Welcome to the MBA class of 2020 celebration.
I'm Margaret Hayes, Associate Dean of the MBA program and I'm grateful and
excited to be a part of the celebration today.
Class of 2020 you are a special class, and
I am proud of how you have come together as a community over the last two years.
I have seen you work together and support one another in the classroom,
in Section Olympics and at the executive challenge.
Your passion and commitment to diversity, equity and
inclusion led to the launch of GSP pods.
I've observed you in your respective leadership roles, both visible and
behind the scenes, supporting your peers and the first year students.
In addition, you have demonstrated resilience as you finish your time at
Stanford in one of the most unprecedented ways online, and
during an extremely important time of social change.
The last several months have underscored that now, more than ever,
the world needs thoughtful and innovative leadership.
And you give me a sense of optimism about the future.
I also want to say a special thank you and welcome to your families and friends.
You've worked hard to get to this point, and many of you have relied on
your families and friends to help you reach this milestone.
Make a point to thank your loved ones for their support.
While this celebration is not your official commencement,
we want to mark this momentous achievement with you now.
We're going to hear from senior associate Deans, Paul Oyer and
Brian Lowery, and some special guests who have well wishes for you.
In addition, we'll have a photo and
video montage highlighting some of your memories of your time at the GSB.
This video was created from the incredible contributions that you gave to us and
should be reflective of your time here.
Afterwards, you will have an opportunity to gather virtually with your classmates.
Let's kick off the celebration.
>> Welcome, class of 2020.
I'm Senior Associate Dean Paul Oyer, and I'm excited
to have the opportunity to recognize and honor your accomplishments today.
Class of 2020, you began this journey in September 2018 with hope and enthusiasm.
You came together for the first time on the GSB campus in CEMEX Auditorium.
And as you may remember, Dean Levin quoted the musical Hamilton and
said that history would have its eyes on you.
He was right, you came together as a team and
created a painting in week zero with your section mates.
Learned business fundamentals in the management perspectives and foundations,
fulfilled the global experience requirement on global study trips.
Tried out new roles during your summer internships.
And returned to the GSB ready for your second year.
You welcomed the class of 2021, pursued your interests and passions in elective
courses and thought deeply about your post GSB career plans and yet that all seems so
long ago now because everything, and I mean everything changed in March.
Between the global pandemic and the current unrest in the United States,
you are finishing in a way no prior GSP graduating classes experienced.
This wasn't the spring you imagined,
but we are very proud of how your class faced these challenges,
came together as a community and exhibited resilience and compassion.
From the initial ideas of Camp Stanford over spring break, to teen positivity
contagion, to the gift card bank, to the GSB show, you exemplified
how a community can be socially distant, while being emotionally closer than ever.
And in the last few weeks, you made Stanford proud
by being part of this national conversation around racial justice.
This is the end of your time at the GSB, but it's just the beginning of putting
your GSB experience to use for yourselves and for the world.
We're counting on you.
As you leave Stanford, the United States and the whole world are facing
unprecedented social, economic and public health challenges.
The world needs young, talented people like you to rise to this challenge and
to strive for something greater than yourselves.
It won't always be easy.
Hopefully you learned a lot about how to think critically at the GSB.
But none of your textbooks or course notes are going to give you the answers to
turning around a company when the economy stops, or to changing the path of
a warming planet, or figuring out the best way to fight for social justice.
As that great philosopher Charlie Brown of the Peanuts comic strip once said,
in the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.
Dig deep and find those answers.
We know you can.
With that, congratulations on your tremendous achievement, best wishes and
take some time to enjoy the moment.
And go out there and make us all proud that what you endured in your final
quarter at the GSB has made you and your community stronger and
more determined than we could ever have imagined.
>> Hello class of 2020, friends and families.
I'm Senior Associate Dean Lowery.
I'm honored to be able to commemorate this moment and
time as you earn your degree from Stanford GSB.
Much has transpired since you started at the GSB in 2018.
And principled and purposeful leadership is more important than ever.
This need has been made clear in the States by the COVID-19 pandemic,
the violence against African Americans and
the subsequent displays of force against a diverse array of voices
that spoke out about the continued systemic inequities in our society.
And this need for leadership is evident around the world.
Right now, our societies need leadership rooted in the ability
to critically analyze complex situations
without losing sight of the ultimate goal of serving living, breathing human beings.
We need self aware leaders capable of selfless contributions.
We strive to educate leaders like you that can see and respond to these needs.
In your time here,
many of you have taken courses designed to increase your understanding of yourself,
as well as engage productively with the experience of others.
We hope these skills will serve you well as you enter what are turbulent, but
potentially transformative times for the world.
I expect that many of you while excited into the fray,
are also nervous about what lays ahead.
If you find yourself overcome with anger or fearful about the future,
I implore you to embrace that feeling.
In times of tomorrow there's often the possibility of searing clarity,
to see the world as it is and know it is not as you would have it.
Such clarity offers the chance to orient your life, the chance for true purpose.
The chance for a clear road to if not comfort, meaning.
So as you stand on the precipice of new endeavors,
I will not offer congratulations, though they are richly deserved.
Instead, I want to offer you something more.
Frederick Douglass said, without a struggle there can be no progress.
So I wish for you a good life, a life of beautiful struggle, I wish for
you a life filled with purpose in the pursuit of deep and lasting meaning.
>> Congratulations to the Stanford Graduate School of Business Class of 2020.
What an accomplishment.
I know this is how you thought your year would end,
but it takes nothing away from what you've accomplished, the friends you've made,
the experiences that you've had.
>> You received an extraordinary education and
made a number of lifelong friends who not only enrich your current experience,
but will continue to shape you and your trajectory through life.
>> One often hears at commencements that the world is yours to shape.
Well, this has never been more true.
You are the innovative, principled, and
insightful leaders who will change our world for the better.
And I'll be rooting for you every step of the way.
>> You can and will make a difference in our world, you can be sure about that.
Dream big, surround yourself with people that you admire that you can learn from
and put your full self in whatever you choose to do after business school.
>> Get involved now, add continuous civic engagement to your balance of
professional achievement and your personal life.
You will enhance your lifelong sense of well being.
>> This is a very unusual time in history that we're all living through.
And while it's difficult and perhaps wait for
a different experience than you might have expected, maybe it's an opportunity.
Because, whenever there's this much change in the world,
it means there's opportunity out there.
And so I'm excited at you.
I'm very excited for the opportunity that you have here and I look forward to seeing
everything that you're going to accomplish and changing our world for the better.
>> I'd like to add my congratulations to the class of 2020.
All of you are graduating from the nation's premier business school.
So have heart, be aggressive and the right opportunity will come your way.
>> There are six and a half billion people in the world outside the developing world.
They're all advancing toward modernity, connecting into the economy.
You are entering a world which will grow immensely.
You are well prepared.
Keep your entrepreneurial spirits alive.
>> Be known for your generosity, not your status.
Empowering others is the single most powerful way to empower yourselves.
>> You have resilience.
You have passion.
You have energy.
All of those things society needs more than ever.
So be great Stanford alums.
Take advantage of what you've learned and have impact on the world.
>> The last three and a half months have not been what you expected.
Even more so are the ones that we're counting on these last three and
a half months to interview for important jobs.
And yet I'm sure you will overcome this.
And it is also a case study and
facing adversity which will serve you well down the line.
>> As the world is changing so dramatically I look forward to seeing so
many of the new accomplishments that you're going to create and
participate and provide to the world.
Just make sure the passions keep in front of you and they will let you accomplish
and give you the energy to accomplish the things that you're looking forward to.
>> I would like to leave you with words of Cesar Chavez, to make a great dream
come true the first requirement is to have a great capacity to dream and
the second one is persistence.
Now more than ever, we need your leadership, we need your contributions,
we need your impact.
Once again, congratulations.
>> Congratulations to the Stanford GSB class of 2020.
>> Congratulations, have fun, go be you.
>> Welcome to GSB alumni hood.
>> Congratulations.
You're now part of the GSB alumni family.
>> Congratulations, GSB graduates of 2020.
>> Congratulations, Class of 2020.
>> I wish you the best of luck.
I'm so proud of you.
So go forward and do extraordinary things.
>> Congratulations again, go do good work.
>> There's one thing that's sure for this class and
on this day, you've had a great education.
All that is left for you now just do it.
[MUSIC]
>> I hope you enjoyed the celebration of your time at the GSB,
seeing your two years unfold in your photos and videos was incredibly moving.
Thank you for sharing them with us.
On some level, all graduations at the GSB are bittersweet.
This one especially so given our inability to celebrate together.
However, we will have an opportunity together in person with an official GSB
commencement ceremony at a later date.
Of course, that usual celebration will be a traditional way to close an academic
experience.
But I expect that for many of us, the best part will be being together again,
and sharing those warm smiles, hugs and stories in town square.
Congratulations, class of 2020.
I can't wait to see how you change lives, change organizations and change the world.