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Graduates bid 'U' Farewell

As about 4,000 University students sat by in caps and gowns, Spelman College President Johnnetta Cole told the soon-to-be graduates about "Making it Matter to Another Soul." "Your years at the University of Michigan will have true and lasting meaning if every now and then you can truly say that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived," Cole told a crowd of 40,000 on Saturday in Michigan Stadium.

The "Sister Prez," as Cole is called among colleagues, read Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Success," among other works and quotations, at the University's Spring Commencement. "I thought I connected, and that's what I really wanted to do," Cole told The Michigan Daily in an interview.

Cole praised University President James Duderstadt for his work toward racial and gender equity at the University at the president's last commencement. Duderstadt plans to step down from his office next month.

Duderstadt opened the ceremonies by asking the audience, "Are you excited about graduating from the University of Michigan? Do you have a job yet?" and followed with his own answer: "Well, I don't either."

One recent RC alum, Marian Fiona Bouch, spoke at the commencement. Bouch's speech highlighted the nostalgic experiences of her time at the University and anticipated the future.

"Our assembly today testifies that we have taken the exams the University has asked us to take, written the essays the University has asked us to write, and obviously done well enough to sit here," Bouch said. "Beyond the walls of this stadium, the real world awaits us."

Some graduates wore symbols and phrases on their mortarboards, including "Hire Me," "Buh Bye," and "LA RAZA."

LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg told the graduates, "You will find some doors open to you - just because you went to Michigan," and urged graduates to report back on their achievements throughout their lifetimes.

Recent LSA alum Farris Alamat said the ceremony was uneventful but that he enjoyed it. "It was a pretty spirited crowd. We were having fun out there."

The graduates packed the front rows of the stands at Michigan Stadium, while the regents and faculty sat on a platform set up on the football field. Because the field is being resodded, wooden planks and sand covered the field.

Members of the University Board of Regents presented honorary degrees to Cole and five others at the ceremony: Polish composer Henryk Gobrecki, civic leader Jesse Hill, Jr., conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, United Nations Population Fund Executive Director Nafis Sadik and mathematician Stephen Smale.