Purdue News
Purdue News
|
August 9, 1998Purdue president shares spirit of liberty with graduatesWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue President Steven C. Beering today (Sunday, 8/9) told new graduates that they are "among the vanguard of leaders who will shape our world in the 21st century."Beering addressed the students, their families and friends during commencement ceremonies in the university's Elliott Hall of Music. Purdue has been recognizing summer graduates at the main campus every year since 1984. This summer, 825 students were eligible for degrees. Beering began his remarks by recalling the supreme sacrifice made for our individual liberty by American soldiers during World War II -- a story now vividly being recounted in the blockbuster film "Saving Private Ryan." He then shared Judge Learned Hand's definition of the spirit of liberty: "The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." Beering said the educational experience being celebrated today is the ultimate expression of that spirit: "By investing of yourselves in this unique way, you and all the people who have supported you along the way are affirming your faith in the possibility of a better world, created through individual initiative." He told the new graduates that the millennium will bring new technologies and discoveries as well as challenges and obstacles, and their Purdue education would serve them well in the future. "Purdue is, after all, the kind of university that expects its graduates to lead, to find creative solutions, to generate ideas, to lead" he said. "It is your destiny to bear the standard of this spirit of democracy, this American spirit of freedom, in an era that has the potential to bring peace and prosperity beyond anything past generations could have dreamed. That is a tough assignment. You will be successful if you use the tools and techniques acquired here and if you continue to learn and grow and to work together." In offering his congratulations on their achievement, Beering challenged the graduates to continue their education in the manner that American inventor Thomas Edison defined it. He called it "the seeing of things in the making." Gretchen D. Blankman of West Lafayette gave the student response. She earned a bachelor's degree from the School of Management. Of the 825 students eligible to participate in the 175th commencement ceremony at Purdue, approximately 415 earned undergraduate degrees. About 240 students qualified for master's or educational specialist degrees, and about 170 doctoral degrees were conferred.
Sources: Steven C. Beering, (765) 494-9708
Writer: Sharon Bowker, (765) 494-2077; e-mail, sharon_bowker@purdue.edu
|
