Graduates urged: ‘Learn to embrace change’
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, second from left, receives his
honorary doctorate accompanied by, from left, overseer Edward
Galante, trustee Seymour Sternberg, President Joseph Aoun
and trustees chair Neal Finnegan. Photo by Craig Bailey
See photos of the 106th annual commencement exercises
Reflecting on their compelling and accomplished undergraduate careers would have been perfectly natural as Northeastern’s Class of 2008 awaited their diplomas.
But a series of speakers urged them to think instead about the days ahead, for themselves and the world they are about to begin changing.
"It is you who will decide your future," said Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the keynote speaker during morning ceremonies at the TD Banknorth Garden. More than 2,200 graduates were presented with bachelor's degrees and doctorates of pharmacy during the first half of the university’s 106th spring commencement.
"There are great purposes outside yourself — far greater purposes than mere salary and capital gains,” Cox said.
President Joseph Aoun reminded graduates that a Northeastern diploma is "your launching pad — your ticket to explore the world."
"Push the envelope and step out of your comfort zone," said Aoun. "Learn to embrace change, both technically and humanely.
Cox spoke about the breadth and speed of that change, citing his own agency as an example. The SEC took paper reports from some companies until 2002, he noted, despite announcing a program in the 1980s to begin accepting electronic filings.
"The SEC's transition … you could almost sleepwalk through it," he said. "Your world is going to be marked by change at almost blinding speed."
He did pointed with pride to the role he played, during his 17-year career as a congressman from California, to making sure e-mail isn’t taxed.
"Keeping the tax collector out of your email has been among my most cherished accomplishments in Congress,” he said.
"Knowledge," said Cox, "is the pound sterling of our time (and) you are your own mint. … Learning must constantly be refreshed. You will have to be more intellectually nimble than any who have ever come before."
"Imagine your future," he said. "It is dazzling, because you have learned how to learn."
"The value of graduation is not in the rite of passage itself, but it's more about the possibilities of the future," said student speaker Arminé Nalbandian
Shelli Jankowski-Smith, director of spiritual life, called in her invocation for "the grace to use our education wisely and to live a life of integrity."
At the morning ceremony, the university presented honorary doctorates to Cox, to trustees and benefactors Michael Cronin and Anthony Manganaro, and to Nancy Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati.
Aoun also shared with graduates and their families and friends that he had presented the university’s first Presidential Medal to Neal Finnegan, who finishes his 10-year tenure as chairman of the board of trustees this spring. Finnegan will assume the title chairman emeritus.
Sylvia Hurtado, director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, addressed afternoon commencement ceremonies at Northeastern's Matthews Arena.
Several thousand graduate students and adult learners received their diplomas, and honorary doctorates were presented to Hurtado and alumni and benefactors Katherine McHugh and Henry Nasella.
At afternoon ceremony, Hurtado lauds Northeastern education