>> As Provost of the university.
It is my pleasure to introduce the class of 2015‑2016 who will be offering remarks this
afternoon.
They will be speaking in the following order.
Kristopher pittard, Hanna Gitlin and Konje Machini.
[Applause.]
>> STUDENT: Yeah, Kris!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] >> KRIS PITTARD: PRESIDENT ZIMMER, DEAN BOYER,
HONORED FACULTY, FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2016.
FOR WHAT HAS TO BE ABOUT THE MILLIONTH TIME, I’D LIKE TO CONGRATULATE US ALL.
REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU CAME FROM OR WHERE YOU’RE GOING, GRADUATING FROM THE UNIVERSITY
OF CHICAGO – GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE AT ALL ‑‑ IS AN INCREDIBLY IMPRESSIVE.
7 one that we should all be proud of.
So congratulations to us, Class of 2016.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] AND WE REALLY ARE TODAY’S CLASS OF 2016.
WE’RE NOT THE SAME GROUP THAT CAME IN FOUR YEARS AGO, AND WE’RE NOT EVEN THE SAME CLASS
AS ONE QUARTER AGO.
SOME OF US HAVE BEEN HERE FOR THREE YEARS ‑ #OVERACHIEVERS ‑ AND SOME OF US HAVE
BEEN HERE FOR FIVE OR MAYBE MORE.
SOME PEOPLE TRANSFERRED, SOME WENT ON LEAVE.
AND TWO PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE HERE THIS AFTERNOON PASSED AWAY.
SO IF WE CAN’T EVEN SAY THAT WE ALL SPENT THE SAME FOUR YEARS HERE, WHAT CAN WE SAY
THAT WE HAVE IN COMMON?
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE UCHICAGO EXPERIENCE.
WHAT WAS QUINTESSENTIAL FOR SOMEONE COULD BE PERIPHERAL FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
MY UCHICAGO EXPERIENCE WAS DEFINED BY BOOTH AND WENDT HOUSES AND BY BASICALLY BEING A
BAND DORK.
OTHER PEOPLE WILL LOOK BACK ON THEIR TIME HERE AND SEE IT DOMINATED BY SPORTS, ECONOMICS,
RSO's, OR TRULY EMBRACING THE CITY OF CHICAGO OR JUST LIVING IN THE REG.
SO WHAT ON EARTH DO WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON?
I THINK MAYBE JUST MAYBE THERE ARE THREE THINGS: WE ALL CAME HERE.
WE ALL DID THE REAL LIFE EQUIVALENT OF THE FACEBOOK “WOW” EMOJI THE FIRST TIME WE
SAW DEAN BOYER’S MOUSTACHE.
[Laughter] AND NONE OF US EVER OPENED OUR COPIES OF "DOING
HONEST WORK IN COLLEGE."
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] I never even got the book.
BUT I’D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THAT FIRST ONE.
EVEN THOUGH ALL OF US CHOSE TO COME HERE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS, WE WERE ALL HERE; WE HAVE
ALL LIVED UCHICAGO WITH EACH OTHER.
WHEN I LOOK OUT AT THIS CROWD, I SEE PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE INCREDIBLE THINGS.
WHETHER THEY WROTE BRILLIANT ESSAYS, MADE A REAL LIFE PATRONUS FOR SCAV, OR JUST GOT
EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP EVERY NIGHT.
I KNOW THAT THERE ARE EVEN MORE OF US WHO I NEVER HAD THE PLEASURE TO MEET.
I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT FOR US TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE ALL THAT INCREDIBLE PERSON TO
SOMEBODY ELSE AT THIS SCHOOL, THAT BY VIRTUE OF BEING HERE TODAY WE’VE ALL DONE INCREDIBLE
THINGS, NO MATTER HOW VISIBLE THEY WERE ON CAMPUS, OR HOW MANY FACEBOOK LIKES THEY GOT
US.
BUT AS WE CELEBRATE TODAY, WE ALSO LOOK AT THE FUTURE, I THINK ALL OF US, WITH SOME MIX
OF EXCITEMENT, NERVOUSNESS, AND WONDERING IF PEOPLE IN THE REAL WORLD WILL GIVE US STRANGE
LOOKS WHEN WE MENTION MARX.
BUT AFTER YEARS OF LIVING THE “LIFE OF THE MIND”, HOW DO WE CARRY THAT LIFE FORWARD
INTO THE REAL WORLD AND GIVE IT MEANING?
HOW DO WE TRANSITION FROM OFTENTIMES DECADES OF PREPARING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO ACTUALLY
BEGINNING TO MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE?
BECAUSE AS UNCLE BEN POINTED OUT TWO SPIDERMAN REBOOTS AGO, WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY.
AND I THINK THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT FALLS TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US IS TO FIGURE OUT
HOW TO TAKE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED HERE AND USE IT TO HELP MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
NOW, THE WAY THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US DOES THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT.
IT MAY BE SOMEONE FIGURING OUT A WAY TO SOLVE WORLD HUNGER.
IT MIGHT ALSO BE HELPING SOMEONE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR IDENTITY.
IT COULD EVEN BE TEACHING IN A CLASSROOM OF FOURTH‑GRADERS OR FOURTH‑YEAR COLLEGE
STUDENTS.
It's probably more in common with those two groups than we'd like to admit.
And, yes, finding our way to do good in this world will be incredibly hard.
BUT SO WAS EVERYTHING WE DID HERE.But after years of seeing all of us making the impossible
into the routine, I know we can do it.
Thank you.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] >> Hanna: Thanks, guys.
>> HANNAH GITLIN: GRADUATION MAKES THE SHORT LIST OF BIG LIFE MOMENTS.
AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, THE “GRADUATION” SECTION AT THE HALLMARK STORE IS AT LEAST
AS BIG AS THE “NEW BABY” SECTION.
IT’S FUNNY HOW HALLMARK HAS A MONOPOLY ON MEMORIES.
THERE IS NO HALLMARK SENTIMENT THAT ADEQUATELY SUMS UP OUR TIME HERE.
THERE’S NO “SORRY IT WAS SO COLD AT SUMMER BREEZE” CARD.
Though on a day like today that seems like a blessing.
THERE’S NO “WHAT HUM ARE YOU IN?”
CARD FOR FIRST YEARS TO SEND ONE ANOTHER FLIRTATIOUSLY.
THERE’S NO CARD THAT SAYS “ROSES ARE RED / VIOLETS ARE BLUE / I THINK IT’S SEVENTH
WEEK, BUT IT COULD BE EIGHTH WEEK, TOO.”
NOR SHOULD THERE BE.
THOSE WOULD BE TERRIBLE CARDS. 50 YEARS FROM NOW, WHEN YOU FIND A BOX OF
GRADUATION CARDS IN YOUR BASEMENT, YOU’LL KNOW THAT “CONGRATS, YOU DID IT” DOESN’T
TELL THE WHOLE STORY OF WHAT YOU DID HERE, BUT I’LL GIVE HALLMARK A BREAK ON THAT ONE.
IT’S HARD TO THINK OF ANYTHING THAT COULD.
GRADUATION HAPPENS NEATLY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THIS CEREMONY, BUT COLLEGE HAPPENS MESSILY,
IN VAGUELY REMEMBERED BITS AND PIECES THAT RESIST ORDERLY CLICHÉS.
THE PARTICULARS OF THIS CEREMONY MAY JUST GO THE WAY OF BLURRILY REMEMBERED SCAV ITEMS,
FRANTICALLY COMPLETED SOSC PAPERS, AND ALL THE MATH THAT WE HUMANITIES MAJORS LEARNED
IN HIGH SCHOOL.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT’S OKAY, BECAUSE I KNOW AT LEAST ONE THING WE’LL ALL REMEMBER ABOUT
TODAY.
THE STUPID HAT.
WHY ON EARTH IS IT SO POORLY ENGINEERED?
[Laughter] MAYBE NOW THAT WE HAVE AN ENGINEERING SCHOOL,
WE CAN FIGURE OUT ON A MOLECULAR LEVEL WHY THESE PLASTIC DEATH TRAPS WON’T STAY ON
OUR HEADS WITHOUT BOBBY PINS, SUPERGLUE, AND WISHING REALLY HARD.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] BUT MAYBE THAT’S WISHFUL THINKING.
MAYBE GRADUATION CAP TECHNOLOGY HAS PROGRESSED AS FAR AS IT EVER WILL.
BUT MAYBE SOMEDAY WHEN WE’RE SCANNING THE IMPOSSIBLY IMMENSE DATABASES INSIDE OF OUR
HEADS, WE WILL BE STRUCK BY THE REMEMBERED FEELING OF PLASTICKY SATIN AGAINST SKIN AND
SAY TO OURSELVES, “AH YES, THAT WAS WHAT GRADUATION WAS LIKE.”
YES, THESE HATS ARE WEIRD AND UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT MEMORY ISN’T ALWAYS EASY OR COMFORTABLE,
EITHER.
WE HAVE MILESTONES LIKE GRADUATION, AND SYMBOLS LIKE THE CAP AND GOWN, TO HELP GIVE STRUCTURE
TO THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES ABOUT OURSELVES.
BUT THE STORIES THAT MAKE IT ONTO OUR COLLEGE CURRICULUM, IT’S NOT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A
STRUCTURE, BUT BECAUSE THEY IN SOME WAY CHANGE A STRUCTURE.
AREN’T YOUR MOST MEMORABLE COLLEGE STORIES NOT THE ONES THAT FIT NEATLY ONTO A HALLMARK
CARD, BUT RATHER THE ONES WHERE YOU FELT SOMETHING INSIDE YOURSELF CHANGE IN SOME SMALL, BUT
IMPORTANT WAY?
IT’S EASY TO REMEMBER COBB HALL AS A PRETTY BUILDING, BUT ITS IVY‑COVERED WALLS ARE
FAR LESS IMPORTANT THAN ALL THE TINY WAYS YOU’VE CHANGED INSIDE THOSE WALLS.
IMAGINE THAT YOU HOLD IN YOUR HANDS AN ENVELOPE.
YOU RIP IT OPEN AND TAKE OUT THE CARD THAT DWELLS INSIDE.
THE FRONT IS BLANK, SO YOU FLIP IT OVER.
BUT THE BACK IS BLANK, TOO.
YOU OPEN IT UP.
IT'S BLANK.
CONSIDER GRADUATION A BLANK HALLMARK CARD. 50 YEARS FROM NOW, WHAT YOU’LL HAVE IS WHAT
YOU WRITE IN IT.
Thank you.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
>> KONJE MACHINI: HELLO, HELLO, THANK YOU.
THERE’S A CAT THAT LIVES IN THE ALLEY BEHIND MY APARTMENT.
IT’S A FAT CAT.
I’VE TAKEN TO CALLING HIM BERNIE—MADOFF, NOT SANDERS.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS IS NOT THE TYPE OF CAT YOU WANT TO TAKE HOME TO YOUR PARENTS.
BUT EVEN WITH ALL HIS FLAWS, BERNIE HAS BECOME A FAMILIAR FACE, SOMETHING EXPECTED.
I WOULDN’T PET HIM, BUT I DON’T MIND WHEN HE EATS MY TRASH.
AND I’D BE SAD TO SEE HIM GO.
TO BORROW AN IDEA FROM A FRIEND, BERNIE IS A PART OF MY COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY’S A REALLY WEIRD THING IN COLLEGE.
FROM THE MOMENT O‑WEEK STARTED, WE ALL GOT REAL BUSY DOING THE WORK OF FINDING IT.
BY THE END OF O‑WEEK, YOU’RE GOLDEN.
YOU’VE GOT IT!
REST ASSURED, BY FIFTH WEEK, IT COULD LOOK VERY DIFFERENT.
NOW, FAST FORWARD TO YOUR SECOND OR THIRD YEAR.
MAYBE YOU’RE LEAVING THE DORMS FOR AN APARTMENT.
YOU’RE EXCITED TO ‘LIVE ON YOUR OWN’ BUT YOU’RE AFRAID THAT YOU’LL HAVE TO
START OVER AGAIN.
YOU’LL MISS YOUR HOUSEMATES.
EVEN THE WEIRD ONE WHO ATE GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS FOR EVERY MEAL AT BARTLETT.
THEY, TOO, WERE A PART OF YOUR COMMUNITY!
SO, EVENTUALLY YOU START TO FILL OUT THE OLD CONTOURS AND MAYBE SOME NEW ONES.
COMMUNITY IS ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU’RE WORKING AT.
IT’S NEVER A FINISHED PROJECT.
COMMUNITY MORPHS, SHRINKS, AND GROWS.
IT IS BUILT, AND IT IS SHATTERED.
IN TRIUMPH AND ACHIEVEMENT, WE CELEBRATE THE COMMUNITY.
IN TRAGEDY AND LOSS, THE COMMUNITY MOURNS, SOMETHING WE’VE HAD TO DO TOO OFTEN THIS
PAST YEAR.
WHILE YOU MAY NOT BE CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THESE MOMENTS, IT’S COMMUNITY THAT AMPLIFIES
OUR JOY, AND IT’S COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORTS US IN OUR GRIEF.
IT IS WITHIN THESE MOMENTS WE CAN SEE THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOR IN CREATING COMMUNITY.
BUT IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN, IN A FEW SHORT MOMENTS, WE’LL GET OUR DIPLOMAS.
SO THEN WHAT?
WHAT COMMUNITY DO WE BELONG TO NOW?
I THINK THIS QUESTION IS FAMILIAR TO MOST GRADUATES AND MOST ANYONE IN A
TIME OF TRANSITION.
I MYSELF AM A BIT TERRIFIED AT THE IDEA OF HAVING TO START ALL OVER AGAIN.
NEW CITY, NEW JOB, NO FRIENDS.
O‑WEEK WITH NONE OF THE FREE SWAG.
WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO POINT TO IS THE WAY IN WHICH COMMUNITY ALWAYS REMAINS TO BE
DEFINED.
THE PROCESS OF CREATING IT IS THE WORK OF DEFINING IT, AND WE’VE HAD FOUR YEARS OF
NOT JUST THEORY, BUT OF ACTUALLY PRACTICING WHAT COMMUNITY MEANS.
SO, IN A SENSE, LEAVING THIS SCHOOL, WE AREN’T REALLY STARTING FROM NOTHING.
WE GET TO LEAVE HERE AND CONTINUE REDEFINING AND EXPANDING OUR COMMUNITY, SO THAT IT CAN
BE SO INCLUSIVE AS TO HAVE ROOM FOR STRANGE ALLEY CATS.
And part of this work of community is fighting for community if that attracts those in charge
and even better the New York Times.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] We all get to and have to do this work.
YOU PROBABLY CAME TO COLLEGE HOPING TO FIND A COMMUNITY.
MAYBE AT THIS POINT, YOU’VE HAD SOME PRACTICE BUILDING ONE.
SO, CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2016!Whoo!
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] WE’VE FINALLY MADE IT!
AND THAT’S REALLY SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE, NO SMALL FEAT.
It was not easy.
HERE WE ARE, DONE, MOSTLY.
BEFORE WE GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS AND BECAUSE WE CLEARLY HAVEN’T HAD ENOUGH HOMEWORK ALREADY,
I WANTED TO LEAVE US ALL WITH ONE LAST ASSIGNMENT, THE QUINTESSENTIAL SOSC ESSAY PROMPT: DEFINE
COMMUNITY.
Thank you.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]