In closing
Education that inspires action
Photo by Rob Carlin
Rebecca Dezan '06 served as this year's senior speaker at Commencement ceremonies on May 21.
A history major with a minor in education, Dezan excelled academically while contributing her time and talents to the Clark and Worcester communities. She was involved with women's varsity soccer, the student organization CHOICES, and the University Judicial Board and served as a leader of Clark Trek, Clark's optional outdoor orientation program for new students. She was also a member of the Scarlet Key Society of campus tour guides and the Gryphon and Pleiades Senior Honor Society, and was elected to Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society. As an Anton Fellow, she spent five weeks in Guatemala organizing and running after-school youth soccer programs.
In the following excerpt from her remarks, Dezan urged her fellow graduates to continue to take seriously their responsibility as global citizens to contribute to their communities and work to create positive change.
"Beyond our roles as friends, Clark students and Worcester residents, our greatest responsibility lies as members of a global community. In April of 2004, 180 Clarkies traveled to Washington, D.C., to join with nearly a million of our closest friends in a march on Washington. The March for Women's Lives was one of the defining moments in my Clark career. On the grass carpet below the capital building, I felt proud to stand with my fellow Clarkies for a moment that will be written permanently in history. Since then, we've stood together on the streets of Boston, New York City, in Worcester, and Red Square; often our sense of global responsibility took us away from our classes, though it is our education that inspires our action.
"Most of the world's population will never have the experiences we share as Clark graduates. In our four-year tenure, classmates have gone to the World Social Forum, taught children from the Dominican Republic, Namibia, China and Worcester. We've worked for government services and experienced the cultures and lifestyles of many. If even one of us wore a Clark T-shirt or sweatshirt, or carried a Clark Nalgene bottle, we were represented outside of our community here. When we work as professionals, academics, in businesses, non-profits, or, thanks to our liberal arts degree, not at all, we will take with us four years of relationships and knowledge."
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Clarknews Summer 2006
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Rebecca Dezan '06
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