Brandeis Magazine

President Ronald D. Liebowitz (Photo Credit: Mike Lovett)

On May 19, Brandeis celebrated its 73rd Commencement, a meaningful and joyous end to what has been, for many, a challenging academic year shaped by world events.

For many of our graduates, this was also their first opportunity to walk a commencement stage, since their high school graduations were canceled due to COVID-19. The exuberance in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center was palpable.

We bestowed honorary degrees on five remarkable people during the ceremonies: the award-winning historian and filmmaker Ken Burns; the higher-education pioneer Ruth Simmons; civil rights advocate Roy DeBerry ’70, GSAS MA’78, PhD’79; international women’s-rights expert Ruth Halperin-Kaddari; and the late Rabbi David Ellenson, a world-renowned scholar who was a leader of the Reform movement of Judaism.

In his remarks to the undergraduate class, Burns spoke eloquently about the power of history to help us better understand and wrestle with the struggles of our present. He extolled the virtues of curiosity, service to others, and humility, and he advised our graduates to “educate all of your parts” and to be unafraid to engage in self-examination.

Simmons spoke at the ceremony for graduate students, reminding them to “lead with hopefulness” and encouraging these newest Brandeis alumni to value perspectives different from their own. She talked about her experience of working closely with Brandeis alumnus Bob Zimmer ’68, H’21, who was Simmons’ provost when she was president of Brown University, to show how two people from very different backgrounds can come together to do great things.

What Burns and Simmons shared echoed Brandeis’ raison d’être and our founding Jewish values — our establishment as a place to seek “truth, even unto its innermost parts,” and our emphasis on critical thinking, openness, and a commitment to repairing the world.

It will be up to future generations to find solutions to the serious challenges of the day. The Brandeis Class of 2024 gives us hope they will.

Best regards,

Ronald D. Liebowitz