Burns urges grads to embrace the past while moving ahead

Cheers, screams and even some barking rang out at Crisler Arena on Dec. 14 - but the basketball team's game against Duke had been over for a day. Instead, these cheers celebrated University students receiving their degrees at winter commencement.

More than 2,000 students from each of the University's undergraduate schools, as well as many post-graduate students, received degrees at the ceremony.

LSA graduate Joi Davis said the day was very important for her.

"I feel grown up. I've carried on the tradition of my family," said Davis, referring to the fact that about 10 relatives also have graduated from the University.

Speaking to the crowd were LSA graduate Amy Kay Kimble, Provost Nancy Cantor and President Lee Bollinger.

Bollinger quoted from the Robert Hayden poem "Those Winter Sundays," telling graduates to follow their dreams and not forget the University.

"These ceremonies mean a lot to everyone," Bollinger said. "Of course they mean the most to the students, but they are also important to their parents, friends and faculty."

Giving the keynote address was documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns, who grew up in Ann Arbor, also received an honorary degree from the University. He spoke about the importance of history in the graduates' lives, saying that he believes "your future lies behind you."

"If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know where you're going?" Burns said.

Burns tried to avoid giving out generic advice, instead asking the graduates to "give up addictions" and "try brushing your teeth with your other hand." Burns said giving the speech was an "unbelievably great honor" considering that he "formed here."

Bollinger, who called himself a "great admirer of Burns," said the filmmaker gave a "tremendous speech."

Davis said she also enjoyed Burns' speech, saying she was able to relate to it.

"I thought the speech was really relevant to what we are going through," Davis said.

Also given honorary degrees were Gwendolyn Calvert Baker and Richard Smalley. Baker received three degrees from the University and also helped form the University's affirmative action policy. Smalley, who taught for some time at the University, won a Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry.

The day before the ceremony, Burns lectured to a packed theater at the Michigan League about ways his films have influenced his view of the American identity. Burns discussed many of the experiences he has had filming his movies, which include "The Civil War," "Baseball" and his most recent documentary on Lewis and Clark.

Burns stressed the ambivalence many Americans have toward their history and their country.

"We have an extraordinary country," Burns said. "Our birthright is to use it, not to abuse it."

Burns quoted one phrase from the journals of Lewis and Clark repeatedly throughout the lecture, a phrase that he applied to the graduation as well. He said it summed up the feelings of many Americans as they passed important times in their lives.

"We proceeded on," he said.

01-07-98