a separate ceremony<\/a> held earlier in the day, the University conferred 612 bachelor\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAs Clark graduates, I know you will rise to the challenges and opportunities we share as global citizens,\u201d President David B. Fithian \u201987 said. \u201cAmong other skills you developed, I imagine you grew more resilient. Resilience is not simply endurance, and it is not the absence of difficulty. It is the capacity to persist with purpose when circumstances are demanding, uncertain, or disrupted. \u2026 You did not advance because the path was smooth, but because you kept going \u2014 thoughtfully, steadily, and with determination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet the skills you\u2019ve developed by being so engaged at Clark \u2014 critical thinking, resourcefulness, resiliency, confidence in your voice, bridging difference through dialogue, and more \u2014 now help you to be the global citizens and leaders we need to be deeply and thoughtfully and passionately engaged in the challenges and opportunities before us,\u201d Fithian added. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSir Andrew Steer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn his address after receiving a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, Steer acknowledged that the students are graduating into a world with several major challenges \u2014 among them, AI, the erosion of trust in facts and truth, and dysfunctional governments. The last half-century has seen unimaginable progress and growth \u2014 demographically, technologically, and economically. \u201cBut this explosion of the human economic footprint has put unprecedented pressure on the planet and created severe inequality and social challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steer praised Clark\u2019s School of Climate, Environment, and Society for including economics in its interdisciplinary lineup, which \u201cis pointing precisely to the systems change we will need to address climate change.\u201d And every single member of the Class of 2026 has a part to play, he said, whatever their field \u2014 education, finance, social work, healthcare, the arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acknowledging that his speech was meant to offer inspiring advice, Steer turned to the United States\u2019 semiquincentennial for motivation. In 1776, he explained, public opinion of the American Revolution was low \u2014 but that changed rapidly after Thomas Paine published his 47-page pamphlet, \u201cCommon Sense.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn it, he argued: \u2018Don\u2019t make this too complicated. It\u2019s common sense! Don\u2019t try for incremental change. Make a clean break,\u2019 \u200a\u201d Steer said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing inspiration from Paine and the others fighting for independence in 1776, Steer imparted five pieces of wisdom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nHave a big vision. Communicate it in words people can understand. <\/li>\n\n\n\n Recognize that progress may require disruptive change. \u201cBe a smart disrupter.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t be afraid to say what you think, even if it goes against the trend. \u201cNobody asked Thomas Paine to write \u2018Common Sense,\u2019 but he wrote it anyway \u2014 it changed the world.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n Make friends. The tide of the American Revolution was turned by the arrival of French troops and arms, which Benjamin Franklin secured with diplomacy and charm. \u201cHe made the case irresistible. So must we.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n Remember that hope is a discipline. Despite early losses, with defeat imminent, George Washington held onto his hope and convinced his soldiers to stay with him. \u201cAt times, you too will need that audacious hope and moral backbone \u2014 please do not be afraid to fail.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nSteer then turned his gaze fifty years into the future. \u201cWhat will the world look like? My prediction is that it will be cleaner, greener, healthier, more prosperous, and more just. It\u2019s up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roy DiNicola \u201990, chair of the Board of Trustees, congratulated the students on reaching this milestone. \u201cCommencement is one of life\u2019s important rites of passage,\u201d he said, \u201ca pause to recognize your achievements, and a step forward into a world that very much needs the skills you\u2019ve developed here at Clark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DiNicola added that the graduates have been well prepared to deal with the sometimes-intimidating future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you leave Clark, you carry with you not just a degree, but a way of thinking and engaging with the world,\u201d he said. \u201cOur hope \u2014 indeed, our confidence \u2014 is that you will use your education not only to succeed, but to contribute. To lead with purpose. To ask better questions. To build, to challenge conventions, and to care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAt times, you too will need that audacious hope and moral backbone \u2014 please do not be afraid to fail.\u201d<\/p>Sir Andrew Steer<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nKristen Williams, professor of political science and chair of the faculty, urged the graduates to remember that knowledge is power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThink of your own educational experiences at Clark, whether in the classroom, internships, study abroad, community engagement projects, archival research, or fieldwork. While you came to Clark not as a blank slate, but as a person bringing your knowledge and curiosity, you were invariably asked to ponder research questions: \u2018How?\u2019 and Why?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The graduates\u2019 experiences at Clark \u201clead to the development and enhancement of important skills that are necessary for democracy and civic engagement,\u201d including communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and analysis. She urged the graduates to uphold their responsibility to put those skills toward a meaningful and productive life.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNourhan Beshir Attia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nNourhan Beshir Attia, graduating with a master\u2019s in environmental science and policy, delivered the graduate student address. A native of Egypt, she shared that the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of her bachelor\u2019s degree ceremony in 2020. \u201cSo, standing here today, in my late twenties, finally getting this moment \u2014 I am deeply, deeply grateful,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I came to Clark, I thought I was looking for acceptance as someone coming from Egypt,\u201d Beshir Attia said. \u201cAs a modest Muslim hijabi woman, I wondered: Will I belong here? And yes, I found people who respected me. But the most important thing I found was something I wasn\u2019t expecting. I found the moment I stopped waiting for permission to be myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, she said, she stopped asking if she belonged and started knowing that she did. \u201cYou start to notice everyone else in the room,\u201d she added. \u201cWho celebrates you? Who supports you? Who quietly makes space for you to grow? Who doesn\u2019t try to dim you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also discovered that the university experience was never just about getting a degree. \u201cIt was about writing your authentic story,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to have a perfect story. You just need a real one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She congratulated her fellow graduates on their accomplishments and on just being in the room. \u201cSometimes, being in the room is the bravest thing you can be,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd maybe that\u2019s the story for many of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once all degrees were awarded, Fithian brought the ceremony to a close. \u201cWhat we celebrate today is not only what you have completed at Clark, but what you have contributed \u2014 to knowledge, to practice, to each other, and to the life of this University.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Master\u2019s, doctoral degrees awarded at afternoon ceremony <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28406,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-dark-green)","story_headerImg":28406,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223],"displayed_author":[258],"featured":[494],"topic":[311],"class_list":["post-28408","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","displayed_author-melissa-lynch-95-mspc-15","featured-secondary","topic-commencement"],"yoast_head":"\n
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