Commencement 2024

Graduate Ceremony Remarks by President Ron Liebowitz

Transcript

To members of the Board of Trustees, honorary degree recipients, members of the Brandeis National Committee, faculty, staff, alumni, honored guests, families and friends of our graduates, and most especially, the graduates of the Class of 2024, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to welcome all to the 73rd Commencement ceremony of Brandeis University.

The graduates who we recognize today have worked incredibly hard to achieve this milestone. Today is their day to celebrate all they have accomplished through some truly challenging times. Congratulations to our graduates.

[Audience applauding]

Today is also a day for our graduates' families, friends, and loved ones. Let us all recognize those family members and friends, whose devotion and support have contributed significantly to all that we are celebrating today. So graduates, members from the podium, please join me in thanking family members and friends who helped our graduates succeed in earning their graduate degrees today.

[Audience applauding]

I also ask all present to join me in thanking the faculty and staff at Brandeis, whose inspiring teaching, mentorship, and support helped those graduating today succeed and earn their degrees. So thank you members of our faculty and staff.

[Audience applauding]

And last but not least, I want to take a moment for us to convey our appreciation and thanks to those members of the Brandeis staff and many volunteers whose weeks of preparation have made this Commencement weekend possible. We all thank you.

[Audience applauding]

Matt Wohlstrom will today receive an MS degree in project management from Brandeis' Rabb School of Continuing Studies. Matt...[Audience cheering] Matt is also, as you can hear, the coordinator for the Brandeis Facilities Services team working on Commencement, a Brandeis full-time staff member. He and his team have played, and are playing right now, a major role in ensuring that our celebration is a success. Matt is a fitting example of the impact that lifelong learners have across all parts of the Brandeis community. Later today, you'll see him walk across the stage here in Gosman. We thank him for his dedication to Brandeis as a staff member, and we congratulate him for his achievement in earning his graduate degree.

[Audience applauding]

Now, to the rest of our graduating class. The entire Brandeis community is so proud of you and all that you have accomplished to be here today. Many of you pursued your studies under the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, yet you persevered. You had to adapt to new ways of learning, and when the pandemic eased, you were determined to create and recreate community, a slow and challenging task, and one that has tested you, and indeed, all of us. But this test has prepared you in unseen ways for the kinds of challenges you are likely to face after Brandeis. We who have watched you over the past few years are confident about your future because you have shown your mettle and your resilience in navigating an exceedingly difficult environment in which to pursue and earn your degrees. Take with you what you have learned here and build upon it, confident in yourself and on what you absorbed from your classes, in discussions with other students and your faculty mentors, and through your participation in and leadership of graduate student and university-wide committees and organizations. You have been educated with the same values that motivated our founders 75 years ago, values rooted in the Jewish tradition, most importantly, ones that compel you to think critically and to act compassionately. These values will serve you well throughout your entire lives.

So to the graduates of the Class of 2024, on behalf of our extended university community, I wish you the very best as you leave Brandeis and embark on the next chapter of your lives. Congratulations.

[Audience applauding]