| Dean J. Brian Atwood addressed graduates and their families at the Institute's May 14, 2006, commencement ceremony
Graduates, families and friends of the Humphrey School Class of 2006, Regent Larson, Vice Provost Carney, Associate Deans Goetz and Bryson, Director of Graduate Studies Hanratty, former University President Ken Keller, former Deans Schuh and Brandl, members of the faculty, and honored guests Jim Johnson and Maxine Isaacs, welcome to our commencement ceremony. And Happy Mother’s Day to the proud mothers of our graduates and to all mothers here present.
Today we graduate 157 individuals, the largest class ever to graduate from the Humphrey School or its predecessor public administration school. This is my fourth graduation as dean and I have been able each year to congratulate the largest class of graduates in our history. Kudos to our Admissions staff for bringing more high quality students here than ever before and to our faculty for keeping both the quality of education and our graduation rates high.
One proof of the quality of our faculty and the quality of our student body are the University-wide award recipients we count among us today. Professor Deborah Levison is a recipient of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education. This is the second year in a row that a Humphrey faculty member has been given this honor. Sarah Taylor-Nanista is the recipient of the 2006 President's Student Leadership and Service Awards. This annual award recognizes the accomplishments and contributions made by outstanding student leaders at the University of Minnesota. Bethany Snyder is the recipient of the University of Minnesota’s 2006 Breaking the Silence Award. This award from the University’s GLBT Programs Office recognizes efforts that confront discrimination based on gender identification or sexual orientation. Congratulations to all three of you.
We at the Humphrey School pride ourselves in recruiting future leaders and then in honing the leadership skills of our students. I hope today that all of you feel better prepared to confront the challenges of our modern world in whatever professional field you choose.
Many of you have not waited to receive your degree before jumping into the public arena. Just the other day five of you were pictured in the Star Tribune next to your quotes about the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan. I was impressed that you managed to appeal for action by our government in five very different ways!
A large number of you were motivated by the devastating scenes in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. You organized a fundraising drive and collected clothing for the victims. Some of us felt you were more effective than the U.S. Government! Hurricane Katrina inspired a soul-searching discussion among you about race and poverty in America.
You sparked a debate about racism within the Institute and prodded us to confront this issue more directly in the classroom and on the street. Others mobilized students and citizens to oppose an effort to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Minnesota. Your very creative student association resolution made its point; greater sensitivity emerged among students and faculty about the inequities of our legal system and the dangers of playing politics with religion.
Others worked on capstone projects doing research on a wide variety of public issues. You examined the use of technology to help provide more advanced courses for Minnesota’s rural high schools. You did research on the impact of budget reductions in the Medicaid program on non-profit service providers. You evaluated the educational experience of charter schools. You wrote an action plan for a neighborhood economic revitalization project. You also developed recommendations and strategies for:
- Reforming the judicial election process in Minnesota;
- Improving access to education at the University of Minnesota for lower and middle income students;
- Reforming U.S. drug policy in Bolivia; and
- Combating malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This is just a sampling of projects and studies our students completed this year. They have addressed real world issues with newly learned analytical skills, a sharper awareness of political constraints and opportunities and more effective advocacy techniques. For those older Americans who fear that our nation is losing its passion for public problem solving, I can assure you that these graduates are prepared to change that.
For our graduates, we urge you to use your leadership skills to foster the common good. Exercise your citizenship by participating in the process. Stay optimistic, for every effective leader is an optimist at heart. America became a world leader because it was never a victim of its own history; it never met a frontier it could not conquer. We Americans are sometimes called naïve in our optimism, but our inclination, to paraphrase Shaw, is to “see things the way they could be and ask ‘why not’?”
At the same time, we must also learn humility. You have had an opportunity to learn from the 12 international students who join us today as graduates that we Americans do not possess all wisdom. We can learn from older cultures and different perspectives. And colleagues like Jasna, Ayuna, Yifei, Vivek, Irma and the others, including the Humphrey Fellows, have graced us with their personalities and taught us much about our world.
Wherever you are from-- the United States, Bosnia, Russia, China, or wherever—and wherever you end up, we hope you will always cherish your experience here at the Humphrey School. We will miss you. I wish you the very best in your professional careers and in your personal lives.
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