applications
and often getting the same response from
our well intended friends and family,
the same question Tom [tape cuts
out] what exactly is public policy.
It's both a strength and a
rewarding challenge to our program
that the Ford curriculum has [tape
cuts out] an inclusive definition,
simply look at the diversity of the student
body, we boast people from Teach for America,
Peace Corps, Veterans of [inaudible]
Japanese ministries, NYU law school dropouts.
We've had.
>> [Laughing]
>> We've had students take a time, a break
from their study to intern at the White House,
do aid relief in Haiti, and we had Sarah Sarah
Dobec negative factors masters immigration
policy by transplanting her
husband from the South Pacific.
>> [Laughing]
>> We have earned math camp merit badges,
salsa dance with Annabel at Cafe Havana,
and learned not how to dance, how not
to dance through Ross at Russ Street.
>> [Laughing]
>> We had Carl Simon hit us over the head with
a log in calculus and witnessed Jim Levenson
and all of his sardonic wit bike
up and down here in River Drive.
After a long day of chasing undergrads out
of the grad lounge, we watched Joe Cougar
and the Invisible Hands make
their debut performance
and we went karaoke sings
with, not one, but two phumees.
We crab raced at Pinchy and Pokey while
doing international economic development
and we dutily followed Creed Jones and Simon
Tam through the IPE induced streets of Turan.
The Ford community wearing
it's plurality proudly
on its sleeves has given us an
integrative and imaginative skills set
to make our professional marks on the world
without ever imposing on us narrow constraints
on how to further realize those skills.
So, after an incredulous few
semesters, an internship,
and a double dose of charity auction
later, there is the looming question
of how do we move forward
in our careers purposefully.
So I'm going to use some economics lingo here,
so for those of you English majors out there,
please bear with me for the nest 30 seconds.
One career approach lies in
the profit maximizing model.
This is the idea of self interest that gets
promoted at the exclusion of any public good.
And this model, the chief concern is, maximizing
your bottom line and looking out for yourself.
At the other end of the spectrum
there is the martyrdom approach
in which a person's self interest is fore
gone for some semblance of the public good
and in this mindset a person sacrifices
sustainable pay, time with family
and friends, all for a larger purpose.
And in grabbling with these two
polarities, I found both to be,
not only untenable, but ultimately
self defeating.
In the profit maximizing model, there
is an overt obsession with self interest
that willful ignores our roles
within the larger community.
And likewise, in the martyrdom
approach, it operates from the subtext
that if I cannot be great in my
accomplishments, I must be great in my struggle,
and it seeks often unconsciously to
obtain a sense of moral superiority.
It is a credit to our program that Ford
curriculum has reconciled that idea that we have
to make a false choice between
these two paradimes,
between self interest and public service.
The Ford School thrives at finding
the overlap between the two,
and this overlap is best express by
Erik Erikson idea of generativity,
it's the buzz word for my speech.
Developmental physochologist,
Erikson says that healthy adults,
have as their highest priority a desire
to be generative, which means to give back
to the world through creative expression.
For some of us in this room, that has
been or will be through having children
and having a family, likewise, others
may attempt to give back to the world
through influencing social and economic policy,
promoting greater equity
or promoting human rights.
To be generative is to not be suck in
an either or dualistic way of thinking.
It suggests that we are at our best when we
are able to come from a position of balance,
and even though we may not have heard
the term generatively on a daily basis
in the Ford School, it is reflected through
the integrative ethos of our studies
and our emphasis on collaboration and community.
The job market that we live in today is
rapidly changing and the different compartments
of public, private, and nonprofit
are blurring together.
The advice from my father's
generation where people often worked
in an entire industry their whole
life, no longer really applies.
We are fortunate to have a degree that
prepares us to move confidently from one spear
to another, and to analyze this
use from so many perspectives.
For instance, we could have one
student, let's call him Linroy Marshall.
>> [Laughing]
>> Who, after a busy four semesters of
break dancing at various Ford parties,
decides to get a job working for disaster
management NGO, in say Santa Barbara,
moves on to work at the UN and
finds himself 20 years later
as a private contractor inside the beltway
for a federal agency, Linroy, it could happen.
>> [Laughing]
>> If there is any over arching lesson at
Ford, it is the value of embracing paradox
and the sophistication of finding the
overlap between competing ways of thinking.
And I trust that we will continue to find
the generative solutions in our lives,
and where there is no overlap, I
trust we will be able to create one.
One more thing, Erikson also maintains that
we don't really reach adulthood until the age
of 40, everything before 40
is just a dress rehearsal,
so hats off to Alexis Gill
[assumed spelling] for learning how
to ride a bike last week, a few weeks ago.
>> [Clapping]
>> Ten years before adulthood, she's ahead
of the curve, and with that in respect,
hats off to Julie Montero de Castro [assumed
spelling] the last two years have been
like your Bat Mitzvah, welcome to adulthood.
>> [Laughing][clapping]
>> It is my privilege to address the student
body encompassing such a diverse range
of interests, ambitions, backgrounds,
and eccentricities, generativity is also
about contributing to the world
and benefiting the next generation.
So I encourage you all to use your Ford
experience to always develop a holistic approach
to your future and I wish you all
the best of luck in the world.
Thank you.
[ Clapping ]
>> Thank you Joe.
Well, we are now at the moment that friends
and family, and I dare say our graduates,
have been looking forward to all evening.
Our graduates are ready to come to the stage
to receive official congratulations
on a job so well done.
This year the names will
be read by Elena Delbanco.
Elena has been a highly valued writing
instructor here at the Ford School
for many years, working closely with
many of these graduating students.
Our students seek Elena out, not only
because she's an excellent writing tutor,
but also because of her personal commitment
to helping students succeed both
inside and outside the classroom.
Elena.
[ Background noise ]
>> It's my pleasure and my
honor to announce the names
of our wonderful Ford School
graduates this afternoon.
I'll begin with our students who
are earning doctoral degrees.
Let me begin by welcoming to the stage, Jeff
Smith, a professor of economics in the College
of Literature, Science and the Arts,
he will hood our first graduate.
Our first graduate is Jessica Anne Goldberg,
her dissertation title is essays
and development economics.
Congratulations.
[ Clapping ]
>> Congratulations.
[ Tape cuts out ]
>> Ryan Kellogg, assistant professor of
economics at the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts will
hood our next PhD graduate.
Ryan please come to the stage.
Our next graduate is Eric Johnson.
Eric's dissertation title is essays and
environmental economics and applied ecometrics.
[ Clapping ]
>> Sheldon Danziger, who is the Henry J
Meyer distinguished university professor
of public policy at the Ford
School, will hood our next graduate.
Sheldon. Our graduate is Maria
Cherise Johnson [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Maria's dissertation title is African
American women and their fathers,
understanding the influence of fathers
on daughters conceptualizations
of fatherhood and womanhood.
[ Clapping ]
>> Mary Corcoran will hood our next graduate.
Catherine King [assumed spelling] Catherine's
dissertation title is biological, psychosocial
and neighborly social relations implications
of the neighborhood built environment.
[ Clapping ]
>> Liz Gerber, professor of public policy of
the Ford School will hood our next graduate,
Robyn Finney [assumed spelling] Robyn's
dissertation title is diverse interest group
coalitions in search of welfare
policy in the United States.
[ Clapping ]
>> Mary Corcoran and Sheldon Danziger will
hood our final PhD graduate, Mary and Sheldon.
Daniella Peneja [assumed spelling] Daniella's
dissertation title is examining a federal
intervention to improve Latino
college participation,
evidence from title five developing Hispanics
serving institutions program 2000 to 2007.
[ Clapping ]
>> Now, we welcome to the stage our Ford
School graduates receiving a Master's Degree
in Public Policy or Public Administration.
Kyle Jeffrey Aarons [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Tuckahero Azawa [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Mazahiko Ando [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Daskae Baba [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Sarah Elizabeth Bonner [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Sarah M. Brooks
>> [Clapping]
>> Brian F. Brosmer [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Torian Kimberly Brown [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Yufan Che [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Patrick Cuney [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Robert Joseph Dagnum [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Ashley M. Davis
>> [Clapping]
>> Katherine Mary Decker [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Sarah Marie Dent [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Otter ah Disi [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kim Dunam [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jared Pong Eno [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Umire Erdam [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Joshua Fangmeyer [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> David M. Fouch [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Brittany Gellarstarfer [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Fumikazo Goto [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Mila Abigail Gouland [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Alexis Guild [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Mosame Hehara [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Gregory Philip Holman [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jennifer Gun Hong [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Rena Hoshino [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Minte Jenad Hossain [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Beth Hybar [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Lynn Jones [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jay Kolerey [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Carolyn Ley [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Ashley Nicole Lewis
>> [Clapping]
>> Carolyn Lethan [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Rebecca Lopezchris [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Molly Jane McGuire [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Mahema Mahafavin [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Linroy Marshall the Second [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Maria Martin De Armargro
Imesta [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Julie Montero de Castro [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Mielas C. Montenegro [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Christopher Ryan Muller [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Tuckro Mukai [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Christopher Mureo [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Dalan Najib [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Katherine Hogan Neilson [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> R. Iori Niambati [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Sarah Elizabeth Obed [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Annabelle Paez [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Parva de Patel [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Joseph William Person
>> [Clapping]
>> Wah Pfong [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Phillip Rogers [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Stephanie Rose
>> [Clapping]
>> Victoria Renee Roth [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Adam F. Schmidt
>> [Clapping]
>> Anon Sharma [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kasutaka Shimatani [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Manuella Stewart Sephentes [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Elliott James Sims [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Eclar Sensor [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Maria Smith
>> [Clapping]
>> Jason Smoot [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Elizabeth Joy Stanberger [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Adam Swinburne [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Shawhae Tadome [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Elizabeth Mary Talbert [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Pien Karen Tem [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Simon honcu Tem [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Gerald Scott Thompson [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Dominique Chantal Warren [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jennifer N. Williams
>> [Clapping]
>> Ross Williams
>> [Clapping]
>> Adam Wilson
>> [Clapping]
>> Sarah E. Wyckoff [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kazuya Yosheda [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jim Yun [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Christopher Zibraze [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> And now, we will welcome to the stage our
Ford School students receiving a Bachelor
of Arts in Public Policy.
[ Clapping ]
>> Nicole Amanda Arabach
>> [Clapping]
>> Michael Bertonthall [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Erin Maurine Betnoshbiele [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Catherine Louise Buck [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Ross Lank Chenowski [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Daniel Patrick Childs [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Andrew Jacob Chinski [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Molly Elizabeth Cohen [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Nathan Cole
>> [Clapping]
>> Carolyn Marie Cox [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Julia Ashley Degal [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jared Russell Gamlin [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Ryan Garber
>> [Clapping]
>> Christina Jane Hart [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Thomas Jeffrey Held [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Honley Herring [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Robert Schaefer Hink [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Beatrice Elizabeth Anne
Hinton [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Brian Jeffrey McConnell
Herd [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Anna Hanna Hogart [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kyle Richard Krushover [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Phillip Raymond Kurdonowitz
[assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Alexandra Levy [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Justin D. Lewis [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Daniel Lux [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kunal Maleek [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Abigail Covina Marcineak [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> In cligor Margolous [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Chelsey Maupin [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Dupika Meli [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Noah Shephardneary [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Danielle Elise Nelson [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Megan Eileen O'Rourke [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Stephanie Nicole Parish [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Carl Andrew Patchen [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Neil Patel [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Tomaso Pavone
>> [Clapping]
>> Brian Jordan Rappaport [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Peter Rodis [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Jenna Jeannette Rowe
>> [Clapping]
>> Chandler Ruff [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Anusca Ruvina [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Megan Eve Ryan [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Lauren Salzman [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Peter Sol [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Alex Schwartz
>> [Clapping]
>> Douglas Adam Sharpe [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Stephanie Anne Snyder [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Joseph Sycoui [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kelsey Alexandra Von Overloop
[assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Brian Chase Wiendlin [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Lauren Elizabeth Wiznewski [assumed spelling]
>> [Clapping]
>> Kristin Wolf
[ Clapping ]
>> I would, thank you so much Elena.
I would like to ask our graduates to please
stand and face your guests in the audience.
[ Clapping ]
>> Our, would our undergraduates, our B.A.
graduates, at this time, please take the tassel
on your mortar board and move
it from the right to the left.
Whew! And now, it's my great pleasure,
I am so proud to present to all of you,
the Gerald R. Ford School of
Public Policy classes of 2011.
Congratulations!
[ Clapping ]