Democracy, social justice, and respect for human rights, dominant themes at Commencement 2003

Released on May 19, 2003
Contact: Donna Desrochers: 781-736-4204

In a year that saw war and the continuing threat of terror, it came as no surprise that social justice, democracy, and respect for human rights were leading themes at the University's 52nd commencement May18.

Keynote speaker Aharon Barak, the president of Israel's Supreme Court, told the 745 graduating seniors that the temptation to "silence" laws during war and terror is real, but has no room in a true democracy. "Sometimes a democracy must fight with one hand tied behind its back." It must hold to higher standards than that of terrorists. Despite Sept. 11 and events of the past year, he encouraged students not to lose faith in the essential goodness of human beings, and to fight for social justice.

Barak, who was born in Lithuania and lost most of his family in the Holocaust, said students are setting out "from the warmth of the university to the reality of life" in one of the "most enlightened democracies in the world."

But "democracy cannot be taken for granted," he cautioned.

"If democracy was perverted and destroyed in the Germany of Kant, Beethoven and Goethe, it can happen anywhere."

If we do not protect democracy, democracy will not protect us."

For members of the Class of 2003, the commitment to social justice has been a galvanizing force during their time at Brandeis. And senior speaker Ana Yoselin Bugallo called on fellow graduates to keep the spirit alive. "My question to you now is, in the coming years, will you accept the status quo or will you, just as you've done at Brandeis, learn what not to accept? Will you have the compassion, the courage, the bravery, and the character to create your own Brandeis, wherever you are?"

Mary Elizabeth Brooks, M.A. `03, who spoke of the need to "globalize the dream of those who came before us," and to combine compassion with knowledge, struck a similar theme.

"Knowledge does advance social justice," stressed Brooks. "But compassion fuels compassion. It seals it, and sustains it."

President Jehuda Reinharz congratulated the departing students and called on them to "join the older generation to make the world a safer place." He said that "during the war with Iraq, there were strong feelings on all sides," alluding to the many debates that took place across campus. Diverse speakers - some "controversial"- were invited, and he commended students for showing respect for opposing opinions. Looking to the future, he noted graduates can take pride in the knowledge that the first master's degree in coexistence will soon be offered at their alma mater, as part of the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence.

The University awarded 256 master's degrees and 59 Ph.D.s in the ceremony at Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Close to 7,000 people attended, including members of Brandeis's second graduating class, the Class of 1953.

Honorary degrees were presented to Barak and six others, including former Dartmouth College President James O. Freedman; noted diplomat Richard Holbrooke; prominent sociologist and author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot; internationally acclaimed historian and author of John Adams, David McCullough; U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi; and philanthropist Alan B. Slifka, co-founder of the New York-based Abraham Fund, whose generosity at Brandeis helped create the Slifka Scholarships, which bring Israeli Arabs and Jews to campus, as well as the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence.