[♪ Music ♪]
Honored guests, please stand for the pledge of allegiance, and remain standing for the singing of the first verse of the national anthem. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Music, The Star-Spangled Banner]
Please be seated.
The president of the university. Hello, class of 2024. Mr. Rector, members of the Board of Visitors, students, colleagues, family and friends. Welcome to Final Exercises, the sequel. My name is Jim Ryan. and in addition to being the president of UVA, I’m your host for today’s ceremony. And I will also officially award the degrees. Today marks the end of the 195th academic session, we’re here to celebrate and confer degrees on students from nine of the University schools, School of Medicine, the School of Law.
[Cheering]
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
[Riotous and prolonged Cheering]
Okay!
[Continued Cheering]
This could be a long day. The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.
[Cheering]
The School of Architecture.
[Cheering]
The School of Nursing.
[Cheering]
The McIntire School of Commerce
[Cheering]
Okay, I’d like everyone to cheer for this next school. The School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
[Cheering]
And our newest school, the School of Data Science.
[Cheering]
Among us this weekend, are students who worked extraordinarily hard and families who have traveled far to be here, including some who have overcome enormous challenges. We have an international student, for example, who, this weekend, is seeing her family for the first time in four years. Another graduating student is celebrating with more than 35 family members, some from as far away as Cameroon. Our oldest graduate is 71,
[Cheering]
And the youngest are 19.
[Scattered clapping] Many in this class are the first in their families to graduate from college, and many more are celebrating their first in-person graduation after missing out on high school graduation in 2020.
[Cheering]
All of these stories are important, which is to say, all of your stories are important, and every graduate here has earned this moment of celebration, as have their families. Before we begin, I’d like to acknowledge some graduating students who can’t be here today, including members of our women’s tennis team, including members of our women’s tennis team, women’s golf team, men’s lacrosse team, and softball team who are competing this weekend. Go, Hoos.
[Cheering]
I’d also like to offer some thanks. first, thank you to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command band from Fort Eustis, Virginia, who are performing our music today and to the members of our ROTC, ROTC programs who presented the colors they deserve a round of applause from Fort Eustis, Virginia, who are performing our music today and to the members of our ROTC, ROTC programs who presented the colors, they deserve a round of applause.
[Applause]
I’d also like to offer a huge thanks to our talented staff, who work hard all year and then put in tremendous effort to make this ceremony special for all of you. And particular thanks are due to Cecil Banks, our Director of Major events, and his team.
[Applause]
I’d also like to thank all of our outstanding faculty who have served not simply as teachers and colleagues, but also as mentors and friends. Please join me in giving them a huge round of applause.
[Applause]
Congratulations and thanks to all of the parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, family and friends in the audience today. Together, you have supported our students, your students, in countless ways you’ve helped pay tuition. You’ve offered encouragement and you fed them when they’re home on break. This has been a momentous, but by no means easy journey for everyone, including all of you. Today is your day too. Which is why I would like to ask all of our graduating students to stand, turn toward the audience, and give a round of applause to those who helped you on your journey.
[Applause]
Your class has been through highs and lows during your time at UVA, and I’d like to take a moment to remember two students who should have graduated with the College of Arts and Sciences yesterday, Lavel Davis Jr. And Devin Chandler, who were killed in November 2022, along with D’Sean Perry, a member of the class of 2023. All three were given posthumous degrees last year. We will never forget these talented and beloved teammates, classmates, friends and family members, and I will never forget how this community came together to comfort each other as we grieved.
All of you have my deepest gratitude and admiration for that. Finally, I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations and gratitude to the talented and passionate class of 2024. You’ve had experience as like few others. Your time here, for most of you, began during the pandemic, and the months and years to follow could not have been entirely what you were expecting.
The last couple of weeks have been challenging, and I know that May 4th in particular was a distressing and painful day for many in our community, but the strength and grace of your class has carried us through both joy and sorrow, and I hope and trust that you will look back on your years here as among the most important and life changing of your lives, and that you will remember both the joy and the challenges, and that you will never doubt that you can do hard things because you’ve already done hard things. I know that without a doubt, you’ve made this university a better place, and I’m certain you’ll leave here to make the world a better place. And with that, let us begin this honorable and joyous ceremony through which we will welcome you to the worldwide community of University of Virginia graduates. Thank you.
The Rector of the University. Good morning. Oh, come on, we could do better than that. Good morning. All right. On behalf of the Board of Visitors, I extend warm greetings and congratulations to all the students, parents, faculty, staff, and colleagues at the University of Virginia. Before I introduce our speaker for this commencement, I would like to share some comments with our new graduates. As a first generation college graduate and a triple who I have experienced firsthand the value of an education from this amazing university, it changed my life. As rector of the Board of Visitors.
I’m constantly reminded of another valuable lesson that I learned at UVA. The importance of assuming good intent. When you graduate from UVA. You will have great memories. We all remember our time on grounds with fondness and pride. You may even find yourself saying, well, when I was at UVA thinking things were better back then, it reminds me of the old joke. How many UVA graduates does it take to change a light bulb? Any takers? The answer is two.
One to change the bulb and one to talk about how great the old light bulb was. Please remember, this great university is a living, breathing organism. Your time here was different than mine, and it will be different than the time of those who will be enrolling in the fall. Yet some things always will remain part of the UVA DNA, providing a world class educational experience.
The extraordinary commitment to student self-governance and the honor system, the special relationship between our students and faculty, our love of our athletic programs, and a special shout out to the women’s swimming women’s swim dive team who won not one, not two, not three, but four consecutive NCAA titles. That. And of course, this majestic and magnificent lawn designed by our founder, Thomas Jefferson.
So as this graduation day fades into the background of your life. You can be proud of what each one of you have accomplished here and what you have become. And when, inevitably, you will hear news about something happening on grounds. I hope you will. Please start by assuming good intent. Also, come back and participate in defining the future of this university. You will always be welcome here. I’d like to close by reading a passage from The Honor Men, written by Corks and Curls editor James Hay, Jr in 1903. If you live a long time and keeping the faith in all these things hour by hour, still see that the sun gild your path with real gold, and that the moon floats and dreams silver. Then remembering the purple shadows of the lawn, the majesty of the colonnades. And the dream of your youth. You may say in reverence and thankfulness.
I have worn the honors of honor. I graduated from Virginia. Congratulations and Godspeed. Wahoowa!
[Applause]
I’m now very honored to introduce our keynote speaker today and my good friend, Dean of the School of Law and Arnold H. Leon, Professor of Law. Risa Goluboff. Risa Goluboff took an a.b. summa cum laude from Harvard, a JD from Yale Law School, and an MA and PhD in history from Princeton University. That’s pretty good. She clerked for Judge Guido Calabrese in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Court, and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, and a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians in 2023.
President Biden appointed her to the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Defense of Human Rights, which documents the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Her affiliation with the university dates to 2002, when she joined the law faculty as a research associate professor for her current appointments at UVA are many Professor of History, chair of the class, Institute of Democracy Advisory Board, Senior Faculty Fellow at the Miller Center, affiliated faculty with the Carter Woodson Institute, and Dean of the School of Law. She’s a leading scholar in the areas of 20th century American constitutional and civil rights law and has written extensively on these topics, including two award winning books, The Lost Promise of Civil Rights and Vagrant Nation Police Power, Constitutional Change and the making of the 1960s. She’s won numerous awards for both scholarship and teaching, including the Carl McFarland Award for Excellence in Law Faculty Scholarship in 2008, the All University Teaching Award in 2011, and the Raven Award.
None of these accolades begin to tell the story of her service to the university under the category of other duties, as assigned, which include her important committee work, such as chairing the university’s Dean’s Working Group that led the response to the horrific events on August 11th, and a August 12th, 2017. Dean, going above, will leave the Dean ship this year for a well-deserved sabbatical, and then she plans to return to teaching, research and most likely, more service to UVA. I would now like to welcome the incomparable Dean Goluboff.
[Applause]
That would be the law school.
Thank you guys. Thank you, Rector Hardy, for that lovely introduction. Thank you, President Ryan, for inviting me to speak today. And thank you to everyone who makes this amazing day possible. I am truly honored to be here and delighted to see all of you graduates, families, friends, members of the Board of Visitors, university administrators and staff. As rector, Hardy mentioned, I’m about to step down from my leadership role and return to the law school faculty.
So this is my last assignment as Dean. I’m just announcing that now. President Ryan. It has been a hard one. So in my effort to get it right, I actually wrote three different mini speeches. The first one is about this occasion and some personal reflections I have on transitions. The second one is about the historical moment of my years as Dean. And the third one is about this place. UVA. I’m a booth and person, so I’ve decided to give them all.
Maybe I should say I’m a both and and person. Don’t worry, there are many speeches. Okay? Here is the first. This speech is about this occasion. Commencement, which marks a major transition in your lives. And like you in mine, I am in transition today to transitions. Present an opportunity to reflect on where we’ve come from and where we’re going. And in particular, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the voices that have guided me to this day and will guide me in the future, and I want to share a few of those voices with you on this special occasion. The first voice I want to share is my mother’s. Now, I’m guessing that if you’re already thinking about the voices that guide you, your mothers might be on many of your lists. I return again and again to one of the things that my mother has said to me over the years. If not you, who it was that voice that has always prompted me to raise my hand in class, or to move to South Africa after college without knowing a soul there.
My mother’s faith in my abilities is limitless. If I asked her whether I should pursue my dream of playing basketball for Tony Bennett, I have no doubt that despite the fact that one I am a woman, two I am not quite four feet 11in tall. Yes, I’m standing on a riser and three. I have basically no hand-eye coordination. My mother would reply, if not you, who? That I might occasionally overreach and yes, fail when I act on that voice is part of the point. If not you, who prompts me to take risks? It also reminds me that I belong in the places that those risks make possible. If not you, who tells me not to question why I should be in every room I enter? Finally, it’s a prompt to take responsibility.
If not, you, who? If I want something to happen, then I have to take the initiative. It whatever it is, is on me. The second voice I’ve been thinking about lately belongs to one of my professors, Dirk Hartog. I’m guessing maybe I’m hoping that you might have a professor on your list, too. Whenever I was writing a paper and I was stymied, I would plop down in his office, and I would explain, sometimes in more detail than necessary, why nothing made any sense. I didn’t understand the readings or what I was finding in the archives wasn’t what I expected to find. I know you’ve all been there. Hitting a wall, unable to move to the next step. Whether it’s a paper or some computer code or a structural problem with something you’re trying to build or a diagnosis. And after I finally stopped talking, he would say, the problem is the thing that’s interesting, by which he meant you can’t ignore the problem or avoid it. You should focus your attention on it and listen to what it’s telling you.
Focus on the disjuncture between the expected and the actual. Bring the problem to the surface and that’s where you’ll find your own perspective, your own vision. This is true not only in writing or coding or designing, but in life. Problems are the stuff of life, not things to avoid. They are what make life challenging and meaningful and what spark innovation and creativity. The problem is the thing that’s interesting. The next voice is that of one of my brothers and he says, ask about the big yellow flower. Now, I know this sounds a little strange. That is not a common saying. You haven’t missed that in your in your growing up, but stay with me.
My brother’s a writer, so he sets the following scene. You walk into a room full of people and your eye is instantly drawn to someone wearing a hat with a huge yellow flower affixed to the front. It’s impossible to miss. And that’s the point. And my brother poses the question, do you ask about the flower? I had been aware of this phenomenon. The person wanting you to ask a particular question before my brother described it in precisely this way. And I will say, and I’m not proud when I confess this to you. My instinct had often been not to ask. I kind of resented that they were trying to commandeer my attention until the day my brother said, I always ask about the big yellow flower. It’s part of that person’s story, and my brother wants to know their story. He wants to know who they are and why the flower.
This conversation had a profound effect on me and I think back to it all the time. It made me realize that in asking about the big yellow flower, in learning people’s stories, we show and find our common humanity that has been especially hard to do lately. There are so many forces pushing us apart. Emphasize our differences from one another rather than our commonalities. But you can’t know me just by knowing a few facts about me. As important as though facts, those facts may be. But you can know me by asking about my big yellow flower, and I can know you the same way. The next voice began, belongs to Countess Hughes from Housing and Residence Life here at UVA. I hear some applause.
Countess is the person who assigned you to your dorm rooms. For better or for worse, you can applaud or. No. And she’s an acquaintance of mine. And Countess has many words of wisdom. And the one I come back to all the time is her saying. What did they say next? Her question comes up when someone complains about what someone else said that was upsetting or offensive, or that they simply disagreed with, what did they say next? Prompts grace, curiosity, and engagement rather than judgment. If we build on the common humanity of the big yellow flower, we can take the single comment as a beginning, not an ending. Countess, this question also reminds me to take responsibility for my own part in such exchanges, for I have given it a corollary. And what did you do or say before that? This is something I always think about when I hear small children complain about their children. The classic mommy hit me seems important to ask, well, what did you do right before that? And then follow it up with. And what did he say next? I have one last voice to share with you.
It’s that of my husband. When I first became Dean. I faced new problems and new questions all the time, and I leaned heavily on my friends and my colleagues, and particularly my husband, who is also a colleague of mine in the law school. A few weeks in, I needed advice yet again, and I called him in his office on the first floor from mine on the third, and I said, is it okay that I’m bothering you again? I know you’re busy with your own work. And he replied, you don’t understand. All I do all day, every day, is sit here at this desk worrying about you, wondering how you’re doing, if you’re okay, and how I can help.
I suspect, and I hope, that the people around you, those here today, and those who can’t be here, think that way about you, too. And I suspect and hope that you do and will think that way about other people, because that love, relationships, friendship, family support is what makes all the rest possible. It gives us courage to take risks and solve problems and find common humanity and engage across difference. I imagine that each of you have your own set of voices that you will continue to curate and aspire to live by. And of course, you should also think about what kinds of voices you want to be in other people’s heads.
That first speech fit my initial sense of this assignment, a speech reflecting on this occasion of graduation and this time of transition in my life, as well as yours. But I wasn’t quite satisfied with it. The historian in me wanted to speak not only to this occasion, but to the historic moment of my years as Dean, which led me to my second mini speech. So let me tell you about some photos.
When I became Dean eight years ago, I had just finished the book that the rector mentioned, a book on the 1960s and 1970s, and I decided to hang a few photos of the university during that era in my new office. I particularly liked one that shows several pairs of men’s feet, a few in dress shoes and dress pants, and one in barefoot and blue jeans, walking side by side together in human connection. Despite seeming to exist on opposite sides of the cultural and sartorial and generational chasm that was the 1960s, those tumultuous times of global and national conflict. In their sepia tones, they felt far away when I hung those photos of a distant era of history.
I couldn’t have imagined that my eight years as Dean, yours as a student here, and for many of you before that would be another such time filled with crises, acute and chronic wars and conflicts and pandemics and shootings near and far that we have lived through. And despite that, despite those challenges, you all have filled me with hope and pride for how you responded to them. Like the pride I felt in UVA students during and after the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in 2017. In the face of the hate and vitriol on display during those days, our students, like our faculty and our staff responded with love and support. They were medics and legal observers. They invited each other and even new students who arrived in Charlottesville for the very first time ever on those days, into their homes and into the embrace of this community.
There was also, of course, the pandemic, which started out acute but became chronic. This was a crisis of life and death and losses. Big and small, and it was a crisis of isolation and alienation. It was so hard to connect, to see each other as whole people. Mixed versions of my speeches to ask about the flower or what they said next. When we were all just squares on a screen. But our students supported each other and they forged friendships despite so many obstacles. I mean, do you remember the meals everyone ate outside in 25 degree weather just to be together? Our students also looked beyond themselves to care for the sick and raise funds for those in need. They reminded me not only of the frailty, but the beauty of human connection and the importance of fostering it at every turn. Like President Ryan, I will never forget the way this community responded to the tragic shootings last year and mourned the loss of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean.
That moment easily could have torn our community apart. But thanks to all of you, it brought us closer together. And then there has been a different kind of crisis altogether, a chronic one, but punctuated by acute moments of particular stress. That is the ongoing challenge that increased national and global polarization has posed for our universities. The sense that campuses lack a true exchange of ideas, and students lack a willingness to listen to those with whom they disagree. The sense that the moments of fracture one sees in the news from, say, everything about complaints about the classroom climate to disruptions of invited speakers to protests are the tip of a huge iceberg of balkanization and intolerance, and that there are many more such moments just below the surface. That has not been my experience. The moments that end up in the news. They are not examples of a plethora of additional incidents. They are the iceberg.
And our students don’t get enough credit. What those outside universities don’t see is students and faculty, and especially students and faculty here in Gaged in a search for truth that I feel privileged to witness and participate in and facilitate all the time, we have here a testing of ideas every day, every week, across thousands of classes and thousands of events and speakers from all perspectives and all viewpoints. It is not always easy to disagree and engage with respect and empathy, especially over deeply held views and challenging times. But we manage it far more often than not.
I want to tell you about one such instance. It’s a fairly mundane and lighthearted one, but a favorite of mine that exemplifies the kind of exchange that goes on here all the time. It took place. It took place regularly during a class that my husband and I teach in our home. We had two good friends who were taking the class together. They always made a beeline to a chair and a half in our living room, where we held the class chair, and a half is like a little mini love seat meant for a couple to watch a movie on. You sit very close together, and these two good friends, every time sat squeezed into this little chair and a half inches apart and lovingly, affectionately and humorously disagreed about everything.
I choose this story because it underscores the importance of the big yellow flower, that knowing each other as full human beings enables us to engage even when we disagree, especially then. Stories like this one are the tip of the real iceberg of learning dialog, and an openness to the perspectives of others that go on across these grounds every day. Such stories might surprise some of you, but they have never surprised me. We talk and argue together. We break bread together. We see each other as human beings and ask about the flower and want to know what they said next. Given the many crises of the past eight years, I came to see the photos on my walls as less about some distant historical era and more as an aspiration about our shared humanity during turbulent times then and now.
The humanity whose fragility, Covid and the tragic shooting revealed the humanity that enables us and our students to talk across difference, to learn from one another, and to continue the university’s long tradition of walking side by side, even across cultural and sartorial and generational chasms, searching together for truth. So as I wrote that many speech, I realized I was talking as much about this place as about this occasion or this moment. So here is speech number three. I did not have the privilege of walking this lawn as a graduate of the University of Virginia. I first encountered UVA during my interview to join the faculty in the fall of 2000. I knew UVA was special immediately. I could see that it was both a big tent and a real community. My interviewers challenged me and each other with warmth, humanity, respect and generosity, and from every possible intellectual perspective. Those interviewers became my colleagues.
Lucky me. And they have been challenging me just like that ever since. What I didn’t know from that first interview was that such values are shared across this whole university. Nor did I know that that combination of values, which seemed special already at the time, would become ever scarcer in our world. In the decades since a few years ago, the law school dedicated a portrait to Elaine Jones, the first black woman to graduate from the law school in 1970 and the first woman head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Elaine is amazing. It was not easy to be the first black woman, or one of only a handful of black or women students at all at the time.
At a university that had enslaved laborers, promoted eugenics, and defended Jim Crow for far too long. But even against that history, and in the midst of the many challenges she faced at being a path breaker, Elaine saw them and still sees today more than 50 years later. What she described at her portrait unveiling, paraphrasing an old black spiritual as the sweet, sweet spirit of this place. That spirit is what I first saw in my job interview, and what I have been describing in every version of this speech. It has never been perfectly achieved.
It has been tested again and again over our history, and at some times some people may have trouble discerning its presence at all. But even when we have profound disagreements and the toughest conversations about who we are and how we live our values, I have faith in this place and its people. I have faith that that sweet, sweet spirit prevails. It persists. It is our lodestar and our aspiration.
That spirit, in fact, is why I want it to become Dean. Though I didn’t yet have a lady’s phrase in my head, when I began to explore the path that brought me here to you today, a former dean at another law school told me when I asked for advice, you shouldn’t be dean. If you only want to be Dean at UVA, you should want to be a law school dean categorically, of any place. Boy, did I disagree. It’s not that I wanted to be a dean in the abstract. I wanted to be dean of UVA Law School. I love this place. This place made me the scholar and teacher I am today. It made me, in many ways, the person I am today.
And I wanted to give back, to make this place the best version of itself it can be, and to make sure the world knows the importance of what we do here. That is why it matters to me that the photos on my walls represent the 1960s right here on our grounds. They remind me that then and now, we at UVA are not immune to the challenges of global and national conflict. How could we be when we are part of this world and when engaging with it, questioning it, learning about it, serving it is all core to what we do here. Those photos, then, are a testament to the endless process of change and generational contestation.
Because UVA is a perpetual breathing, living, squirming, human, joyous talking and arguing institution, none of which is easy, much of which can be uncomfortable and even jarring. But we have lived in momentous political times before, and we have come through the other side. The sweet, sweet spirit of this place is that even if we don’t succeed, we care enough to try. We aspire to take risks and responsibility, face the problems this world poses, and pay attention to them with every ounce of creativity and perspective we can muster. We see common humanity by asking about the flower and what they said next, and what I did before, and walking side by side across chasms in the perpetual quest for human connection and truth.
As you can already see, whichever version of my speech I begin with about this occasion, or our historical moment or this place, all three are ultimately about you. They are about the challenges you faced, the grace, generosity, and humanity which with which you have navigated them, and the people who have supported you. They are about the mark each of you has made on this place and on you. And the voices you want to be in other people’s heads. It turns out that you are already the voices in my head, in all of our heads, shaped by this extraordinary time and this sweet, sweet place you are about to be. Graduates of the University of Virginia. And you leave here rich with the resources of this place and with its spirit. What you do, how you use your talents and on whose behalf. How you use your voice. All of that is up to you. None of you will do it the same way. And that is as it should be. Wherever this fragile, challenging, beautiful life of ours takes you, may you discover what is interesting in every problem and find people who will love and support you and you them.
May you ask about the flower and what they said next. And remember always my mother’s voice asking if not you, who? Congratulations, class of 2024 and thank you. The president of the University. Thank you, Risa, for that incredible speech. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service to our university. You have been a truly extraordinary leader of the law school. It’s worth fighting for. Okay, before we confer degrees, I’d like to recognize the 41 students who have earned their baccalaureate degrees in three years and one student who earned their degree in two years.
I know. As a symbol of their achievement, these students are wearing orange stoles today. While those of you who are graduating early, please stand so we can give you a well-deserved round of applause. I would also like to recognize the 650 students who are the first in their families to graduate over the course of this weekend. As a fellow first generation student, I admire your accomplishments, and I know your families do as well. All of today’s degree candidates are listed in the digital program, including those who completed the requirements for their degrees in December or last August. Today, we will award 1447 baccalaureate degrees, 443 first professional degrees in law and medicine, and 1766 graduate degrees, including 1556 master’s degrees and 210 doctoral degrees.
The deans will now present the candidates for degrees and then, under the authority vested in the general faculty and delegated to me. I will then award the degrees. The executive vice president and provost of the University. The Dean of the School of Medicine. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Medicine with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging.
I charge you to use your training to heal the sick, sustain the well, and protect the welfare of the young, the old, and all who seek your care and counsel. Congratulations. Oh! The doctors of medicine will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in biomedical sciences, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging.
I charge you to use your knowledge and training to become leaders in your fields, advancing research, curing diseases, and educating the next generation of scholars. Congratulations. The doctors of philosophy and Biomedical Sciences will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Master of Public Health or Master of Science in the School of Medicine will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of master of Public Health or Master of Science in the School of Medicine.
I confer upon you the degree of Master of Public Health or Master of Science, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and I charge you to use your training, knowledge, and research to advance clinical care, patient outcomes, health care, and policies affecting our communities. Congratulations. The Masters of Public Health and Masters of Science will please be seated. Congratulations. School of medicine. The dean of the School of Law. The candidate for the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, as Dean of the School of Law, I have the honor to present the candidate who has fulfilled the requirements for the degree of doctor of Juridical Science. First, I admire your uniqueness, and I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science, with all the rights and privileges there unto belonging.
And I congratulate you on the completion of the highest degree that can be earned in the study of law. I urge you to use your specialized training and research abilities to advance fair and equitable application of the law. Congratulations. The Doctor of Juridical Science will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Master of Laws will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Laws, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and charge you to use your advance knowledge of the law in the pursuit of justice and the betterment of humankind. Congratulations.
The master’s applause will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Juris Doctor will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Juris Doctor. I confer upon you the degree of Juris Doctor with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And I charge you to use your training and knowledge to preserve individual liberties, freedom, and justice through the process of the law. Congratulations. The Juris Doctor is will. Please be seated. Congratulations. All. The Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Will the candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. I charge you to pursue discoveries and inventions for the betterment of humankind, to work at the frontiers of applied knowledge, and to communicate the excitement of science to the next generation. Congratulations. The doctors of philosophy. Please be seated. The candidates for master’s degrees in the School of Engineering and Applied Science will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for master’s degrees in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
I confer upon you the appropriate master’s degree in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and charge you to pursue rigorous research that advances modern technology and sustains human life. Congratulations. The master’s graduates of the School of Engineering and Applied Science will please be seated. The candidates for bachelor’s degrees in the School of Engineering and Applied Science will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for bachelor’s degrees in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. I confer upon you the appropriate bachelor’s degrees in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And charge you to use your knowledge and skills to transform the principles of science and mathematics into new and useful technologies. Congratulations.
To the bachelor’s graduates of the School of Engineering and Applied Science will. Please be seated. Congratulations, engineers. The dean of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. The candidates for the degree of Master of Science or Master of Business Administration will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Science or Master of Business Administration. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Science or Master of Business Administration, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And charge you to promote innovation, equity and ethical integrity in your leadership of the practical affairs of this nation and in the world.
Congratulate Asians. And. The Masters of. The Masters of Science and Masters of Business Administration. Please be seated. Congrats. Garden. The dean of the School of Architecture. The candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the constructed environment will please stand. Mr. president, as dean of the School of Architecture, I have the honor to present this candidate who has fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the constructed environment. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the constructed environment, and I congratulate you on your accomplishment. Congratulate. The doctors of philosophy in the constructed environment. Please be seated.
The candidates for the degree of Master of Architectural History, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design or urban environmental planning will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, as Dean of the School of Architecture, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Architectural History. Architecture, landscape architecture. Urban design or urban environmental planning. I confer upon you the appropriate master's degree in the School of Architecture, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and charge you to shape rich and humane environments that acknowledge the heritage of the past while anticipating the needs of the future. Congratulations. The masters of architectural history. Architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and urban environmental planning will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Architectural History, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, or Bachelor of Urban Environmental Planning will will please rise or remain standing.
Mr. president, as Dean of the School of Architecture, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Architectural History, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, or Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning. I confer upon you the appropriate bachelors degree in the School of Architecture, with all the rights and privileges thereon to belonging, and charge you to use your knowledge to preserve and shape environments that inform and magnify the quality of life itself. Congratulations. The Bachelors of Architectural History, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, and Bachelor of Urban Environmental Planning. Will please be seated. I’m so proud of you all. Going to school. The dean of the School of Nursing. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Nursing practice will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing practice. I’m glad you have each other.
I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Nursing practice. With all the rights and privileges there unto belonging. And I charge you to apply your special specialized knowledge and abilities to the work of enhancing the profession of nursing. As you enter practice or as you teach aspiring nurses, congratulations. The Doctor of Nursing practice will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Nursing will please rise and remain standing. Well, we do have five. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Nursing.
I confer upon you, wherever you are, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging and I challenge you to pursue research that will shape the future of health care. Congratulations. The candidates for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Nursing will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Nursing. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Science with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And I charge you to use your advanced knowledge and skills to promote the health and well-being of the individuals, families, and communities you serve. Congratulations.
The Master of Science will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the School of Nursing will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the School of Nursing. I confer upon you the degree of Bachelor of Science with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And I challenge you to promote human health and to strive to improve the lives of persons in need. Congratulations. The Bachelor of Science will please be seated. The Dean of the McIntyre School of Commerce. The candidates for the degree of Master of Science in Accounting. Master of Science and Commerce. Master of Science in Global Commerce. Master of science in Management of Information Technology. Master of Science in Business Analytics will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Accounting. Master of science.
The Commerce Master of Science and Global Commerce, Master of Science and Management of Information Technology, or Master of Science and Business Analytics. I confer upon you the appropriate master’s degree in the School of Commerce, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and I charge you to boldly shape global business with integrity, purpose, and a fundamental understanding of how commerce can contribute to the common good. Congratulations.
The Masters graduate of the McIntyre School of Commerce will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the McIntyre School of Commerce will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the McIntyre school of Commerce. I confer upon you the appropriate bachelor’s degree in the School of Commerce, with all the rights and privileges there until belonging. And I charge you as our next generation of business leaders, to consider how you can ethically transform society and fearlessly solve global challenges using commerce for the common good. Congratulations. The Bachelor of Science will please be seated. Congratulations. Come. The Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
The candidates for the degree of Master of Public Safety. Please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Safety. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Public Safety, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. I challenge and empower you to think critically, reinforce democratic principles, serve the public, earn community trust and help more people live free from fear and harm. Congratulations. The Master’s of Public Safety will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies or Bachelor of Professional Studies in Health Sciences Management will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Bachelor of Professional Studies in Health Sciences Management. I confer upon you the degree of Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, or Bachelor of Professional Studies in Health Sciences Management, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging.
I commend your commitment to lifelong learning, and I challenge you to continue in that spirit as you further your education, pursue your career, and strive to reach your goals. Congratulations. The Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies and Bachelors of Professional Studies in Health Sciences Management will please be seated, congratulate us. The Dean of the School of Data Science. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Data Science will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Data Science. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with all the rights and privileges there unto belonging. I charge you to elevate the lives and environs of those whose data you collect and analyze, to champion data privacy and ethics, and to advance the practice of data science ever onwards.
Congratulations. Well, will the very first stop because of philosophy and data science. Please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Data Science will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Data Science. Our last, but not least, our final group. So let me begin by thanking you for your patience. I confer upon you the degree of Master of science, with all the rights and privileges there unto belonging. And charge you to use your knowledge and skills to continue exploring, analyzing, and safeguarding data, to make discoveries, to advance the world while treating data ethically and with regard to the privacy rights of individuals. Congratulations. The Masters of Science will please be seated. How much data science. And congratulations to all of you.
The chair of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Board of Managers. Good morning. Class of 2024. Congratulations to each and every one of you. And congratulations to your families as well. You all earned this big day. On behalf of the UVA Alumni Association, I am honored to welcome you officially to our alumni family. You are now part of a vibrant community of more than 270,000 alumni living across the world. Since 1838, the Alumni Association has worked to build strong bonds among alumni and also between alumni and our university. At its core, the association is all about connecting and forming, serving, celebrating, and investing in you and our university. And for the alumni in the crowd who have attended our class reunions, young Alumni reunions, Black Alumni Weekend, or Hunters.
I know you can attest to the fact that we, like the class of 2024, is showing this weekend, are very good in the celebrating component of our mission and talking about celebrating. You were here with your classmates today who will be lifelong friends, and I can tell you from experience your connections to the university are only going to strengthen over time. I’m going to make a bold prediction. You are going to have a fellow alumni who you do not know right now, impact your life in some meaningful way going forward. Trust me, it will happen and I know it’s happened to me. It’s just one example of many. I’m a graduate of the Commerce school. A shout out to the school grads out there. But I went into law, and I, when I. And when I interviewed with my law firm in Washington, DC, a UVA alum was on the interview panel and we had an instant connection.
Now 16 years later, I’m at the same firm and we’re law partners. But this benefit but the benefits of being an alum don’t just flow one way. I’m also going to predict that you’re going to have the opportunity to lend a helping hand to a fellow who, at some point in the future, and I know you’ll do that, and it really does mean a lot. When a student or a young alum reaches out to you down the line and you respond to it. You take the time to talk to them. You mentor them. It’s a big deal. And UVA alums do that all the time. And I know you’ll be no different. So as life takes its inevitable twists and turns. I hope you’ll remember that the Alumni Association is here to welcome you wherever you are and wherever your path leads you. I hope this next chapter of your life will bring you success and fulfillment. I hope you’ll go out and explore all the world has to offer, and I hope you’ll always find your way back home to UVA.
On behalf of the Alumni Associations, Board of Managers, our team at Alumni Hall and the entire UVA alumni family congratulate and welcome and Wahoo! The president of the University. All right. This is the last time you’ll see me, I promise. So thank you. Cannon. we are fortunate, as you know, to have a strong and tight knit community of alumni whose time on grounds shaped their lives. And I’m grateful that so many of those alumni have done so much to give others the same experience. Those of you who are graduating today have benefited from the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends in ways large and small. And I’d like to thank all of you who have who have joined this tradition through your class gift. I’d also like to say a final thanks to our Grand Marshal, Professor Beth Meyer, and to all of our to all of today’s speakers and performers.
Okay, I know I’m now the only one standing between celebrating with your family and friends, so I will be brief. I have one personal request and then one thing to ask you to remember. The personal request, is, related to my wife, Katie. When we said was talking about how much her husband, Rich, worries about her and wants to help. I couldn’t help but think of Katie. who is here? and she has hosted countless open houses at our house for students. And I can tell you that she cares as much about you as I do. And I wonder if you could help me thank her. Okay, before I say farewell to this truly special class, I’d like to leave you with one simple request, which is to carry this place and this community with you. I’d like you to remember the feeling of being here, in this place, with these people, and carry it with you.
Carry with you what it felt like to be surrounded by a group of fellow students who were as compassionate as they were talented. Carry with you what it felt like to learn from professors who loved a subject so much, you couldn’t help but get excited about it too. Carry with you what it felt like to live with your friends and carry with you the knowledge that your friends will travel the road ahead with you, carry with you what it felt like to build bridges and to get to know someone different, and how that ended up changing you carry with you how it felt to serve others and to satisfy action that came from devoting your time and energy to something bigger than yourself. Carry with you how it felt to be part of a community that experienced both great sorrow and great joy together.
Carry with you what it felt like to support a friend or classmate who was struggling to carry with you, if relevant, what it felt like to run from one end of the lawn to the other, unencumbered by clothing. To carry with you what it felt like to live in a community of trust and strive to live your life with integrity and honor and carry with you, especially the memory of this day, of walking along and of being together and celebrating together. If you remember all of this, I have no doubt you will carry the very best of this place with you as you face with courage and purpose. The beautiful, joyous, challenging, sometimes tragic and always surprising road ahead. And should that road ever lead you back to UVA, your alma mater. And I hope it does, please know that we’ll leave the lights on for you. Congratulations and best of luck. In your department, graduation ceremonies that are scheduled for this morning and afternoon will take place at the fair. Weather locations.
Those times and locations of the department’s ceremonies can be found in your program. Those ceremonies will begin after graduates and their guests have ample time to reach the ceremony sites Now, graduates and guests, please rise for the singing of the Good Old Song. That good old song of Wah-hoo-wah; We’ll sing it o’er and o’er. It cheers our hearts and warms our blood to hear them shout and roar. We come from old Virginia, where all is bright and gay. Let’s all join hands and give a yell for dear old UVA. Wah-hoo-wah, wah-hoo-wah! Uni-v, Virginia! Hoo-rah-ray, hoo-rah-ray, Ray, ray—UVA!
[Music]
Honored guests. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And remain standing for the singing of the first verse of the national anthem. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
You. [Instrumental Music, The Star-Spangled Banner] [Cheering] Please be seated. The President of the University. Hello, class of 2024. Mr. Rector, members of the Board of Visitors, students, colleagues, family and friends. Welcome to final exercises and a glorious day. My name is Jim Ryan, and in addition to being president of UVA, I am your host for today's ceremony. And I will also officially award the degrees.
Today marks the end of the 195th academic session, and we are here to celebrate and confer degrees on students from the college and graduate school of Arts and Sciences. You can applaud that. And the School of Education and Human Development. And the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
Among us this weekend, our students who have worked extraordinarily hard and families who traveled very far to be here and some who overcame enormous challenges. We have an international student, for example, who is seeing her family for the first time in four years. Another graduating student is celebrating with more than 35 family members, some from far away. As Cameroon. Our oldest graduate is 71. And the youngest are 19.
Many in this class are the first in their family to graduate from college. And many more are celebrating their first in-person graduation after missing out on high school graduation. All of these stories are important. All of your stories are important, and every graduate here has earned this moment of celebration, as have their families. Before we begin, I’d like to acknowledge graduating students who can't be here today, including members of our women's tennis team, women's golf team, men's lacrosse team, softball team, and women's rowing team who are all competing this weekend. Go, whose? I’d also like to offer some thanks.
First, thanks to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band from Fort Eustis, Virginia, which is performing our music today. And thanks as well to the members of our ROTC programs who presented the colors. I’d also like to offer a huge thanks to our talented staff, who worked incredibly hard all year and then put in tremendous effort to make this ceremony special for all of you. They're worth clapping for. Particular thanks are due to Cecil Banks, our director of major events, and his team, and I’d like to thank our outstanding faculty who have served not simply as teachers and colleagues, but also as mentors and friends. Please join me in giving them a huge round of applause.
Congratulations and thanks to all the parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, family and friends in the audience today. Together, you have supported our students, your students in countless ways. You’ve helped pay tuition. You’ve offered encouragement, and you’ve cared and fed, cared for them and fed them when they're home on break. This has been a momentous, but by no means easy journey for anyone, including all of you.
Today is your day too, which is why I would like to ask all of our graduating students to stand, turn toward the audience, and give a round of applause to those who helped you on this journey. I’d like to take a moment to remember two students who should be here with us today. Lavel Davis Junior, and Devin Chandler, who were killed in November 2022. Along with D'Sean Perry, who was a member of the class of 2023. All three. All three were given posthumous degrees last year. We will never forget these talented and beloved teammates, classmates, friends and family members.
And I will never forget how this community came together to comfort each other as we grieved. All of you have my deepest gratitude and admiration for that. I’d also like to remember Tiffany Chin Loy, who's being honored with a posthumous Master of Teaching degree today from the School of Education and Human Development. And also Clarence Williams, who is being honored with a posthumous degree from the College of Arts and Sciences.
They will all be remembered and honored by all whose lives they touched. Finally, I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations and gratitude to the incredibly talented and passionate class of 2024. You have had experiences, like few others your time here. For many of you, began during the pandemic, and the months and years to follow could not have been entirely what you were expecting. These last couple of weeks have been challenging, and I know that May 4th in particular was a distressing and painful day for our community. But the grace.
The grace and strength of your class has carried us through times of both joy and sorrow, and I hope you’ll remember, especially after today, that there is joy to be found even in the rain. I know that without a doubt, you have made this university a better place, and I am certain you will leave here to make the world a better place. So with that, let us begin this honorable and joyous ceremony through which we will welcome you into the worldwide community of University of Virginia graduates. Thank you.
The Rector of the University. Good morning. What a beautiful day. On behalf of the Board of Visitors, I extend warm greetings and congratulations to all students, parents, faculty, staff, and colleagues at the University of Virginia. Before I introduce our speaker for this commencement, I would like to share some comments with our new graduates. As a first generation college student and a triple who I have experienced firsthand the value of an education from this amazing university, it changed my life. As rector of the Board of Visitors. I’m constantly reminded of another valuable lesson that I learned at UVA.
The importance of assuming good intent. When you graduate from UVA. You will have great memories. We all remember our time on grounds with fondness and pride. You may even find yourself saying, well, when I was at UVA and saying thinking things were better back then, it reminds me of the old joke.
How many UVA graduates does it take to change a light bulb? Any idea? The answer is two. One to change the bulb and one to talk about how great the old light bulb was. Please remember, this great university is a living, breathing organism. Your time here was different than mine, and it will be different than the time of our incoming first year class. Later this year. Yet some things will always remain part of the UVA DNA, providing a world class educational experience. The extraordinary commitment to student self-governance and the honor system, the special relationship between our students and faculty. Love of our athletic programs. And a special shout out to the women's swimming and dive team. Who won not only one, not two, not three, but four consecutive national championships.
And of course, this majestic and magnificent lawn designed by our founder, Thomas Jefferson. So as this graduation day fades into the background of your life. You can be proud of what you each have accomplished here and who you have become. And when inevitably, you hear news about something happening on grounds, please start by assuming good intent. Also, come back and participate in defining the future of this university. You will always be welcome. I’d like to close by reading a passage from the Honor Men, written by Corks and Curls editor James Hay Jr in 1903. If you live a long time and keeping the faith and all these things hour by hour, still see that the sun gild your path with real gold and that the moon floats in dream silver. Then, remembering the purple shadows of the lawn, the majesty of the colonnades and the dream of your youth. You may say in reverence and thankfulness I have worn the honors of honor.
I graduated from Virginia. Congratulations and Godspeed. Wahoowa! I’m now most pleased to introduce our keynote speaker today, professor of psychology Daniel Willingham. Awesome. Okay. Professor Willingham took a BA in psychology from Duke and a PhD from Harvard University. He taught briefly at Williams College before joining the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1992. He has worked extensively in the field of educational methods and policies, and has consulted with many educational agencies and countries across the globe and in the United States, where he's a member of the National Board for Education Scientists appointed by President Obama. Professor Willingham’s writing and teaching focuses on the translation and dissemination to lay audiences of complex scientific ideas, particularly on how people learn. He has published several books on cognition and had articles published in numerous newspapers and magazines.
Including The New York Times and The Atlantic. Some titles include, There are Better Ways to Study that will Last You a Lifetime, and Math Anxiety: Can Teachers Help Students Reduce It? He was recognized for this work with the outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. This is interesting. In 2022, he started a TikTok channel of videos to help students study more effectively. I need to watch that one. He has more than 135,000 followers and millions of views. And a very popular lecturer, he has twice won the UVA All University Teaching Award. Without further ado, I’d like to now welcome Professor Willingham. Thank you, Rector Hardy, and good morning to all. Graduates, I’ve devoted my professional life to studying how people learn, so I thought I would share some thoughts on how you can keep learning after you leave the University of Virginia. Now, I expect your reaction to that is right. Lifelong learning. How nice. Listen, I don't need to be inspired about that.
I’m already kind of on board with the idea of lifelong learning. So maybe another topic. And I understand that reaction for everybody graduating today, learning is kind of your thing. You’re all really good at it. But hear me out. Because although you may not need inspiration for lifelong learning, I think you might need guidance. I predict that, say, ten years from now, you won't feel like a lifelong learner. I think ten years from now, if you’re like most college graduates, you’ll be saying, oh, what happened to me? You know, I used to be kind of intellectual, like I was interested in stuff. Now, anything I learn is for my job. So that's a gloomy prediction, but here's why I make it. What learning means to you has been shaped by the way learning works in school. In school, you learn the stuff that somebody else has decided.
This is what's important for you to know. You pay attention to it even if you’re not interested in it, and you continue to pay attention to it until you not just understand it, but until you’ve committed it to memory. That approach to learning makes sense for the type of things you need to learn during your school years. But after graduation, you shouldn't think that learning always means mastery and that learning always happens in a class. But because that's the way it's been for most of your life, that sense of learning is going to be really hard to shake. So, for example, ten years from now, you might think, you know, I’ve always wished I could speak Italian. So what are you going to do? You’re going to treat that like a class. You’re going to download Duolingo, you’re going to make your little plan of studying every day.
But the truth is, you’re going to be really busy too. That's going to be hard to sustain every time you open your phone. That smug little owl is smiling at you. And so eventually you’re going to delete the app. For ten years from now, you’ll join a book club because you’ll figure that out. Kind of forced me to read the books that everybody's talking about, like that new biography of Senator Miley Cyrus. But the book club is going to make you feel like you’re right back in class at UVA, because once again, you’re sitting with a group of people you don't know very well, trying to think of something to say that sounds smart and won't reveal that you haven't done the reading.
The problem is that many of you are going to be in demanding jobs. Many of you will have families, and learning the way you learn in school is also demanding something's got to give, and it's not going to be your job, and it's not going to be your family. To be successful in school, you have to trick your brain into learning in a way it didn't evolve to learn. That's why it felt so hard. As you move into this next phase of your life, I urge you to adopt an approach to learning that's less effortful because it's better tuned to the way the mind naturally learns.
So what does that look like? A good guide is to observe children in preschool. Preschool teachers have to capitalize on this sort of natural learning, because the kids aren't old enough to learn, have learned how to do the unnatural type of learning. Yet there are four characteristics of learning in preschool that I think are a useful guide for you for lifelong learning. Once you leave UVA. First, preschoolers don't study or commit things to memory, but preschoolers enjoy new experiences. They enjoy exploration, a preschool teacher might keep a lizard in a terrarium, not in the hopes that the kids are going to memorize lizard body parts, but in the hopes that kids will be excited simply to watch it and to ask questions.
The innate drive to explore is something we share with many other species. Animals that have regular territories where they forage or hunt. We'll skip a territory that they know generally pays off in order to have the opportunity to explore a new one and lab experiments, humans do the same thing. They'll skip a known reward in order to explore something new. So what's the point of this innate curiosity? Well, that seems obvious. It's useful. There's an advantage to knowing about your environment, but there's a little more to it because we're not simply about collecting information about our environment. To give you a sense of this, play along with me for a moment.
What would be your first thought in the following situation? You wake up, you go into the kitchen to see about breakfast. You open the refrigerator door and you find a bowling ball. What's your first thought? If you’re like most people, your first thought is some version of who did this right now. Note if you were just a collector of information about your environment, you would use this new fact bowling ball in my fridge to derive new conclusions about your environment. You could use deductive logic and say that bowling ball must be cold, or you could use inductive logic and say, I now know that refrigerator shelves are strong enough to hold a bowling ball, but most people don't do that.
They want more information. They want information about causality. Humans aren't just collectors of facts about the environment. We want to understand our environment. So the first preschool principle for lifelong learning is that you should replace your very definition of learning. Don't think of learning as memorizing or mastering. Think of learning as exploring and understanding. Second principle preschoolers are curious, but their curiosity is very short lived and the same is true of adults. You have learned to maintain attention even when you’re bored, and again, that's a valuable skill for certain types of learning. But it's not the brain's natural tendency. Curiosity is the brain's way of signaling to you.
There's something cool out there. Pay attention. You’re going to learn something, but your brain only cares if the cool thing is out there right now. In other words, your long term interests play no role in determining your curiosity. That's why you might take a subject that you know you’re interested in. And yet somehow the professor makes it boring. You can tell your brain, no, no, hang in there. This is cool. We really like this. And your brain is still like, I’m dying here.
Then, on the other hand, a friend might persuade you to watch a documentary on something you think you have no interest in at all. Say, type fonts and you find yourself fascinated. Almost all social media apps use the same strategy to deal with the tiny time window of curiosity. An algorithm selects what you’re going to see next. Algorithm is really a fancy word for, well, you like this before. Here's some more of it. Or better put, here's some more of it. But we'll make it just different enough so that you have to watch to make sure. Yeah, that's the stuff I liked before.
So naturally, after an hour of tiktok, you don't feel satisfied. Curiosity is meant to help you learn about and understand your environment, but the algorithm click baits your brain into seeing the same sort of thing over and over again. Preschools don't engage children by giving them the same stuff they've seen in the past. Instead of preschool, classroom has several work centers leaving the children free to select whatever piques their curiosity. The teacher is happy for the child to select any of them because they're all enriching. This is a good strategy for you as a lifelong learner. You need to ensure that your internet foraging grounds lead to learning that actually feels like it paid off. So always have books on your phone. Both Kindle and audiobooks. Bookmark websites like Jstor Daily and Longreads in the New York Times. Put these apps front and center on your home screen, and make TikTok and Instagram and the rest a little harder to access.
The second principle for lifelong learning, then, is to curate your environment the way a preschool teacher curates the environment of the classroom surround yourself with novel, enriching, easy to access information. Third principle preschoolers are creatures of habit. Any parent will tell you changing a child's routine, even in a way that seems trivial, is asking for trouble. I’m reminded of the time my oldest daughter, who was about three at the time, refused to take a bath because, quote, that water is too wet. That meant was there was more water in the tub than there usually was. Routines make for a predictable environment that's comforting for a child. That's one reason preschool classrooms lean heavily on routine, but adults are fond of routines also partly for comfort. But even more, we feel that our routines make our busy lives more manageable. Most people, when they start their first job, fall into a weekly routine of when to pay bills, when to do laundry, and so on.
There's usually not much free time, so trying to shoehorn in a new activity, for example, practicing your Duolingo Italian each day is likely to fail. Here's a better strategy, don't add learning activities. Tweak old habits to make it more likely that you’ll experience and understand new things while you’re doing them. If you listen to a lot of music, try experimenting with different genres. If you have lunch with a friend every other week, try a restaurant with a cuisine that neither one of you know anything about and wherever you find yourself, actually look around. I was at the University of Virginia for ten years before I learned that buried not 100 yards from my office, is an author whose 19th century book sales rivaled Webster's Dictionary and the Bible. I learned that when I was walking to and from my office to a meeting at the School of Education, and I decided to get off my usual path and walk through the cemetery. So the third preschool principle for lifelong learning is to avoid an ambitious life overhaul and instead increase your learning opportunities by tweaking your existing habits.
Now, the fourth and final principle I frequently address groups of parents on the subject of education. I’m often asked, how can I get my kids to love learning? I think that question needs to be rephrased to how do you create a home where learning is a family value? If you want your children to love learning, you must show them that learning matters to you, which is not by the same way of showing them that grades matter to you. Children start to learn family values around preschool age before age 4 or 5. As far as kids are concerned, adults are more alike than they are different. They're slow moving. They get grouchy about things that don't really matter. They food. That's just stupid.
They're all part of the same. Things change when a child visits a friend's house and they start to compare and the child thinks, you know, I had dinner at Jim's house and we didn't finish our plates and we still got dessert. And it dawns on the child, my parents just made that rule up. It's not a law or anything. Parents create rules about things that matter to them. That's one of the ways that communities communicate values to their children. There was an unspoken rule when I was growing up that my parents would never interrupt me or my sisters if we were reading. Naturally, whenever my mother or father started thinking out loud about what chores needed doing, I ran and grabbed a book. I thought I was very clever. It was a number of years before I saw I was the one being played. Parents communicate values in many other ways.
For example, every family has myths that are retold through generations. What are the themes of these stories we think are worthy of repetition? Every family has heroes. Who did your parents speak of with respect? What characteristics made someone worth emulating? Graduates? It may seem odd that I’m talking to you about family values now, when many or most of you don't have families of your own. But if you’re not a family already, you’re about to become a nascent family of one.
You will be the author of the values in this family. It's up to you to create an independent life that you feel is in accord with those values. The fourth preschool principle for lifelong learning is to make small but intentional choices that show you hold learning as a family value. That means it's not an activity that you try and make time for as a value. It shot through your daily life and touches everything. Decisions you make, your relationships, how you see the world.
One of the things that makes the University of Virginia so special is that you’re surrounded by faculty, administration, staff, and fellow students for whom learning is a treasured value. That shared value makes for a very supportive environment. It's easy to be a learner here. Lifelong learning outside the university will prove more challenging, but I’m confident that your experiences here have provided the foundation you need to continue learning for a lifetime. But maybe think about that tomorrow.
Today, celebrate your achievements with your loved ones and accept my warmest congratulations and best wishes for the future class of 2024. The president of the University. Thank you, Dan, for those inspiring remarks. I don't know about you, but I’m eager to go home and check out what's in my refrigerator. Today's graduating students have chosen to study the arts and sciences, education and human development and public policy, and doing so. In doing so, they have reaffirmed their commitment to discovering truth, inspiring the next generation and leading with conviction and compassion. They leave here prepared to be citizen leaders in a world that desperately needs them. Some of today's graduating students have earned further distinction by completing their degrees early. 159 students from the College of Arts and Sciences in the School of Education and Human Development earned their baccalaureate degrees in two years or less, and nine more students did so in only two years. In recognition of their effort and as a symbol of their achievement, these students are wearing orange stoles today. And will those of you who are graduating early please stand so we can give you a well-earned round of applause. I would also like to recognize the 650 students who are the first in their families to graduate from college.
As a first generation student myself, I greatly admire your accomplishments, and I know your families do as well. All of today's degree candidates are listed in the digital program, including those who completed the requirements for the degrees in December or last August. Today we will we will award 2947 baccalaureate degrees, 1013 graduate degrees, including 763 master's degrees, 24 education specialist degrees, and 226 doctoral degrees. And now for what you’ve all been waiting for. The deans will now present the candidates for degrees under authority vested in the general faculty and delegated to me. I will then award the degrees. The Executive Vice President and Provost of the University. I have a lengthy speech.
The Dean of the college and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. I welcome you to the Ancient and Universal Company of scholars. Congratulations. The doctors of philosophy will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts or Master of Science will please rise and remain standing.
Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, or Master of Science. I confer upon you the appropriate master's degree with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. I charge you to apply the knowledge you have gained in ways that advance the social good and promote humane values. Congratulations. The Masters of Fine Arts, Masters of Arts and Masters of Science will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences.
It sounds like you’re ready. I confer upon you the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And welcome you to the fellowship of educated women and men. I charge you to pursue truth in all of your endeavors, and to apply the principles of rigorous inquiry and civil discourse in your professions, in your lives as public citizens, and in your engagement with the cultures in which you will live. Congratulations. The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science will please be seated. The Dean of the School of Education and Human Development.
The candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Education. Doctor of Education or Education specialist will please rise and remain standing. Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education and Human Development, doctor of Education or Education specialist. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Education or Education specialist, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging and I charge you to pursue research that will support teachers work and advance student learning in the nation's schools and colleges and universities.
Congratulations. to he doctors of philosophy, doctors of education and education specialists. Please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Master of Education, master of science in the School of Education and Human Development, or Master of Teaching will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, may I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of master of Education, Master of Science, master or Master of Teaching. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Education, Master of Science, or Master of Teaching, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging.
And charge you to be creative in stimulating learning, and in conveying to your students the responsibilities that belong to educated citizens in a free nation. Congratulations. The Masters of Education, Masters of Science and Masters of Teaching will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the School of Education and Human Development will rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education and Human Development. I confer upon you the degree of Bachelor of Science with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. And I charge you to use your knowledge, skills, and compassion to enrich the lives of the people whom you will serve in your professions. Congratulations. The Bachelor of Science will please be seated.
The Dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. [Cheering] The candidates. [Cheering] The candidates for the degree of Master of Public Policy will please rise and remain standing. Mr. President, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Policy. I confer upon you the degree of Master of Public policy with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging.
And charge you to use your new knowledge and skills to provide strong leadership and the careers and communities you enter, and to craft wise, morally sound and well-informed roadmaps for our republic and the greater global community. Congratulations. The Masters of Public Policy will please be seated. The candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy will please rise and remain standing. Mr. president, I have the honor to present these candidates who have fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. I confer upon you the Bachelor of Arts, the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with all the rights and privileges there on to belonging and encourage you to use what you have learned here to serve our nation and the world through your work in government, education, nonprofit and private sectors. Congratulations. The Bachelor of Arts will please be seated.
The chair of the University of Virginia Alumni Association board of Managers. Good morning. Class of 2024. Congratulations to each and every one of you. Congratulations to your families as well. You all earned this big day. On behalf of the UVA Alumni Association, I am honored to officially welcome you to the Alumni Family. You are now part of a vibrant community of more than 270,000 alumni living all over the world. Since 1838, the association has worked to build strong bonds between alumni and also between alumni and our university and at its core, the association is all about connecting and forming. Serving. Celebrating and investing in you and our university. And of the alums in the crowd who have attended our class reunions, young alumni reunions, Black Alumni Weekend, or Hunters. I know you can attest to the fact that we, like the class of 2024, is showing here this weekend that we are very good at the celebrating part of our mission. In talking about celebrating.
You are here today with classmates who will be your lifelong friends. I heard it mention yesterday at the valedictory exercises forever friends. I think that's a good way to describe it as well. But I can tell you from experience that your your ties to the university are only going to increase over time. And I’m going to make a bold prediction to you. You are going to have a fellow alumni who you don't know right now impact your life in some meaningful way going forward. Trust me, it'll happen. And I know what's happened to me is just one example. When I interviewed at my law firm in Washington, DC, a UVA alum was on the interview panel and we had an instant connection. Now, 16 years later and at the same firm, and we're law partners. But this just doesn't follow one way. I also predict you’re going to have the chance to lend a helping hand to a fellow who, in the future, and I know you’ll do that. It really does mean a lot.
When a student or a young alum touches base with you and you respond to them, you take the time to talk to them, you mentor them, and that's going to happen. And I can trust me when you’re at your job and you have a student reach out to you down the line, it's going to be the best part of your day. And I know you’ll, I know you’ll talk to them and, and, and UVA alums do that all the time. so as life takes its inevitable twists and turns, I hope you’ll remember that the alumni association is here to welcome you and support you wherever you are, in whatever path you’re on. I hope this next chapter of your life will bring you success and fulfillment. I hope you’ll go out and explore all the world has to offer, and I hope you’ll always find your way back home to UVA. On behalf of the Association's Board of Managers, our team at Alumni Hall and the entire UVA alumni family, congratulations! Welcome and Wahoo! The president of the University. All right, this is it. So first, thank you, Ken. And we are fortunate, as many of you know, to have a strong and tight knit community of alumni whose time on grounds shaped their lives. And I’m grateful to so many of those alumni who have done so much to give others the same experience.
Those of you who graduate today have benefited from the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends in ways large and small. And I’d like to thank all of you who have joined this tradition through your class gift. I’d also like to say a final thank you to our Grand Marshal, Professor Beth Meyer, and to all of today's speakers and performers. I recognize I am now the only one between your friends and families and and more celebration. So my parting gift is I will be very brief. But before I say farewell to this special class, I’d like to leave you with one simple request, which is to carry this place and this community with you. I’d ask that you remember the feeling of being here, in this place, with these people, and carry it with you. Carry with you what it felt like to be surrounded by a group of fellow students who were as compassionate as they were talented.
Carry with you what it felt like to learn from professors who loved a subject so much, you couldn't help but get excited about it to carry with you what it felt like to live with your friends and carry the knowledge that they will travel the road ahead with you, carry with you what it felt like to build bridges and get to know someone different, and how that ended up changing. You carry with you how it felt to serve others, and the satisfaction that came from devoting your time and energy to something bigger than yourself. Carry with you how it felt to be part of a community that experienced both great sorrow and great joy together. Carry with you what it felt like to support a friend or classmate who was struggling.
Carry with you what it felt like to live in a community of trust and continue to live your life with an integrity, with integrity and honor and carry with you the memory of this day, of walking the lawn and of being together. If you remember all of this, I have no doubt you will carry the very best of this place with you as you face with courage and purpose the beautiful, joyous, challenging, sometimes tragic and always surprising road ahead. And should that road ever lead you back to Charlottesville, and I hope it will, please know that we will leave the lights on for you. Congratulations, class of 2024 and good luck.
School and department graduation ceremonies that are scheduled for this morning and afternoon will take place at the inclement weather locations. Those times and locations can be found in your program. The ceremonies will begin after the graduates and their guests have had ample time to reach the ceremony locations. Graduates and guests, please rise for the singing of the good old song.
That good old song of Wah-hoo-wah; We'll sing it o'er and o'er. It cheers our hearts and warms our blood To hear them shout and roar. We come from old Virginia, Where all is bright and gay. Let's all join hands and give a yell For the dear old UVA. Wah-hoo-wah, wah-hoo-wah! Uni-v, Virginia! Hoo-rah-ray, hoo-rah-ray, Ray, ray—UVA!
Hello! [CHEERS, APPLAUSE] That was exactly what I expected. [LAUGHS] Last semester, I took a public speaking course. We're about to see if that's going to pay off right now. I remember one of my first speeches in that class. After delivering my speech, my professor, Jenny Wales, she said, congratulations, Karina. You did such a great job. Just one question. Did you happen to breathe at all during that entire five-minute speech that you just did. I exhaled a long-overdue breath and said, no, I had not. So help me out to start off on the right foot, and let's take a deep breath.
[BREATHING DEEPLY] Thank you. We have a very big weekend ahead of us. But before we look ahead, I’d like to ask you to take a glance back with me to our time here at the University of Virginia. If you’re feeling a little bit lost, or overwhelmed, or rained on, welcome to graduation weekend. Thank you so much for coming to this ceremony called Valediction, a term that means the action of saying farewell and extending best wishes. However, if you’re anything like me and you consider UVA one of your homes forever, I don't think we can ever truly say farewell.
My name is Karina Reynolds-- finally getting to the introduction-- and I had the incredible honor of serving as the Class of 2024 Vice President for the past four years. I think it's a good time to clear up a few myths about my role. I can't see your grades, nor can I change them. I can't text Jim Ryan whenever I want, and I can't bring Sheets back to the corner. I should have tried that one. What I can do, however, is witness firsthand how incredible the class of 2024 is. As the graduating class, we have navigated through challenging times that have tested our limits but ultimately strengthened our spirit.
The COVID-19 pandemic marked the beginning of our university journey. How fun was that? We were thrust into a world of virtual classes and social distancing. Again, this could not diminish our spirit. Despite the hurdles thrown our way, we remained undeterred and forging strong bonds with our professors, putting on cherished community events like Lighting of the Lawn-- shout out, Lodel-- getting the first Bodo's ticket, and looking at the sun set over our grounds on Carter's mountain, surviving really intense snowball fights on the lawn, and feeling the exhilaration of running down the lawn with almost zero wind resistance, if you know what I mean.
We took on several roles within the university, becoming not just students, but leaders, athletes, innovators, friends to faculty and staff, and advocates for positive change. We have faced heartbreak, yet found ways to honor those that we lost by continuing with heart and hope and letting their light guide us forward. Our journey through UVA has seen us become more than just a class.
We've redefined the term "Class Of 2024," and we will continue to impress the world and better the world wherever we go. As we stand on the brink of graduation. take pride in what we've achieved and the legacy that we have built. We have forged a community that is stronger and more resilient than ever.
We have made the University of Virginia our home, and as we step into the next chapter, we carry with us our deepest friendships, our most vivid memories, and our most valuable lessons. We not only discovered what we love, but who we love. So let us embrace these final moments together, celebrating our accomplishments and looking forward to a very bright future. Let's take one more deep breath because, believe it or not, the best is yet to come for the Class of 2024. So again, this is not my farewell. However, it is my best wishes to you all. Thank you.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE] You thought I was done. [LAUGHS] I’m here to stay. So before I turn your attention to a class video made of a compilation of our fondest memories, I have been asked to read a letter from the Seven Society. This one I’m going to be reading directly. "Dear Class of 2024, on this momentous day in your academic and professional journeys, the Seven Society wishes to congratulate you on your four years of exploration, growth and accomplishment.
Your leadership allowed the University to emerge from the pandemic enlivened and inspired, and we are eternally grateful and in awe of your class for that. Your dedication to the University has driven your desire to improve these grounds, and as a result, you are leaving it a better place than you found it.
This weekend and your class marked a crucial milestone for the University. For much of the University of Virginia's history, women were not allowed to partake in the same academic opportunities as their male counterparts. In September 1970, however, over 450 women were welcomed as students entering the college.
Woo-hoo! [CHEERS, APPLAUSE] While many of them faced hardship throughout their journey, they persevered. Four years later, 1974, the University celebrated the graduation of its first class of women, and their presence paved the way for others to grace these grounds. We express our most sincere gratitude to all the women of this University community.
The Seven Society wishes to offer its support and recognition to the following organizations-- The Maxine Platzer Lynn's Women's Center, The Women in Medical Sciences at UVA, The Society of Women Engineers, The Association of Women in Sports Media, The Graduate Women in Business, The Virginia Law Women, The Women's Business Forum at McIntyre, Girl Up at UVA, and Take Back the Night.
Never said the word "women" so many times. The Women's Leadership Council-- oh, I forgot that one, sorry-- and to each of these organizations, we give $7,777.77 to support and enable their work at the University and this community. Yeah.
[APPLAUSE] Sincerely, The Seven Society." OK now, please turn your attention to our wonderful class video. Thank you so much. [CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
[AUDIO PLAYBACK BEGINS] [MUSIC PLAYING] [SINGING] [LAUGHING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING)
When life leaves you high and dry I’ll be at your door tonight if you need help If you need help I’ll shut down the city lights I’ll cheat, I’ll beg and bribe to make you well. To make you well. When enemies are at your door I’ll carry you away from war if you need help. If you need help. Your hope dangling by a string of sharing. Your suffering to make you well. To make you well. Give me reasons to believe you would do the same for me.
And I would do it for you. For you Baby, I’m not moving on I’ll love you long after you’re gone. For you, for you. You will never sleep alone I’ll love you long after you go. And long after you’re gone, gone, gone. When you fall like a statue I’m going to be there to catch you. Put you on your feet, you on your feet. And if you’re [INAUDIBLE] a thing will prevent me. Tell me what you need.
What do you need? I surrender honestly. You’ve always done the same for me. So I would do it for you, for you. Baby, I’m not moving on I’ll love you long after you’re gone. For you, for you. You will never sleep alone I’ll love you long after you go. And long after you’re gone, gone, gone. You’re my backbone. You’re my cornerstone. You’re my crutch when my legs stop moving. You’re my head start. You’re my [INAUDIBLE] You’re the pulse that I’ve always needed Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you, for you Baby, I’m not moving on I’ll love you long after you’re gone.
For you, for you You will never sleep alone I’ll love you long after you go For you, for you Baby, I’m not moving on. I’ll love you long after you’re gone For you, for you You will never sleep alone I love you long, long after you go Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you And long after you’re gone, gone, gone I’ll love you long after you’re gone, gone, gone.
Can I get a-- can I get a class of '24? [CHEERING] Yeah! Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming. My name is Amanda Leizman. I’m a fourth-year trustee and member of the women's swim and dive team. I will be presenting the Seven Society Awards now. The Lewis A Honesty Award is given each year to a scholar athlete who, during their time at the university, dedicated themselves not only to the betterment of themselves and their team, but to the well-being and empowerment of communities across grounds. This year, it is the Seven Society's honor to recognize Mr. Tristan How, an individual who embodies a contagious spirit and has shown an inspiring, selfless devotion to various communities at the university.
Mr. How's role on the men's basketball team is one of his most meaningful and impressive contributions to the university and Charlottesville communities. His persistence and passion garnered him a walk-on spot on the men's basketball team during his third year, and he never failed to demonstrate a team-first mentality throughout his career.
Although being a walk-on is not an easy job, he consistently embodied humility, passion, unity, servanthood and thankfulness-- the core pillars of the men's basketball program. He wholeheartedly embraced his role and focused on improving his game to push and prepare his teammates.
We reflect fondly on Mr. How's jump shot against Georgia Tech in the final seconds of Senior Night and the way it enlivened the entirety of John Paul Jones Arena. The joyful reaction from both the crowd and his teammates perfectly captured the powerful influence he had-- he has had on the entire community. Mr. How has poured his heart, soul, and time into other communities at the university as well. To serve and grow as a leader within the athletic community, he was involved with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the Athletic Leadership Academy.
Additionally, he is known as a driven, inquisitive, and curious student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His continuous pursuit of knowledge is evident through his involvement in the Center for Politics at UVA, Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Center for Effective Lawmaking.
Finally, he has shown a strong commitment to growing in his faith and spreading kindness through Chi Alpha and Catholic Hoos. Far above his impact on the university as both a student and an athlete, we are most encouraged by and grateful for how Mr. How showed up as a person and friend on a daily basis. Among his greatest gifts is his exceptional ability to make others feel connected and valued. This has left a lasting impact on those around him. For all these reasons, the Seven Society is honored to bestow the 2024 Lewis A Honesty Award on Mr. Tristan How.
Join us in congratulating Mr. How and thanking him for his love of and devotion to the University of Virginia. Today, the Seven Society has the privilege of celebrating a student organization that has dedicated itself to enriching the university community, Best Buddies at the University of Virginia. Their unwavering dedication to friendship and inclusion has quietly uplifted spirits and fostered a sense of belonging that extends far beyond the reaches of grounds. In the bustling rhythm of university life, Best Buddies stands as a sanctuary of sincere connection.
The Friendship Walk exemplifies their ethos, an event where laughter and stories intermingle, and the joyous strides of participants resonate with a unified purpose. This gathering, emblematic of their mission, transforms mere steps into a march of solidarity, leaving a trail of uplifted hearts and spirits in its wake. It is the simple, pure joy that Best Buddies radiates, the kind that has resonated through laughter and cheers at the Friendship Walk, the shared moments of camaraderie during festive occasions, and the collective triumphs celebrated over basketball games and cafe conversations.
Their ethos of inclusion is not just spoken, but lived out in the everyday acts of kindness that define the spirit of this group. As we reflect upon the many ways in which Best Buddies has contributed to the vibrancy of our community, we find ourselves inspired by the grace and generosity embedded in their mission.
Through the impactful work that they do, they teach us all a profound lesson in humanity that in the simple act of lending a hand, we have the power to transform lives. Though they may not always see it, every student's life is touched by the sincerity, understanding, and generosity that Best Buddies infuses into our community.
Best Buddies serves as a model that we all should strive to achieve, embodying the values of embracing difference and fostering care and love for one another. Their commitment to inclusivity and their tireless efforts to create a community where everyone feels valued and accepted are a testament to the kind of world we should all strive to create.
The Seven Society holds in high regard the impact they have made and anticipates with great enthusiasm the continued blossoming of their collective and individual journeys here on grounds and in the wider world beyond, enriching our university community in immeasurable ways. Accepting this award on behalf of the organization is Kendall Scherer, the president of Best Buddies. My name is Riley Lorgus, and I’m a fourth-year trustee who served on the graduation committee this past year. So each year, the trustees of the graduating class bestow three awards upon students of their class who have contributed significantly to the university.
These awards include the award for community service, the award for cultural fluency, and this year, the pillar of UVA award. The Community Service Award honors a graduating student who has endeavored to enrich the university and Charlottesville communities through service during their tenure as a student. When the class of 2024 was soliciting nominations, one person stood out amongst many-- Rachel Moore.
She demonstrates the true ideal of service, a commitment to humanitarian goals, with an altruistic passion infused in her efforts. Ever since Rachel's first year on grounds, she has been dedicated to giving back to her community. As director of the Walking Bus Program with Madison House, she answered the call when Charlottesville schools needed help getting their kids to school safely due to a shortage of school bus drivers, and she encouraged others to do the same.
Rachel also wrote Thank You cards for the dining and cleaning staff, the unsung heroes of our grounds, to express appreciation for their work and dedication to keeping us healthy, happy and safe. Rachel's service also extended into the wider Charlottesville area, where she dedicated time volunteering at the Charlottesville Free Clinic and uplifting young women through mentorship at the Women's Center. Her involvements are many, and she has touched many lives during her time here at the university. It is clear that her impact will be felt long after we leave grounds.
Thank you for your service, Rachel, and congratulations. There is perhaps no one more deserving of the Cultural Fluency Award than [INAUDIBLE]. The Cultural Fluency Award, given to a graduating student who has demonstrated an acute understanding and appreciation for cultural and intellectual diversity during their time at UVA, represents the importance of uniting as a student body across our many different cultural contexts. Past winners have been applauded for going beyond the walls of the classroom in their quest to form bonds and find common understanding with their peers, and [INAUDIBLE] is no exception. [INAUDIBLE] has dedicated himself to helping organize the International Forum on Diplomacy through the Center for Politics, which aids in bringing new perspectives and ideas to grounds.
Described as kind, smart, and outgoing, he makes a point to meet students of different cultures, whether it be through Chi Alpha or the Ethiopian Eritrean Students Association. As he seeks to learn and understand new cultures, [INAUDIBLE] approaches it with a motivation to find the common good in all of us.
Through his involvements, he works to give others a chance to learn about the many cultures that surround us on grounds, which the community members who nominated him observed through his work with the taste of the East Event, a sold-out celebration of East African culture held earlier this spring. [INAUDIBLE], on behalf of the trustees of the class of 2024, thank you, and congratulations. [LAUGHING] Congrats.
Thank you so much. Each year, the graduating class designs their own award to reflect the unique challenges and formative experience they have faced during their years on grounds. This year, the class of 2024 created the Pillar of UVA Award, which recognizes one fourth-year student who represents the very DNA of UVA in their commitment to values of honor, integrity, trust, and respect. The class put out a call to the entire community, looking for nominees who exemplified honor by leading and guiding others with their strong principles. We sought nominees who were honorable in all that they did, compassionate as they walked through grounds, and who furthered the university's guiding mission to be both good and great.
Our winner, Maddie Stokes, was noted to be the smartest undergraduate student by a professor who has taught for over 20 years. Maddie's nomination stood out because she was described as being exceptionally kind and considerate, always bringing out the best in her peers. Her nominators lauded Maddie as someone whose knowledge was equally deep and broad and who worked in service to others in their community-- who is a moral exemplar.
Outside the classroom, you have seen her living on the lawn, tutoring in ESL, promoting scholarship with the Raven Society, debating with the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, and serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Jefferson Journal. Maddie has indeed been a pillar within our class and a representative of the values we hold dear. Please join me in congratulating the Pillar of UVA award winner, Maddie Stokes. Good afternoon.
My name is [INAUDIBLE] Greer. I’m a third-year student and had the pleasure of serving on the selection committee for the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award this year. Each year, the Sullivan Award Committee selects two student recipients from the graduating class who best exemplify the highest qualities of character, humility, and unselfish service. The committee also selects an individual from the university community whose compassion, service, and influence are widely acknowledged and appreciated. All of the recipients of this award are wonderful people, but they are distinctly defined by their acts and support of others. Their deeds are not spent on self-interest, but rather, in the interest of community.
They represent our highest ideals and our greatest hopes. Please hold your applause as I read a few words about each of our recipients. First, we have Cyrena Matingou. And if you were to ask those who know Serena Matingou well, you would probably find that most of them have no idea of all the ways she has affected our community. In her four years here, Serena has dedicated herself wholeheartedly to those around her, embodying genuine care and selflessness. As a first-year student, she revitalized the Refusing The Narrative Book Club, providing a crucial space for Black women at UVA to explore and reshape their experiences.
Now, as Alani, she's brought the book club to that historic space, impacting their connectivity with the UVA. Serena has been involved in Housing and Residence life the past three years, working as an RA for first years in this past year as a senior resident of the Lawn. She has served as the vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, an Echols Scholar intern, scribe at the UVA Hospital in Charlottesville Free Clinic, Madison House program director, and Global Public Health researcher. Serena's impact on the local Charlottesville community is evident in her public health research on the effects of guaranteed basic income programs on Black Charlottesville mothers. Serena, you exude the spirit of someone who truly finds joy in generosity and caring for others. Thank you for making UVA a better place. Next, we have Joshua Harris, who is unfortunately not here today. So his friend, Anushka Dar, will be accepting the award on his behalf. Now, a bit about Joshua.
He graduated last year from UVA with his undergraduate degree and has completed his master's degree this spring. Joshua is known as a selfless and quiet leader who always puts others before himself. Josh has been the Student Council Chief of Student Access Services and the chair of the Minority Rights Coalition.
Through these positions, Josh has spearheaded most of the intersectional collaborative events between minority organizations and has worked with others to support the Free Store and the food pantry. He's the president of the Animal Justice Advocates. In the words of a friend, "He cares about animals. He cares about people. He cares about people who especially aren't given a voice, and I think that's the same way he thinks about animals. He believes that no one in this world should be harmed. No one in this world should face struggle."
It is the many small things that Josh consistently does for those in marginalized communities that illustrate best his service to the community. Josh picks up on the little details about people's lives. He writes down these things and keeps a running list of things that other people enjoy. If he knows that someone is having a hard day or a hard time, he will make them a gift basket or write them a card. His nominators say he does this because he understands what it feels like to be lonely because of his own marginalized identities and experience, and he never wants anybody else to feel that way. Josh, we are grateful for the way you consistently help others.
We know it's a heavy lift to attempt to fix all the struggles in the world, so thank you for staying motivated to try. And lastly, we have Ms. Sheri Winston. So Sheri Bruce Winston has worked at UVA since 1984. Her work and her roles have changed a lot over the past 40 years, but what hasn't changed is her humble, quiet spirit, her welcoming personality, and her love for the institution. Since the most recent Rotunda renovation, Sheri has served as the director of the Rotunda. In this role, she is often seen as the face of the university to those who visit that space. Each and every day, she works to make the Rotunda a welcoming place for all, a center of history for visitors from near and far, a student's first welcome to the university, or a community group space for celebration. Sheri creates an atmosphere of welcome and joy in the Rotunda and has brought that space from just existing as a building to being an active, lively home.
It is this creation of home, this genuine belief that everyone around her is deserving of kindness and her unwavering support, that are reasons that her ambassadors decided to nominate her for this award. Those students wrote in their nomination that she had been their shoulder to cry on, their cheerleader, their future job reference, their meal provider, a listening ear, and a beacon of light in our community. And I can attest, as a fellow Rotunda Student Ambassador, that Ms. Sheri has been all of those things to me. So thank you personally, Ms. Sheri. And Ms. Sheri, you make the Rotunda feel like home every day to anyone and everyone who visits it. So thank you for giving yourself for all of these years, and the university is a better place because of you. Thank you. Good afternoon.
My name is Nathan Flyzik, and I am the program coordinator for orientation and transition programs here at UVA. Today, on behalf of the Society of the Purple Shadows, I have the honor of presenting the Gordon F. Rainey Junior Award for Vigilance to the Student Experience. A letter from the Society of the Purple Shadows to Ms. Tabitha Enoch. "Ms. Enoch, the Society of the Purple Shadows seeks to recognize those exceptional individuals who serve our shared community without thought of recognition or reward. In this spirit, the Society is proud to present the 2024 Gordon F. Rainey Junior Award for Vigilance to the Student Experience to you.
Over your time at the university, you have significantly eased the college transition for tens of thousands of students. Your unwavering commitment to enhancing the experiences of first year and transfer students is deeply valued. We recognize and celebrate your humble leadership within the orientation and transitions team and the enthusiasm and positivity with which you infuse into your work every day. Your efforts have been a source of inspiration and transformation during a pivotal time in the lives of incoming students.
Furthermore, the dedication you show in supporting first-generation low-income students is crucial to helping these members of our community feel both prepared and like they belong at our university. Moreover, your commitment to opening your doors and mentoring students in need demonstrates your deep capacity for compassion. Always willing to lend a listening ear, you lead selflessly and with tremendous joy. It is no secret that your work requires immense effort, and yet, you embrace this vital role wholeheartedly, helping students find light in the unknown.
Additionally, your contributions to the university extend beyond your work in the Orientation and Transitions team, as you have also embraced the role as the head of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Committee. You have helped recognize those that engage in selfless service, just as you do. Leading this committee, in addition to your work as an Associate Dean of Students, has indelibly enriched the university community. Faculty and students alike speak to the unique energy you bring to the university. Your spirit is infectious, and your ability to connect with students transforms their educational journey into a more personal and empowering experience. A colleague said, 'It's not what she does, it's how she does it.' Tab's contagious positive spirit fills any room she occupies, and she brings the same joy and energy into whatever task is at hand.
Few on grounds can claim to have made as much of a difference as you, and the Society eagerly looks forward to your continued selfless service for you, Ms. Enoch, are one the university is proud to call her own. The Society of the Purple Shadows." Congratulations, Tab. Good afternoon. My name is Callaway Lee, and I am the chair of the 2024 Class Giving Campaign "Pass on Your Passion." Before I begin, I would like to recognize those individuals who helped make this campaign so successful-- to my committee, Ashley Hall, Abby Hendrickson, Emma Nardone, Ryan Hemming, and Ben [INAUDIBLE] I am incredibly grateful for your service to our class and to have worked alongside each of you for the past year.
To Mary Elizabeth Luzar at the Alumni Association and Ann Lawrence Grasty and her team at the UVA Office of Engagement, Class Giving would not have been possible without your expertise and constant support. Finally, to Kyle Woodson, Karina Reynolds, and the rest of trustees, Thank you for your time and commitment to the class of 2024. Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." As students, we have been given an exceptional education, transformative experiences, and memories to last a lifetime. As alumni, we will have the responsibility of ensuring that future generations are afforded the same and even better opportunities. Philanthropy fosters a culture of altruism and interconnectedness. By continuing to give back to communities that are important to us, we are able to make a tangible difference in the lives of others, promoting positive social change and leaving a lasting legacy of kindness and generosity.
The Class Giving Campaign is an annual tradition that allows fourth-year students to give directly back to any organization at UVA. This allows us a moment to reflect on the areas that defined our time here and enhance them for students to come. Each gift is critically important to the future of this university and valued by every area that receives the support. It is my hope that the tradition of giving back or passing on your passion is something we will continue to remember and embody after graduation. I am pleased to announce that we are already off to a great start, with more than 42% of the class of 2024 participating in Class Giving. These 1,871 students donated to over 370 different allocations across grounds.
Here's to continuing to build a vibrant community today and for the many years to come. President Ryan, on behalf of the class of 2024, I am honored to present this check for $46,555. Thank you, and congratulations, class of 2024. [APPLAUSE] Good afternoon, and congratulations to the class of 2024, as well as to your families. I am here to offer some thanks. First, thanks to Callaway for all of your efforts. Thank you to the trustees for your leadership and service. And thanks to the more than 1,800 members of the class of 2024 who participated in the class gift. The tradition of the class gift started at UVA in 1983. And as you just heard, those who participate can direct their gifts to support just about any area, cause, or initiative at the university. This year, as Callaway just mentioned, you designated 378 different recipients of your gifts.
I will read all of them. I won't. Just to give you a sense of their breadth, these include the university library, Madison House, the Office of African-American Affairs, the Women's Center, the Fralin Museum Of Art, the Cavalier Marching Band. Dozens of departments, hundreds of student organizations, sorority and fraternity foundations. Access UVA, which is our financial aid program, and the Virginia Athletics Foundation. All of us at UVA have benefited from the generosity of those who have come before us, and I’m grateful to see so many paying that generosity forward. It's one of the best ways to help make sure that future generations of UVA students will have the same opportunities that all of us have had, if not more. So on behalf of the entire university, thank you very much for your generosity.
And I’m looking forward to seeing all of you again either tomorrow, Sunday, or both. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Class of 2024, friends, families, faculty, and staff, my name is Danielle Stevens, and I am the class of 2024 Trustees Graduation Chair. This afternoon, I have the distinct honor of introducing our keynote speaker-- a University of Virginia alum, baseball legend, World Series champion and philanthropist, Mr. Ryan Zimmerman. [APPLAUSE] While at UVA, Mr. Zimmerman displayed his incredible athletic abilities on the field. He went on to establish the school record for hits in one season in 2004 and then went on to break his own record in 2005. After his time at UVA, he was drafted as the fourth pick overall to the Washington Nationals before becoming the first player ever to be drafted by the new team. This was only 88 days after graduating from UVA.
He would go on to become the face of the franchise, even being dubbed "Mr. National." In his 17 years with the Nationals, Mr. Zimmerman would become a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, and a 2019 World Series champion. [APPLAUSE] He continues to hold franchise records in a number of categories, including games played, hits, home runs, doubles, RBIs, runs scored, and total bases. He also notably started in every game that he appeared in-- all 1,799 of them. [APPLAUSE] Mr. Zimmerman's talents extend far beyond the baseball field. Throughout his life, Mr. Zimmerman has embodied a passion for serving others and has promoted a positive change for the future without seeking the spotlight. He began his own foundation, The ziMS Foundation, to help raise awareness and fight multiple sclerosis, raising more than $4 million towards this cause. He also was one of the first professional athletes to raise funds for frontline workers during COVID-19 through his impactful Pros For Heroes campaign.
Mr. Zimmerman continues to strive for greatness and leverage his influence to help others through a number of other initiatives, all while staying true to his roots. He has remained connected to the UVA baseball program as a generous donor and loyal fan. In 2022, Mr. Zimmerman was back at UVA's Disharoon Park for the retirement of his jersey. UVA head baseball coach Brian O'Connor said this about Ryan, "I always say that you can tell a lot about these professional athletes who are playing at the highest level by whether they make their community better, and you can certainly say that about Ryan. He is all class in everything that he does-- the way that he played the game on the field, his leadership, and his poise that he played with." Mr. Zimmerman truly stands as a role model whose success we aspire to achieve with the same amount of leadership, perseverance, and humility that he brings on and off the field. It is truly my honor and privilege to introduce such a legend. And now, employee number 11, "Mr. National," Ryan Zimmerman.
[APPLAUSE] All right. Wow. What an honor to be here to share the stage with such great people that I’ve got to chat with a little bit backstage, and obviously to share this with all of you out there as well in this fun weekend. Thank you, President Ryan, for giving me this opportunity, for all the great work that you do here at the university and in the community. Thank you, Danielle, for the kind introduction. I always like coming up to the stage when someone does that. It's nice. Thank you to the Board, visitors, members, and thank you to the UVA faculty and staff. You all are truly the great backbone of this institution. I would also like to thank my parents, Keith and Cheryl.
They couldn't make it today, but they were such great role models for me and my brother growing up. They worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make it possible for me to even be in a position to attend this great university. I know that I would definitely not be up on this stage or have had the baseball career that I had without the relationships I garnered while on grounds and here in Charlottesville. Simply put, my parents made so many things in my life possible, and I try every day to be as good a parent to my kids as they were to me. Thank you, mom and dad. I know this is a weekend to celebrate the graduates, but I would also like to take a second to thank all of your friends and family that are here. So many of you played such a huge part in getting all these students here today. You should be just as proud as the graduates themselves.
Take a second to give yourselves a round of applause. [APPLAUSE] Thank you to my wife, Heather, for always supporting me in everything that I do. You pushed me to do things outside of my comfort zone, kind of like this, and giving life and career advice to a group of really smart young people who have all done something now that I did not do-- receive a college degree. I’m feeling super comfortable up here right now. My wife, I met her in Northern Virginia. She graduated from Radford and sometimes reminds me that she is the only one in the house who actually has a college diploma, to which I sometimes reply, well, you know, three years here, it's kind of equal to four years there. Obviously kidding. And the only way I could say that was to ask her permission to put it in the speech, so-- I don't have a degree, but I’m not a dummy. But she was a broadcast journalism major at Radford and had a blossoming career before she decided to become an incredible wife and an amazing mom to our four kids.
Thank you for everything you do. To my two daughters that are here, Mackenzie and Hayden, who are 10 and almost 8. It has been so cool for them to experience this celebration. They both love school and love learning, and this experience shows them that hard work can lead to great accomplishments. I can't wait to attend their graduation ceremonies one day, and maybe one day they can attend mine as well, or maybe we can graduate together. Mackenzie is 10, 8 years, 4 more-- the 19 that I’ve been gone-- so, like, a quick 41 years for me to get my degree. Just a modern day Tommy Boy. And we also have two boys at home, Henry and Benjamin. They didn't quite make it out today. It's probably better for everyone that they're not here. These plants would be gone. That flag would definitely be down. They'd be sitting there whining, complaining, kind of like I was when they changed O'Neals to Trinity. I was always kind of a Coop's guy, though, you know? That's right.
Yeah. I’m sure they're at home listening, locked into my speech or just watching Paw Patrol and hanging out. But if you’re listening, boys, I love you, and we can play when we get home. Nonetheless, I’m extremely proud that I went to this great university. The notion kicks in when all my Virginia Tech buddies back home text me when their football team beats us again, but that's going to change soon. We're coming. Or when they mention the UMBC loss in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, to which I just text back "What happened the next year? And how many national championships does your school have?" [APPLAUSE] But again, it's just school pride. I’m just standing up for this great institution.
But all of you here should be very proud, and I know you are. Today we are here to celebrate you. You guys did it. You made it. The class of 2024, give yourselves a huge round of applause. [APPLAUSE] When I started to think about my speech and what message I wanted to convey today, the first thing I did was completely panic. I’m going to have a chance to address some of the best and brightest minds of the next generation. One of the greatest honors is to speak at university graduations. What am I going to do or say to inspire them? And then I did what all great thinkers do-- I went down to my basement, poured a nice glass of bourbon, and started writing. After a couple of glasses or maybe a few more, it became apparent to me that we have more in common than I originally thought. Here are a few of the messages I came up with. "To whom much is given, much is expected." This goes back to the pride element we just talked about. You’re about to receive one of the most prestigious degrees in the state, country, and even the world. You earned it. It was not given to you, but now it is your job to validate it.
Go out there with confidence, and let your talents shine. Much has been said about the world and the country you’re about to venture out into, how it's a bad place to grow up, things are unfair, and much more. No doubt, we all have things to work on, and we can all become way better. I’m not here to say life is fair. What I have noticed more and more lately is we have a lot of people who like to complain about these problems, but far less people who are willing to offer solutions for these problems. You all have the tools and the opportunity to change this, arguably more than any generation before you.
Go from here, and be the positive influence we all need right now. Use the education, the lessons, and the relationships you have gathered in your years here on grounds to go make a difference and change the world. I use this mantra throughout my career as a professional baseball player. Although I earned my spot, I also realized I got to play a game for a living. I never forgot how much was expected of me on and off the field. I wanted to go out there every single day and prove to the fans that I deserve to play this game. I never took a day for granted. As my dad used to tell me, "Someone's always trying to take your job." Think like that, and I promise you will be successful. Each and every one of you has earned this.
You now have something that many wish they had, like me. Don't ever forget that, and don't ever take it for granted. Let's talk about failure a little bit. Not as fun as a degree you just earned, but failure, in my opinion, is one of the greatest teachers in life. Now, I’m not talking about not showing up and losing your job, or that type of failure. I’m not here to spread that message. I’m talking about failing because you’re trying to invent a new medical technique, or failing to create a new computer program that would improve the lives of millions. These are the types of failures I welcome-- failing while trying to push the limits within your expertise. It's one of the main reasons I love sports so much. I truly believe that sports and competition parallel real life in so many ways. Baseball is one of the greatest sports ever invented, but it's also one of the hardest.
You can fail seven times out of 10 and be thought of as one of the greatest to ever play. I stumbled upon Peyton Manning's speech here a few years back when I was doing some research. His career completion percentage was 65.3%. My career hit percentage is about 27%. So as you can see, I learned to fail quite a bit. It's not unlike what you guys are about to encounter in the real world. Everyone fails. It's inevitable. What I want you all to think about is not the act of failing, but how you respond after you fail. You can whine and complain, wallow in self-pity, or you can learn from it and become better. More importantly, we cannot let the thought of failure lead to hesitancy. So many of society's greatest inventions or policies would have never come to fruition if the fear of failure stopped people from moving forward.
This made me think of one of my favorite quotes-- it's a quote from Teddy Roosevelt. Speaking of failures, I’m not sure if we have any Nats fans here today? But we do this weird, crazy presidents race at our game, and Teddy loses pretty much every time, but he still shows up to the race. So I guess if you take anything from this speech, it's that we can all be like a racing president mascot. So anyway, the quote goes like this, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who, at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement? And who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat?" This is one of the ways I approach my career, and I challenge each of you to approach whatever your next step in life is. Don't be the person judging from the outside.
Be the person in the arena striving to better yourself, and everything, and everyone around you. One of the things I became known for in my career was coming through in the clutch. Earning the nickname "Mr. Walk-off," I had 11 walk-off home runs and some more walk-off hits. People often ask me, how were you so successful in those situations? The truth is, I really don't know. But I always used to tell them I put the pressure on the pitcher. By the end of the game, you’re facing a guy that's one of the best pitchers on their team. Honestly, he's kind of supposed to get you out. But the truth is, I would have rather had the chance to be the guy to win the game and not come through, which I did many times. Instead of never having a chance at all, I wanted to be in the arena. I lived for those moments, even knowing there was a good chance of failure. Quick story about Cubs. We're in Chicago, a Cub Series-- Bryce Harper was on the team. I was hitting behind Bryce Harper that day. Joe Maddon, the manager of the Cubs then, walked Bryce intentionally four times. I then left 13 people on base that day, and we lost the game basically because of me. And after the game, the media asked me, what did you think about that? And I said, well, Joe's pretty smart. I would pitch to me instead of Bryce too. And then I looked at them and I said, I hope he does it again tomorrow, and I truly meant that. I just failed miserably, and I want to do it again tomorrow. I can live with myself no matter what the outcome is because I know I prepared and gave myself the best chance to succeed in those situations. Whatever you have lined up to do next, whether you already have a job or you will be interviewing for one, just promise me you will prepare yourself on a daily basis to be successful. Put the work in, and I guarantee you you will be happy with the outcome. If you diligently prepare, it's out of your hands. And no matter what happens, you will be able to sleep at night. When you get out there, be a good teammate.
As you guys move on from grounds and navigate your next steps in life, I challenge you to be good teammates. Always choose to be optimistic instead of pessimistic. Be encouraging instead of discouraging. Be the person who makes everyone around them better. This type of attitude is contagious. The mindset is what the world needs more and more, and you will find more success with this mindset. One of my favorite teammates of all time was a guy named Ian Desmond. Really good shortstop, but an even better person. He would always say it's easy to be a good teammate when you’re hitting 300. Let's see what happens when you’re hitting 200. We are all great people when things are going our way. The true test of character comes when hard times show up. My goal every year was to be a great teammate and leader by being consistent each and every day. You guys can do this too. Whatever endeavor is on the horizon, show up every day, and be ready to work.
Or as Coach Mack, who is still here-- was my hitting coach and assistant hitting coach here-- he said, "Keep pushing the rock." You can get away with some things, but there are no shortcuts in real life-- no free lunch. Embrace the grind that is about to become your daily routine. No matter how successful you become, remember, this is the foundation that helps lay the heaviest of stones. Become successful by outworking everyone. "Put the work in" is a slogan I used to live by. And when you ultimately succeed because of this hard work, remember to stay humble. Be the same person throughout all of your achievements and your failures. If you practice this, not only will you have success, but you will earn the respect of your peers. Whether you’re in an office or a lab, on a trading floor or on a baseball field, the respect of your peers is the highest compliment anyone can achieve.
Make sure you give back. Wherever you go from here or if you’re back here, wherever you end up, just give back. Muhammad Ali once said, "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth." Find something that you are passionate about. For me, off the field, that was The ziMS Foundation. As some of you might know, my mother was diagnosed with MS in 1995. This news, at the time, was pretty heavy. My brother, Sean and I, as middle schoolers, had to help my dad adjust, and it put life and the meaning of life into an entirely new perspective. A decade later, after making my Major League debut with the Nats, in the Fall of 2005, we started The ziMS foundation literally from my parents' living room in Virginia Beach. Our goal was simple, do whatever we could to raise awareness and ultimately find a cure for MS. Being a big league ballplayer, I now had a platform to raise awareness and real donations that many did not have. We started off by doing a golf tournament at Virginia Beach, and it has blossomed into something none of us would have ever imagined. When I negotiated my first contract with the Nats, a few years later, I was the first MLB player to negotiate into their on-field contract, the use of their home stadium, rent-free, for a philanthropic event. You should have heard some of the ideas my buddies had for that rent-free day. That was a-- a philanthropic event was not theirs. With the help of my agent-- also a UVA grad, by the way-- we hosted 10 straight years of charity music concerts, calling it "A Night At The Park" while raising millions of dollars to fight MS. Finding ways to give back is contagious. With these specific ziM Foundation events and others, we engage entire communities across the region.
We've been able to partner with local schools to bring kids to Nats games to get their minds off the responsibilities that they had at home being a caregiver to a parent with MS like I was many years before that. These relationships and connections allowed us to branch off and create additional programs like Pros for Heroes, which helped give back to first responders and small businesses when COVID-19 hit. To this day, I’m proud to say that we have raised and given back more than $4.5 million to fight for these causes we care so much about. And I bring all this up not to boast about how much I’ve done or what my family has accomplished. Of course, we love to raise money and give it away. But what my family and I have learned throughout the years is that doing these things allows you to get to know your community and make lifelong friends, just like your time on grounds. You have created unbreakable relationships with the people and the community around you. The best views come after the longest climbs. And your view this afternoon, as you await your diploma, is mighty bright. Go out, get involved in your community. Get to know your neighbors. Take a break from your phone, and talk to someone in person. And when you have kids, teach them to value these acts as well. Take a chance every now and then, and have a coffee, or chat with someone you may not have a lot of in common with. Try to learn how to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
You might be surprised at what you learn about that person, or better yet, what you learn about yourself. In closing, pretty simple, just be kind. Hold the door for people. Say please and thank you. Make eye contact, and tell someone to have a nice day. When someone does something for you, take the time to write a handwritten Thank You note and send it to them in this amazing thing called "the mail." These seem very simple acts, but they are not. It takes a little bit more of your time, or it might not be convenient for you.
But when the other person receives that compliment or that Thank You note, maybe then they will take the time to do it for someone else. Then it starts to spread. My parents used to tell me, "Treat others like you want to be treated." I can't tell you how many times me and my brother heard that growing up, but it's true. It really is that easy. It doesn't matter where you come from, what you look like, or even where you went to school, at the end of the day, we are all human beings, and we are in this together. Your generation can and will lead the way. I cannot wait to see what you all accomplish, and it has been an honor to speak with you today. Best wishes and go Hoos.
[APPLAUSE] Thank you so much, Mr. Zimmerman, for your inspiring remarks. And I’m going to need everybody here to go ahead and lower their expectations for mine. Family, friends, and distinguished guests, my name is Kyle Woodson. On behalf of all students here, thank you for supporting us through this journey. We could not have done it without you. Class of 2024, to those who know me, hello again. To those who don't know me, you might recognize me as kew9hja@virginia.edu. This is my formal apology for adding to your overflowing inboxes all these years. However, if you think that this occasion marks the end of receiving emails from me, don't get too excited. I have already scheduled a class party reminder email to send later this afternoon. But on a more serious note, we did it. 1,361 days ago, we began our classes from home on Zoom.
And sometime in the next 48 hours, we will walk down the lawn together with our backs to the Rotunda soon to be pronounced graduates of the University of Virginia. A few weeks ago, I ran into a friend, who I’ve known since elementary school, giving her final tour as a university guide. She asked me to provide one piece of advice to her tour group. I told them this-- during your first couple of weeks on grounds, everyone is eager to meet new people. So don't let the fear of an awkward interaction hold you back from finding your forever friends. Now, some of you might be thinking, wow, that was unoriginal. Cut me some slack. That was a high-pressure situation, but I think it speaks volumes that many of us here would probably offer similar advice to new students. We used to find some solace in spontaneous interactions. As students, we've balanced classes, homework, club meetings, personal well-being, social lives, and more. We spent the last four years fine-tuning our daily routines.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am obnoxiously organized. Those who know me well, or who have caught a glimpse of my Google Calendar, know that I am a serial planner. It is probably fair to say that many of us here have hardly deviated from our carefully constructed routines over the past year. But now, we are jumping off the deep end into brand new environments, and excessive planning may not be the best approach. Too much planning can lead to paralysis. It can hinder adaptation, cause stress and burnout, and even lead to disappointment when things don't go as planned. So as we embark on a new sort of first year, let's make a pact, me and all of you, to embrace spontaneity once again.
While thinking of a way to justify this suggestion, I, of course, got distracted scrolling through LinkedIn. I don't know about all of you, but LinkedIn has become my go to method to stalk what other people are up to. But the scrolling paid off when I came across an article from an ex serial planner, which provides a good analogy for us to keep in mind. "Life is like a boulder that you are in control of, shaping it and pushing it over a hill. It takes a lot of effort to reach the top, but eventually, you get over the peak.
The boulder begins to roll with your guidance, slowly but surely, down the very path you intend. But then, momentum takes over. The boulder gains a life of its own and begins to stray from the calculated path as it picks up speed. The point is that those who shy away from surprise opportunities will focus all of their time and energy to get this boulder back on their planned path. But those who recognize the possibilities from a spontaneous change in direction will utilize the momentum to take full advantage of new experiences." All of our hard work over the past four years has helped us reach the top of the hill, but our futures are not predetermined. So remember to find solace in spontaneity. You never know what unexpected opportunities will present themselves. Don't be afraid to seize them, and you never know who you will cross paths with. Don't be afraid to say hi because a single conversation could turn into a new forever friendship.
Now, before we conclude, I want to add a shameless plug for the class party tonight at Alumni Hall from 9:00 PM to midnight. Also, semi-surprise, we have a limited number of custom UVA scarves available for graduating fourth years. As you depart from JPJ, please only take one scarf per student. Thank you all for attending, and fingers crossed, that the weather holds over the next two days. Please rise to sing "The Good Old Song." ["THE GOOD OLD SONG"]
May 16, 2025
Valedictory Exercises
May 17, 2025
First Day of the Academic Procession and Final Exercises
May 18, 2025
Second Day of the Academic Procession and Final Exercises
