Graduates urged to use the insights gained from reason, moral conviction

By Jacquie Powers

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings urged members of the Class of 2000 to follow the example of two great men -- U.S. Congressman John Lewis and Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- and go into the world to lead lives grounded in ideas, ideals and moral conviction.

Under cool and partly cloudy skies at the univer-sity's 132nd Commencement at Schoellkopf Field Sunday, May 28, Rawlings told 5,000 graduates and 34,000 family and friends: "The question for all of us, and especially for the graduates who have so many choices open to them today, is how to live a complete life -- one that is intellectually alive, socially and politically engaged and grounded in moral principles. Our challenge is to determine how we live such a life in a pluralistic, global society in which many well-founded values turn out to conflict."

There were laughter and tears, balloons and water bottles, dogs and babies in both the stadium seats and on the field among the graduates. There was a tiny helicopter flying above a miniature airstrip constructed atop one graduate's mortarboard. There was even a marriage proposal. And while joy brightened the faces of one and all, the smile that perhaps carried the most surprise was the one on the face of graduating senior Delcia Ralwins when fellow graduate Felix Mendez asked her to marry him and slipped an engagement ring on her finger. The surrounding crowd of graduates erupted into a small, enthusiastic commotion when Ralwins said yes.

Delcia Ralwins hugs fellow graduate Felix Mendez, who has just proposed marriage to her during the Commencement ceremony. She accepted. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

During his address, Rawlings noted that Cornell faculty and students are well-known for doing "path-breaking work." But, he said, "there is another aspect of Cornell that we often ignore when we count our Nobel Prizes or our Rhodes or Marshall scholars or our research awards. While we are a secular institution, like the nation itself, we allow ample room for the consideration of moral, ethical and religious issues."

It was in this spirit of moral and ethical enquiry that Lewis and Tutu -- "two individuals who arguably made the deepest impression on our full community, as well as on me personally" -- came to speak at Cornell this year, Rawlings said. Both, he said, "are men of strong moral and religious convictions."

Lewis, of Georgia's 5th Congressional District, spoke in Sage Chapel in February as this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Lecturer. In April, Archbishop Tutu of South Africa came to campus as the Bartels World Affairs Fellow. Both Lewis and Tutu "grew up in societies where the color of their skin defined and severely circumscribed their opportunities," Rawlings said. "Yet they both helped to change their countries by the force of their personal example. Both are intelligent and articulate. Both managed to obtain quality educations, despite tremendous odds. But what sets them apart from other very well-educated people is the moral authority they have brought to their nations' struggles -- a moral authority rooted in deep religious beliefs."

Lewis risked his life in his fight against racism during the early Civil Rights Movement in the South, and he continues to work to protect human rights. Tutu also risked his life in the fight to end apartheid in South Africa and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts to bring racial justice to his homeland.

"As a campus, as a nation, as a global community -- where issues of race and ethnicity continue to cause unease or much, much worse -- we need to hear the message of our common humanity that both John Lewis and Desmond Tutu brought to Cornell this spring," Rawlings said. "But even more, perhaps, we need to fathom the genuine conviction that both John Lewis and Desmond Tutu have brought to public life."

Both Lewis and Tutu felt called to become activists out of their inner strength and their convictions, Rawlings said. Similarly, he added, many of those graduating in the Class of 2000 have combined reason and intellect with deeply held convictions to become activists during their years at Cornell. He gave two examples.

"Justin Minkel, a College Scholar and Africana studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was a winner of this year's Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Service Award. Justin, in partnership with a community member, created the Belle Sherman Multicultural After-School Program, 'dedicated to the success of local elementary school children who need both academic support outside their homes and exposure to a world outside their neighborhoods.' Children in the program have met poets, musicians and scientists; they have come to Cornell for behind-the-scenes looks at our facilities; they have visited local sites important in African-American history; they have received one-on-one tutoring in science, math and literacy skills. And all because one Cornell student had a vision for improving this community and the determination to follow through.

"I have also been struck by those students who have worked ably on the sweatshop issue for the past several years," Rawlings said. "Their commitment to human rights has been rooted in deep moral concern and an international perspective. Claire Urban, Class of 2000 and a history major in Arts and Sciences, has for the past two years served as president of Cornell Students Against Sweatshops. She and hundreds of other Cornell students -- particularly students in ILR -- have cooperated with the administration to achieve a shared goal: improving the working conditions of men, women and children employed in the apparel industry, both here in the United States and abroad. But whether the issue is sweatshops, environmental protection, human rights or any of myriad others worthy of concern, Cornell students have acted out of principle, often informed by moral or religious beliefs."

Rawlings said gaining material success, which seems hard, is actually quite easy. "Serious leadership is more difficult," he asserted. "It requires authentic moral conviction harnessed to keen intellect and committed activism. John Lewis and Desmond Tutu have furnished us eloquent examples this year."

In closing, he challenged members of the Class of 2000 "to continue your work, with great skill, broad knowledge and the insights gained from both reason and moral conviction, in the world beyond Cornell."