PRESIDENT BACOW, DISTINGUISHED DEANS, LEARNED
PROFESSORS CHERISHED FAMILIES, ILLUSTRIOUS
GUESTS AND, FINALLY, DEAR CLASSMATES:
WELCOME ALL. IT IS MY GREAT HONOR TO ADDRESS
YOU IN THIS FORUM WHICH WE CALL TERCENTENARY
THEATRE ALTHOUGH I WILL SPEAK IN A
LANGUAGE ALAS INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO ALMOST ALL OF YOU.
AWARE OF OUR GOOD FORTUNE, I WILL PROCLAIM THE ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE HARVARD CLASS OF 2020 AND 2021
A CLASS BOTH FAMOUS IN NAME AND STRONG IN DEEDS.
TODAY, WE SET OUT ON OUR JOURNEY FROM HARVARD YARD.
SOME WILL TRAVEL TO REMOTE LANDS, OTHERS TO NEARBY PLACES,
OTHERS TO UNKNOWN REGIONS BUT ALL AFTER AN EXPERIENCE SO
MARVELOUS THAT SOME CALL IT
TRANSFORMATIVE. BUT MY TOPIC IS ANOTHER JOURNEY
THE JOURNEY THAT OUR CLASS TOOK THROUGH HARVARD
A JOURNEY THAT REMINDS ME OF THE STORY OF THE LONG AND
MUCH-SUFFERING GREEK HERO ODYSSEUS
WHO WANDERED FOR 10 YEARS AFTER THE SACK OF TROY UNTIL HE
RETURNED HOME. NO ONE CAN DOUBT THAT WE HAVE
BEEN BUFFETED BY SO MANY SUDDEN TWISTS AND TURNS
THAT WE HAVE HAD TO ANGE COURSE REPEATEDLY.
WHEN WE WERE FIRST-YEARS, A LABOR STRIKE EXILED US FROM THE
HALLS OF ANNENBERG; WHEN WE WERE SENIORS, A
DESTRUCTIVE GLOBAL PLAGUE DROVE US OUT OF OUR LODGINGS AND
CAMBRIDGE ALTOGETHER. BUT WE HAVE PREVAILED.
FUELED BY EAGERNESS, DETERMINATION, AND RED BULL
WE CONQUERED CS 50 PROBLEM SETS AND EXPOS ESSAYS.
WE FOUGHT AGAINST THE RAGING BOSTON WINTER AND OUR ENEMIES IN
NEW HAVEN. JUST AS ULYSSES REACHED THE LAND
OF THE LOTUS-EATERS WE, TOO, DISCOVERED A PLACE
WHERE ANYONE WHO ENTERED LOST TRACK OF TIME, HALF-AWAKE
AND HALF-ASLEEP. I REFER, OF COURSE, TO THE THIRD
FLOOR OF LAMONT. SOON WE PROCEEDED TO NEW HOMES.
SOME OF US VOYAGED TO THE BANKS OF THE CHARLES RIVER
WHILE OTHERS-- THE MORE FORTUNATE BUNCH-- JOURNEYED TO
THE IDYLLIC SETTING OF THE QD. BUT THREE AND FOUR TIMES BLESSED
ARE THOSE WHO HAD THE CHANCE TO SETTLE WITHIN THE HIGH WALLS OF
CURRIER HOUSE THE MOST SPLENDID AND
ILLUSTRIOUS OF ALL. WE HAD ALMOST REACHED THE END OF
OUR JOURNEY-OUR THESES WERE WRITTEN, REVISED, AND SUBMITTED-
WHEN IT WAS SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED THAT, BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC,
WE HAD TO WANDER EVEN FARTHER. INSTEAD OF LATE-NIGHT TRIPS TO
FELIPE'S, WE TRIED TO ACCUSTOM OURSELVES TO SOCIAL DISTANCING;
OUR DORMS WERE TRANSFORMED INTO ZOOM ROOMS;
AND OUR NORMAL GARB GAVE WAY TO SWEATPANTS.
BUT EVEN THOUGH WE TRAVELED ACROSS MANY NATIONS AND MANY
SEAS WE REMEMBERED THAT OUR
EXPERIENCES AT HARVARD CONNECT US.
TODAY, FRIENDS, WHETHER IN PERSON OR VIA LIVE STREAM, WE
HAVE COME HOME. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE LOST THE
FESTIVITIES OF SENIOR SPRING, WE HAVE NEVERTHELESS GAINED
SOMETHING TOO: A LASTING BOND BETWEEN US.
ON THE CLASS OF 1857 GATE IN HARVARD YARD
CERTAIN VERSES OF THE POET HORACE ARE INSCRIBED:
"FORTUNATE THREE TIMES AND MORE ARE THOSE WHOM AN UNBROKEN BOND
HOLDS AND THEIR LOVE WILL NOT BE TORN
APART BY EVIL QUARRELING BEFORE THEIR FINAL DAY."
THESE WORDS, DEAREST CLASSMATES, THESE WORDS I SAY TO YOU:
THAT BOND OF OURS WILL ALWAYS ENDURE UNBROKEN.
SO SET SAIL, BUT REMEMBER THAT FRIENDS FROM HARVARD WILL ALWAYS
BE A SAFE HARBOR AMID STORM-TOSSED SEAS.
HAIL AND FAREWELL! [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]