I think it's reasonable to say that, no matter how much time we've spent here, we have all
in some way been transformed.
Through our academics, we were exposed to more than just our own lived experiences and
to mindsets we may have otherwise never encountered.
Through extracurriculars, we were able to explore things that weren't initially our
goals, but that became our passions and our loves.
We have learned how to be our best selves.
Class of 2016, thank you and congratulations!
[Applause]
You helped expand educational opportunities for young girls around the world, and dispatched
doctors and nurses to developing countries.
You returned to the Peace Corps in 2010 and were sworn in as Director in 2014.
Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Boston University is proud to call you an alumna and to confer
upon you the degree Doctor of Law, Honoris Causa.
[Applause]
With perseverance and brains, you have plumbed the secrets of the universe, earned through
your research and teaching, the wisdom and stature that has made you worthy of the immense
responsibility you now shoulder as Secretary of Energy.
Ernest Moniz, you have made the world safer, smarter and better.
Boston University is proud to confer upon you the degree Doctor of Law, Honoris Causa.
[Applause]
You came to Boston University as a brilliant hockey talent and prospective professional,
but after 11 seconds on the ice, ended your career and left you paralyzed at 20 years
of age.
No one would have blamed you if you had quit.
But there's just one thing--you don't know how.
Then you did something even more extraordinary: you began helping people.
Travis Roy, philanthropist, activist, inspiration and Terrier, it is with great pride that we
confer upon you the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, Honors Causa.
[Applause]
When most of us want to see something better on television, we change the channel.
You, on the other hand, changed television.
You climbed rung-by-rung to Chairman of CBS Entertainment, leaving the glass ceiling in
shards behind you.
Your programming has stood the test of time.
ER was on the air 15 years, How I Met Your Mother for 9, Criminal Minds for 11 and counting.
And you've kept us on the edge of our seats with The Good Wife, and laughing out loud
with The Big Bang Theory.
Nina Tassler, Boston University is proud to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane
Letters, Honoris Causa.
[Applause]
Be it fear of failure, or fear of success, fear of the unknown, or fear of rejection,
or fear of shame,
accepting fear head-on is freeing.
The best antidote to fear is your curiosity, passion and creativity.
And may I leave you with two final thoughts:
"Kindness" does not mean "weakness," and
you can't make mistakes in your twenties.
My sincerest congratulations to each of you in the Class of 2016.
It is such an honor to be here with you today, and I wish you a beautiful life.
Thank you so much.
Upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
given to the Trustees of Boston University and entrusted by them to me,
I hereby confer upon you the degrees which you have earned together with all appropriate
honors, privileges and responsibilities, in token of which you are granted diplomas.
My congratulations to you all.
[Applause]