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.” #
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