Caps flew as undergraduate, graduate and professional students celebrated their new degrees in Wallace Wade Stadium Sunday morning.
Commencement speaker Melinda Gates, Trinity ’86 and Fuqua ’87, an entrepreneur, former trustee and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, discussed the importance of connection for this year’s graduating class. She encouraged students to take advantage of new technologies to maintain connections with people and, in turn, take inspiration from those people to make a difference in the world.
“Love is a part of healing, born out of a big idea, and that is the dignity of all people,” she said. “Of course not all of you are going to dedicate your whole life to eradicating poverty. That doesn’t mean you can’t form deep human connections or that your connections can’t make a difference in the world if you make the moral choice to connect deeply with others.”
Although abstract conceptions of humanity and poverty are not enough to motivate people to be civically engaged, she noted that truly seeing and understanding all people as three-dimensional individuals will elicit commitment to working towards an equitable world.
She related how much technology has changed since she was a student at Duke, which was before students had their own personal computers. As a computer science major, she recollected spending time in the basements of “creepy” buildings on campus, working on coding assignments because it was difficult to find an open computer to use with the high demand.
Despite the importance of technological changes, it is important to realize that technology is only a tool, she said.
“Technology is just a tool, it’s a powerful tool, but it’s just a tool,” Gates said. “Human connection is very different. It’s not a tool, it’s not a means to the end, it is the end. It’s the purpose of a meaningful life and it will inspire the most amazing acts of love, generosity and humanity.”
The increasing volume of scientific and technological creations are the means for “lighting up” a worldwide network of seven billion people with long lasting and highly motivating connections, she added.
Belle Sukniam graduated from the school of nursing in December, but came back to participate in the ceremonies Sunday in order to hear Gates speak. Knowing Gates was also once a new graduate is inspiring, Sukniam said.
“She didn’t know she would be Melinda Gates, that she would be able to help so many people,” Sukniam said. “Hopefully, one day we’ll follow and be able to give back to our communities and make Duke proud.”
Student commencement speaker Andrew Barnhill, Divinity ’13, spoke before Gates in the commencement ceremony. He emphasized the importance of the individual moments that compose a meaningful Duke experience and how they feed into one’s “outrageous ambitions” for the future.
“For some that moment may be on a spring night, screaming for Smash Mouth…and sometimes the moments are more weighty, like today, the relief to your mom and dad’s checkbook,” Barnhill said. “Through each of them, we are challenged to find our voices and our places in Duke’s identity.”
Barnhill added that there is a “deeply Duke” culture of continuously improving the way things are customarily done that has prepared students to go forth and contribute innovatively to society.
“We know that before us lie new epiphanies, adding layers to the moments that have come before,” Barnhill said. “It looked like outrageous ambitions, but today, it looks like sacred moments.”
The University awarded over 3,800 degrees to undergraduate, graduate and professional students who completed their programs of study this Spring. Over 1200 students who graduated in September or December 2012 were also invited back to participate in the commencement ceremony.
During the ceremony, Gates received an honorary degree for her philanthropic work in the United States and around the world. Honorary degrees were also presented to human rights activist Marguerite Barankitse; immunologist Max Cooper; national archivist and librarian, David Ferriero; Henry Louis Gates Jr, a literary critic and scholar of African-American literature; William Hunt Gross, founder and managing director of one of the world’s largest investment firms; and Judith Jamison, the artistic director of a New York based dance company.
Sara Ali, a rising sophomore in high school and the younger sister of Hamid Ali, who graduated from the Pratt School of Engineering today, said she enjoyed the commencement ceremonies as a whole, particularly the concise nature of each portion of the morning. She plans to apply to the University.
“It makes me excited for college and kind of overwhelmed for the future,” Sara Ali said.
Gates concluded by asking the graduates what they see themselves accomplishing post-graduation.
“I can’t wait to see what you do,” she said.
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