(stirring trumpet music)
- Hello, I am Kent Syverud,
Chancellor of Syracuse University.
On behalf of all of us at the University,
I welcome the graduating class of 2020
and all of your friends, family and loved ones.
I stand now on Shaw Quadrangle,
outside of Hendricks Chapel, on this spring day.
We had all hoped to be together here on this happy day.
That is now a hope deferred to the fall,
when we plan to formally mark your commencement.
But today, we will confer your degrees
and you will become the newest
graduates of Syracuse University.
Today, we honor your years of hard work
and sacrifice and joy and accomplishment at Syracuse.
We also thank those who have supported you.
Faculty, staff, parents, siblings, family and friends,
all who have supported you
during your academic career, here at Syracuse.
Today, we are conferring more than 3,800
undergraduate degrees and 2,800 graduate
and professional degrees.
Our graduates came to Syracuse from across
the United States from 50 different countries
and from many indigenous nations.
We talk a lot here about being orange
and about the values that being orange encompasses.
In the last few months, the class of 2020
has shown us what orange truly means.
No-one could have been fully prepared
for the adversity you have all faced
but you have responded with resilience and with grace.
Your creativity, your wisdom, your innovative spirit
has defined the class of 2020 at its best.
We all thank you.
The class of 2020 has been achieving great things
since the day you stepped onto this campus.
Indeed, for the last 150 years, Syracuse University
has been blessed by wonderful graduates.
You all continue that tradition.
We are all proud of what you have achieved thus far
and we look forward to seeing all
of the extraordinary things you will do in the future.
Congratulations and thank you.
(stirring trumpet music)
- I offer this blessing for the 2020 graduating class.
For the gift of life in this present moment,
we come with thanksgiving on our hearts, holy one.
Collectively, we seek your comfort and care
for those who are struggling with the grief and loss
that have taken up residence in their hearts
in recent weeks.
As the Orange Family, we celebrate who this class
has become, throughout their academic journey
and who they will be, as they continue on life's journey.
As this class step into a world of unknowns
and uncertainties, grant them full assurance
of your ever-present presence, holy one.
Guide them, protect them from the pitfalls
of despair and fear.
May hope exceed current realities.
May joy and happiness be renewed.
Grant this class of 2020 a vision to embrace their dreams,
as they begin again on another path,
may they be certain of themselves,
yet open to adaptation.
May the wisdom that they are good enough, prevail.
Class of 2020, go placidly into the haste
and noise of this world, be yourself,
be gentle with yourself, love yourself.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in difficult times.
You are a child of the universe.
You have a right to be here.
Therefore, be at peace with the holy,
whoever you conceive the holy to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
keep peace in your soul.
The world is noisy and confusing
and it is still a beautiful world.
Be happy, be blessed, amen.
- In 150 years of Syracuse University,
I don't think we've ever seen a year quite like this one.
Not only here on campus but around the world.
Despite the rapid transitions and unexpected changes,
I am confident that there will always
be at least one constant in our lives, our Orange Family.
I looked up the meaning of the color orange.
It is associated with joy, warmth, heat and sunshine.
Not exactly what Syracuse, New York is known for.
But orange is further defined by creativity,
success, encouragement, change, determination and passion.
I looked up the meaning of family.
A group of people united by certain conviction
or a common affiliation.
When you put those two words together,
you get the core of Syracuse University, the Orange Family.
This family is the mother you met on an airplane,
that gets excited by your SU sweatshirt.
She then turns to her seven year old son
and says, "Tell this nice girl
"where you wanna go to school".
It's the roommate you met in a Facebook group
four years ago that will now unquestionably
be a part of your life forever.
It's the basketball fan that hasn't missed a game
with 30,000 of their closest friends, in over 20 years.
It's the professor that had the imaginary
no judgment zone sign at the back of the room
that always encouraged you to speak your mind.
It's the acquaintance you pass on the Quad
that you don't quite know but that always engages
with a big, warm smile.
It's the alumnus that is willing to help you
find a job, just because you are family.
Today, while we're not able to be together in one place,
I know that our common bond continues to run deep.
I will never forget the connections
I have made on this campus.
Whether it was being together at the dome,
witnessing the buzzer beat our win against Duke,
surviving half of the snow days in SU's history.
Coming together on the Quad
on the first warm day of the year,
or spending all night in Bird with classmates,
cramming for an exam.
I have a wealth of memories to take with me.
These memories and all of yours are the result
of the academic and personal contributions
that you all made to the university, every day,
regardless of classes or in session on campus
or across the world, the incredible students
that attend Syracuse will always have a home on the hill.
This may not be the culmination of our years
at Syracuse that we all envisioned
but being apart has allowed me to reflect
on just how meaningful each and every interaction
on this campus has been to me.
When I first came to Syracuse,
I immediately knew that this would be an amazing four years.
What I didn't expect was for those four years
to have the potential to impact a lifetime.
I've learned and grown in ways
that would have not been possible on any other campus.
The memories that I leave with are truly priceless
and that is because of each and every one of you.
I look forward to seeing many of you here in the fall
to finally cross that stage in our beloved dome,
where it all began for us.
To the class of 2020, congratulations.
- On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my honor
and it is my joy to congratulate
the Syracuse University class of 2020.
We welcome you to our alumni family.
We join you in celebrating all you have accomplished
over these years to reach this important milestone
in your life.
We celebrate you for your perseverance
these last few months.
I wish that we could all be together
to recognize our graduates and we will be soon.
In an uncertain time, I know this for sure.
Your years at Syracuse University have prepared
and empowered you to go into the world and lead the way.
You are a graduate of a university
that has launched luminaries in a wide array of professions.
Their time at Syracuse was the foundation of their success
and now it is yours.
What we share in common is our Orange spirit
and passion to make a difference.
So today, you join a powerful network
of Orange alumni who love this University
and recognize the value of your Syracuse degree.
Wherever you go and whatever you choose to do next,
your alumni family is with you.
Welcome, we know you will make us proud.
Forever Orange.
- Kathy, thank you and as a fellow trustee and alum,
I wanna add my congratulations.
Welcome class of 2020 to the Syracuse alumni family.
Look, you've been part of the Orange Family
for the last few years, now you're in it for life,
so welcome on board.
I guess this diploma's now 32 years old
and in those 32 years,
I've had so many wonderful experiences.
Family, friends, personal, professional
and Syracuse has been a part of it every step of the way.
I know the class of 2020 was dealt a really rough hand,
probably the toughest year for seniors
in our 150 years of Syracuse history.
But I know that you all are very well prepared
to take on this new world, with new challenges,
not only make the country but our Syracuse family as well,
stronger than ever.
I can tell you now as an alum,
once Orange, forever Orange.
We're part of a great team together
and even though this campus is not your home anymore,
you'll always feel like home
when you come back to the 'Cuse.
Congratulations, class of 2020, welcome to the team.
- Congratulations, class of 2020.
I am so proud of you.
What you just did is not easy
and I know this is a weird time
to start a fresh chapter but your story
was always gonna have twists and turns
because clean cut lines are boring.
Plus, our current situation doesn't change everything
you have just learned and how you have grown
in the past four years.
Now you have to take all of it and carve out a new path.
That doesn't mean take a shortcut.
Work hard, show up early, stay late
and always think about the next move you wanna make.
You are ready and I'm so excited
to see where you go, congrats.
(stirring trumpet music)
- Dear graduates, families, friends, loved ones
and everyone joining us in this virtual world.
Graduation is always special.
It is beyond the diploma you are to receive.
It is beyond the work you've worked so hard for years.
It is beyond all the stories
you can tell in the years to come
and it is beyond a moment when you are commencing a career.
But today, this graduation day
is truly special, that is beyond the ability
of language to describe.
It is special, yes, very special
in a very different way for each of you.
Today, each of you is celebrating about reaching
the culmination of years you dedicated
to your rigorous academic journey at Syracuse University,
in such a special way.
We are so proud of your accomplishments
and confident that you are prepared to succeed
as you pursue your own unique pathway
that lies ahead of you.
It is now my distinct honor and privilege
to present to Chancellor Syverud
our Doctoral Degree candidates
in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
Our Candidates for Master's Degrees
and Certificates for Advanced Studies
and our candidates for associate and baccalaureate degrees
from all the schools and colleges.
Chancellor Syverud will now confer your degrees.
Congratulations!
- Thank you, Provost Liu.
Following action by the University Senate
and authorization by the Board
of Trustees of Syracuse University,
I now confer upon each of you the degrees
appropriate to your course of study.
The diploma you have earned gives you all the rights,
responsibilities and honors pertaining to that degree.
Congratulations, graduates!
♪ Where the vale of Onondaga ♪
♪ Meets the eastern sky ♪
♪ Proudly stands our Alma Mater ♪
♪ On her hilltop high. ♪
♪ Flag we love, Orange, Float for aye- ♪
♪ Old Syracuse, o'er thee, ♪
♪ Loyal be thy sons and daughters ♪
♪ To thy memory. ♪