University Times

Happy graduates, their parents, relatives and friends, as well as faculty and staff packed the Petersen Events Center May 1 for Pitt’s annual commencement exercises.

A U.S. senator urged new Pitt graduates to get involved and to make a difference for the good of their communities. “Humankind always needs volunteers. Don’t wait for the next disaster,” said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Maryland) in his keynote address at Pitt’s May 1 commencement exercises.

“Right now, there’s a child who needs you to teach him how to read. Right now, there’s a family that needs you to help build them a home. Right now, there’s an elderly or disabled or lonely person who needs you to comfort her.”

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt, Cardin told the packed Petersen Events Center, “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.”

To drive home the point, Cardin related a parable of a rabbi grilling his students, asking them how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun.

One student replied: “It’s when one can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog.” Another replied: “It’s when one can look at a tree in the distance and tell what kind of tree it is.”

Not so, the rabbi corrected them, saying: “It is when you can look on the face of any person and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you can’t see this, it is still night.”

Cardin advised the new Pitt alums: “Don’t just see the light, be the light. Every day I work with people who follow their passion to be a light. Follow your passion. Be the light to help a neighbor get through a difficult challenge. Be the light for your neighborhood’s environmental renewal. Be the light for your nation’s leadership to make the world a friendlier and healthier place to live. You can make a difference.”

Pitt has provided a strong foundation for the new graduates to pursue a satisfying and rewarding vocation, but just as valuable to society is a person’s avocation, Cardin maintained.

“Winston Churchill summarized the distinction best by saying, ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give,’” he said.

“Your avocation is your calling. It’s a mysterious force — a quiet but determined voice — deep inside you, compelling you to do something, somewhere, somehow for the greater good. Your obligation is to pay attention, to heed that voice, to recognize and cultivate that calling and to act on it. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said, ‘Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve,’” Cardin said.

“We don’t cultivate that calling in a vacuum. Rather, we are impacted by the people and the communities in which we live. The University of Pittsburgh is a unique institution that instills in each of you an individual responsibility to challenge yourself to do more.”

At the May 1 commencement exercises, University officials conferred upon Sen. Benjamin Cardin the honorary degree of Doctor of Public and International Affairs. From left, Pitt Board of Trustees chair Stephen Tritch, Provost Patricia Beeson, Cardin and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg.

A 1964 Pitt cum laude graduate and former president of the Student Government Board, Cardin credited his undergraduate years with preparing him for his career in politics, which includes 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as making lifelong friends and learning to appreciate the beauty and creativity of the arts through elective courses.

Cardin noted that his generation was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s clarion call to public service. Early in his administration Kennedy established the Peace Corps, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Cardin quoted Sergeant Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, who said: “Be servants of peace. Weep with those who are sorrowful, rejoice with those who are joyful, teach those who are ignorant. Care for those who are sick. Serve your families. Serve your neighbors. Serve your cities. Serve the poor. Join others who serve. Serve, serve, serve! … For in the end, it will be the servants who save us all.”

Cardin said: “The Peace Corps captures the essence of our country at its best — highlighting America’s strengths and demonstrating that each of us can make a difference, not only in Pittsburgh, but around the world.

“So much has changed since my friends and I were on campus, but the challenge for your generation is the same as it was for mine: to seek a safer world where all inhabitants had decent housing, food and opportunity,” Cardin told the audience.

“We live in a technologically advanced society, yet we have not found the way for people to live in peace. We live in a world with abundant resources, yet too many children go to sleep hungry at night. We have seen advancements in health care that were unimaginable just a decade ago, yet far too many of our neighbors die each year because they cannot get access to that medical care,” he said.

However, the Millennials, as those born after 1980 are known in popular parlance, eminently are qualified to meet the world’s daunting challenges, Cardin stressed.

“When I look out at you, I am hopeful. You are more racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations, and you’re on course to become the most educated generation in America’s history. Yours is the first generation to grow up using social networking technology. You are more tolerant of diversity; you are inclusive and collaborative. These are wonderful attributes,” Cardin said.

Despite entering adulthood during the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, Millennials remain optimistic about their future and the nation’s future, he noted.

“The University of Pittsburgh has trained you well to meet the challenges of your generation,” Cardin concluded. Evoking John F. Kennedy’s well-known phrase, he said, “The torch has been passed to your generation. Use the knowledge and experience gained at Pitt and the unique opportunities we have living in America to make a positive difference. Take the torch — provide the light of hope and sustenance to your neighbors — here and around the globe.”

At the May 1 commencement exercises, the University conferred upon Cardin the honorary degree of Doctor of Public and International Affairs.

Overall, Pitt conferred approximately 7,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees this year at its five campuses. Pitt-Bradford, Pitt-Greensburg, Pitt-Johnstown and Pitt-Titusville held their own commencement ceremonies.

—Peter Hart

Elizabeth Murray, keynote speaker at Pitt-Johnstown’s April 30 commencement, is congratulated by UPJ President Jem Specter. Murray’s life story was depicted in the 2003 made-for-TV movie, “From Homeless to Harvard.”

International opera star Marilyn Horne sang a song as part of her address to Pitt-Bradford graduates May 1.