1937 Los Angeles mayoral election

Transcription

Harvard invented college reunions. The first reunion took place in 1643, a year after the first commencement, when alumni were invited back to celebrate with the new graduates. During Harvard's bicentennial year of 1636, the alumni festivities were particularly exuberant. Ralph Waldo Emerson of the Harvard class of 1821 wrote about the annual Harvard alumni parade on that day in July of 1836. Here is what he wrote in his journal. "Cambridge at anytime is full of ghosts, but on that day the anointed eye saw the crowd of spirits that mingled with the procession in the vacant spaces year by year as the classes proceeded, and then the far longer train of ghosts that followed the company of the men that wore before us the college honors and the laurels of the state, the long winding train reaching back into eternity." And you can hear in the background the Harvard band playing, and the long winding train of alumni is forming in Harvard yard. Rennie, maybe you can tell us what we can expect to hear this afternoon. Thank you, Nancy. Nancy noted that she graduated from the college in 1976 and received her MBA from Harvard Business School in '78. She has been a member of the Committee for the Happy Observance of Commencements for over 20 years now and is currently the Alumni Association's treasurer. I believe that this is her eighth year doing this broadcasting in the afternoon exercises. So it's a pleasure to join you, Nancy, high above courtside here as Johnny Most used to say before the Celtics games. In our case, we have three steps up in what is called the tree house on the stage left here in the Tercentenary Theatre. And I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank Rachel Lamson, Director of Board Services for the Alumni Association, and her assistant Kate Freed who has put together a thick syllabus for us today. I also want to thank Diane MacDonald and Deborah Smullyan in the Alumni Association's Class Reports Office for providing information on the fours and nines, which are the classes that are reunioning this week. Finally, I want to thank our camera crew, Kathy O'Connell, Bob [? De Maison, ?] and Ed McNamara for the nice job that they do with keeping us all in line and showing off this wonderful event. We're going to see today the afternoon exercises of commencement, robe after robes scattered a rainbow, robes after robes scattering the rainbow, as David McCord said. Although we don't see as many of those in robes this afternoon as we see the alumni, as this is the annual meeting of the Alumni Association. And this is the fourth meeting of the Alumni Association. They hold three per year in the fall, winter, and spring and then finish up with the annual Alumni Association, which we are commencing today. The dignitaries are just coming around. They've already been started off with the band. They are led off by the Chief Marshal and his aids, Richard Barth, who is the Chief Marshal for commencement. He is of the 25th reunion class, but he was elected by his classmates in the fall. Both Nancy and I have chaired that committee at one time or another. And it's the best and the brightest from the class that are chosen. There are usually eight or nine candidates selected by the class and voted on by class members. The Chief Marshal appoints alumni to assist the Committee for the Happy Observance of Commencements and with such activities as crowd management, the general alumni spread, the tree spread for college graduates who have had their 50th reunion, and the Chief Marshal spread for distinguished guests, honorans, family, and faculty. Richard Barth, class of '89, is the CEO of KIPP Foundation, as Nancy mentioned, Knowledge and Power Program, a network of schools. KIPP has grown to 141 schools, serving over 50,000 students across the country in communities where roughly half of the students drop out of high school and only one in 10 will earn a college degree. Among KIPP students, 95% of whom are African American or Latino and 86% of whom are low-income families, 93% graduate from high school and 83% go on to college. We will hear the welcome from the president's of the Chief Marshal of the Harvard Association. They're just coming down the aisle. You see can see that-- They're the class of 1928 to the class of 1958. Our oldest alumni today are in that group. You'll see the men in their top hats. Those are men who belong to the Happy Observance of Commencement Committee, Alumni Association committee that was founded in the 1860s to make sure everybody would be happy on commencement day. Although, Rennie, I understand they also began to serve alcohol on commencement, and that made the people even happier. You see the men have their black top hats. The women-- you saw earlier my hat with the feathers. That's the woman's version of the top hat, and we see many women in Harvard Yard today who have the top hats. So here we have the procession of our oldest alumni. And today we're happy to welcome the two oldest alumni, Lillian Sugarman from the Radcliffe class of 1937 and Robert Rothschild from the Harvard class of 1939. Our President of the Harvard Alumni Association this year is Catherine A. Gellert, AB '93, known as Kate. Kate joined the HAA as an elected director in 2007. She is a former co-chair of the Executive Committee of the Harvard College Fund and Vice President of Harvard's Engagement and Marketing Committee. A Class Reunion Gift Chair, she also served as treasurer of the Harvard Club of New York City before becoming the HAA president. Kate has an MBA from Columbia. She works in her family's Manhattan private investment business, the Windcrest Partners. Her parents, Michael E. Gellert, class of '53, and Mary C. Gellert, a 1957 graduate of the Harvard Radcliffe Program in Business Administration. And we see now the 25th Reunion Class. The great class of 1989 is filing onto the stage. They're passing right in front of us. And there are hundreds of members of the class we will have return today for their 25th reunion. The 25th reunion is considered to be the major reunion of a Harvard class. And it's the 25th, the 30th, and the 50th classes who are celebrating with us today. The 30th, 35th, and 40th may be here, but the chances are that they are not because they will hold their reunions in the fall, next fall. And this helps with the Alumni Association staff because it doesn't give them as much work to do when they would have all of the classes. So we're seating the classes proceeding now down the aisle. When Kate comes up, she will welcome us all here today. And then we will sing "Gaudeamus Igitur," or "So Let Us Rejoice," which is a popular former academic hymn sung in Latin. Despite its use as such, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. The song dates to the early 18th century based on the Latin manuscript from 1287. It was known as a beer-drinking song in many ancient universities, and it tells you to live the fullest even though you know you can die sometime. This is including singing this song. We will sing it cheerfully. It's a beautiful day here in Cambridge, a perfect afternoon. It's sunny and cool with the temperature in the 60s. Those of us on the Happy Committee firmly believe that our late beloved university minister Peter Gomes is managing things from on high to make sure we had a beautiful day. Yesterday it was cold and rainy. Tomorrow it is predicted to be cold and rainy. But our Reverend Peter Gomes is watching out for us today, and we have a perfect day here in Cambridge. Professor Gomes, who was the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals for more than 40 years, has said of Harvard commencement that, "Someone observing the rather casual dignity of the day remarked that commencement is more like a lawn party than a ballet. And a less charitable but more astute observer suggested that the vast assemblage in formation in the old yard was very much like that wonderfully chaotic game of croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs in Alice in Wonderland. First-time visitors are horrified at what appears to be rank confusion"-- as you see today what appears to be rank confusion-- "but then remember that this is after all Harvard, where conformity even of self-preservation has been elevated to the rank of an original sin. That it works at all is a tribute to patience and goodwill, and the general sense that, come what may, this day is to be enjoyed." Rennie, I'm not sure we're going to see anybody playing croquet with flamingos today, but it is certainly a beautiful sight to be sitting here watching the alumni precess into the Tercentenary Theatre. Well, it is a lovely day, as Nancy said. And we can just begin to see groups coming in now. Over the years that I've been doing this-- and I think is my 30th year in the Happy Committee-- I've watched the tree spread grow, which is all of those graduates over the 50th reunion class. And now that the tree spread has grown, it takes much longer for them to come in. So notice in the picture that you're seeing there that the oldest grads are just beginning to make their way into the stadium. At the same time, we have a number of groups of younger classes, different divisions, that are coming in from the side, on what would be stage right for you. Or if you're looking over by University Hall, they would be coming in from there. Rennie, can we continue with the order of the program for this afternoon? Absolutely. Kate will start with remarks and recognition. And my guess is she will first recognize Richard Barth, as Nancy has mentioned, class of '89 who's the Chief Marshal for commencement. Traditionally, the Chief Marshal, which we mentioned was picked by his classmates, or her classmates and their classmates, doesn't say anything at this ceremony, because at the end of three days of reunioning of their 25th reunion, chances are he or she may not have a voice left. At least that was the case my year as the Chief Marshal. I can remember asking our class football captain Tim Anderson to sit next to me and jab me when I closed my eyes. Needless to say, I had a very sore arm for days afterwards. I think Kate will also introduce Robert Rothschild, which we mentioned is the oldest grad, not the oldest living grad but the oldest grad that's here today, and Lillian Sugarman, class of '37, who I gather is older than he is, representing the oldest Radcliffe graduate that's here today. At that time, we will hear from Kate Gellert, the Announcement of Overseers, HA, directors, and election results. And we'll wait for Kate to make that announcement. The final tally has just come in. It's an area that we wish more graduates would take the time to elect. It's always a small percentage that really do elect the overseers and the directors of the Harvard Alumni Association, which is rather sad because it is an opportunity for getting the best and brightest to help serve on the overseers and for the Harvard Alumni Association as directors. After that has happened, we'll have the presentation of the Harvard Medals. The Harvard Medal is awarded by the HAA for extraordinary service to Harvard University. The word service includes teaching, administration, fundraising, and other alumni activities. Three to five Harvard Medals have been awarded at each commencement since 1981, except for the 350th celebration in 1986 when 20 medals were presented. It's an interesting mix of graduates who have received this medal. To name but a few, Al Gordon, class and '23, who Gordon Track Center is named after and a very loyal alum to Harvard in many ways. Former Radcliffe President Matina Horner. Poet and fundraiser David McCord, whom I quoted earlier as robe after robe scattered a rainbow. David was a much-beloved fundraiser for Harvard, and [INAUDIBLE]. In fact, I started my career as a father-son combination, my father class of 1919, and I a father-son combination fundraising for David. More familiar names might be hockey coach Bill Cleary, who we've seen here today, my old track coach Bill McCurdy, crew coach Harry Parker, who received it last year, I believe, Nancy, if I remember correctly. Yes. Librarian Agnes Mongan. And also showing you what extraordinary service means, Eddie Chamberlain, who for years was Kirkland House's best beloved superintendent. And here, Rennie, we have a picture of the 50th reunion class, the great class of 1964, as they line up to precess into Tercentenary Theatre. Tercentenary Theatre is called Tercentenary Theatre, and it was dedicated at the 300th anniversary celebration of Harvard's founding in 1936. It's bordered by Widener Library, University Hall, Memorial Church, and the great Sever Hall, which was designed by the renowned American architect and Harvard graduate H.H. Richardson. The tent which the dignitaries are under was replaced from an old one that leaked badly in 1985. So the present tent when it is replaced will become part of the past tense. Maybe I ought to get a symbol crash on that, Nancy. We'll progress down after the presentation of the medals, which if not, we can mention those, perhaps. You've got them right there. I've got them here, I think. Unfortunately, there are usually, as I said, any number of them, but they're usually have been three in the past. And this year there will be only two presented at this ceremony. It will be Louis Newell from the class of 1957. Unfortunately, he is unable to be with us today. But Emily Pulitzer. Right. And Anand Mahindra. Anand is from the class of 1977, MBA 1981. And Emily Pulitzer received a Master of Arts degree in 1963. I should mention we will watch the 50th reunion go by, that that's Scott Harshbarger's class. There it is, the great class of 1964. Interesting, the reunion classes as they come in, Nancy mentioned the 80th as being the oldest, but perhaps the class of 1970 and 1944 is having their 70th reunion. And that's an interesting classes in that their class secretary who was appointed at the time they graduate, Dan Fenn, has been at it ever since 1944. He's the oldest class secretary and the oldest in longevity. And it's interesting to note that the class of 1944, as far as we know, the only class to have had five Nobel Prize winners in it-- two presidential advisers, of which Dan Fenn was actually-- Dan Fenn headed up the Kennedy Library at one point. And two former musical composers. So it's a well-known class, and there are quite a few of them here today. Continuing with the afternoon program, Kate Gellert will inform us of class gifts to the Harvard College Fund. One gift that is the most important gift was one by Ken Griffin, who gave $175 million to Harvard College, which is the biggest single gift ever made to Harvard College. The money will largely go to the college's financial aid program. The annual cost of attending Harvard College is currently $60,000, and more than 70% of Harvard undergraduates receive some form of financial aid. Good deal of that, probably $40 million of that, which Nancy mentioned, will go towards creating 200 Griffin scholars, and $125 million providing three-to-one matching funds for a new program that's to create 600 scholarship. In return, Harvard will rename its college financial aid office and its director's title after Griffin. Griffin, who is estimated worth 4.4 billion, founded Citadel one year after graduating from Harvard. Harvard embarked last September on a $6.5 billion-dollar campaign, and this gift from Ken Griffin will be part of that Harvard campaign, which I understand, Rennie, is going very well. And so Harvard's trying to raise $6.5 million over the course of the next five years. It's going along well, as I understand it. We call ourselves in the Alumni Association the friendraisers. And we call our colleagues in the money-raising end of it the fundraisers. So both of them work well together. After the introduction and we hear about the financial end of things, the band will come down the aisles playing "Harvardiana." They'll swing down the center aisle with a collection of Harvard fight songs, including Tom Lehrer's "Fight Fiercely Harvard." Some of you may be aware of this. He put this together back in the '50s. "Fight fiercely, Harvard. Fight, fight, fight. Demonstrate to them our will. Albeit they possess the might, nevertheless we have the will. We will celebrate our victory. We'll have the whole team up for tea. How jolly. Throw that spheroid down the field, and fight, fight, fight." Following Harvardiana, we will have the report to the alumni by our president, Drew Gilpin Faust. She is the 28th president of the university, and she will give us her annual report, which will give us a picture of current happenings along with a view toward the future. She will be with us tomorrow, too, when we celebrate Radcliffe Day and receive the Radcliffe Medal. It's been 15 years now that the Radcliffe Institute took over the Harvard. You may know that Radcliffe was founded as the Harvard Annex in 1879 and chartered as Radcliffe in 1894. It merged with Harvard in 1999. From 1963 to 1976, just before Nancy graduated, the Harvard diplomas were signed by both Radcliffe and Harvard. My diploma is more valuable than yours, Rennie, because I have two presidents who signed my diploma and you only have one. That's true. That's true. Well, I get a lot of kidding from my wife who was a Radcliffe graduate. I always said she was the magna cum laude and I was the laude [? a ?] cumma. In any case we will-- After the report to the alumni, we will sing the Radcliffe alma mater, "Radcliffe, Now We Rise to Greet Thee." And following that, we will have the principal commencement address. It will be given by Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City. Prior to that, he founded Bloomberg Communications, which is a global communications firm. Since leaving the mayor office in New York City, he runs Bloomberg Philanthropies and he's the UN special envoy for cities and climate change. He's also done work to try to increase gun control in the United States. So we're all looking forward to Michael Bloomberg's address. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University for his undergraduate degree, and then he received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966. And today he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Yes, he's a local boy. He was born in 1942, and raised here, and lived in Medford. And attended, as Nancy said, Johns Hopkins then the Harvard Business School. And he told us last night when he was growing up he wasn't much of a Red Sox fan, but he was a rabid Celtics fan. And when he went to games in New York City or Boston, where the New York Knicks play the Boston Celtics, he wouldn't cheer for either team. Well, we're glad to have him here today to speak to us. It'll be quite interesting. We've had some interesting speeches over the year. I was looking over the list of those who have spoken to us in the past, and if I can find it here, I thought I might mention some of the interesting things that they've talked about. While Rennie's looking for his list, we will finish the afternoon exercises with the singing of "Fair Harvard," the Harvard alma mater, composed by Samuel Gilman of the class of 1811. Rennie, do you realize that he graduated more than 200 years ago and we still sing two verses of the song that he wrote? It's interesting to note that the song that he composed read, "Fair Harvard thy sons to the jubilee throne." And there was a lot of discussion about this when Radcliffe joined and merged with Harvard. And the feeling was that the verse should be changed. And indeed it was changed to "Fair Harvard, we join in thy jubilee throne." It's interesting to note that Champ Lyons of the class of '62 was one of our former HAA presidents and a lawyer and judge in the southern part of the country. His recommendation was that it would be called, suggested it be, "Fair Harvard, thy sibs, to thy jubilee throne." And that will be the end of our commencement afternoon exercises. That will be the close of the 145th meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. And we will reconvene then next year on May 26, 2015 for the 145th meeting of the Alumni Association. I mentioned that Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, received the Doctor of Laws this morning. There were other honorary degree recipients today. The first honorary degree that Harvard awarded was in 1753. That was more than 100 years after Harvard was founded. The first honorary degree in 1753 went to Benjamin Franklin for his work on electricity. He was the most famous American scientist and one of the most famous scientists in the world in his day. And just think, Rennie, now we think of him as a patriot and a politician rather than a scientist. The other honorary degree recipients this morning were Isabel Allende, a Doctor of Arts for the writing that she had done, including House of Spirits. George Herbert Walker Bush, former president of the United States, received a Doctor of Laws degree. Aretha Franklin, the singer, the jazz singer, received a Doctor of Arts degree. Patricia King, the lawyer, ethicist, and Georgetown University Law professor, received a Doctor of Laws. Peter Raven, who's active in biodiversity and biology work, received a Doctor of Science. Seymour Slive, the great art historian, received a Doctor of Arts. And finally, the economist Joseph Stieglitz received a Doctor a Law degree. We will see some of the honorary degree recipients on stage this afternoon, and we will point them out as they come up the aisle. I commented on the fact that we've had some interesting speakers at our afternoon ceremonies. You never know quite what you're going to hear. Some of them are better than others. But looking back over the years, I remember John Lithgow in 2005, who said, "Be creative, be useful, or be practical and be generous." And he had a book that he had written at that point called Mahalia Mouse Goes to College. And I think, as I recall it, he read the book, and it's a children's book. And he dedicated all the proceeds to the class of 2005 that graduated that year. J. K. Rowling spoke at the 1999 afternoon exercises, noted that the thought of giving the address made her lose weight, so she considered that the event was a win-win situation. I remember she spoke about failure, and I thought it was so brave to get in front of the 35,000 people here in Tercentenary Theatre and talk about failure and what it is like to fail. Exactly. Last year I didn't have a chance to note that in the morning exercises, Mike Shinagel, who had been head of continuing ed for years, retired. And at the time, he noted that he was the lame duck professor who presented his graduates for their degrees. And it reminded me of the wonderful story that Mike tells of the fact that when he and his wife were the house masters, or head of the house or whatever they're called now, of Quincy house-- Quincy House apparently has a roof garden, and Mr. and Mrs. Mallard Duck took up residence in the garden. And Mr. Mallard Duck left, but Mrs. Mallard stayed and laid seven eggs. And Mike's comment was, "it shows you to what lengths a determined mother will go to get her children into Harvard." It's been an interesting year here in Harvard Square. There have been a number of personnel changes. Coming up, Rakesh Khurana, professor of sociology and Harvard Business School professor, will become the next dean of Harvard College on July 1. He and his wife are also co-masters of Cabot House. He's someone who's dedicated to improving the lives of undergraduates. And so we congratulate Professor Khurana on his appointment and we look forward to his service as dean of Harvard College. Our own Jack Reardon, Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association for 20 years, will be stepping down from that post as of the end of June. And Jack will continue his service to Harvard in various ways, including his work with the athletic department. He's the former director of athletics. As well as continue to work on the development side. We will miss Jack. He's from the great class of 1960, and he has really brought the Alumni Association to its current status as a global community of more than 350,000 of Harvard alumni. We just saw on the screen a minute or two ago-- you may have seen the gentleman having his picture taken rubbing the toe of John Harvard. There it is. One of the activities that has gone by, of course, is that in the old days, when anybody went by John, the undergraduates and graduates, everybody tipped their hat to him. Now they rub the toe, and it's supposed to bring good luck. So if you ever come to Harvard Yard and you look at John Harvard's toe, you realize it is completely polished bronze because of all the people who've been touching it. Imagine what the statute would look like if the entire statute where that brightly colored bronze. And what you're seeing there-- there is my classmate Alan Howl. And there is my good wife, I think, somewhere in the group there. It's nice to know they're seated. The great class of 1955. 1955. And I was going to note that, of course, if you come and see the John Harvard statue, you should realize it's often called the Statue of Three Lies, because the information on it and the picture you just of John Harvard's head-- that's not John Harvard. Nobody knows what he looked like. Name is Sherman Hoar, used by Donald Chester French as the model for it. And you'll also note that it gives the date on it as 1636. And of course that's not the date that Harvard was formed. It was formed in 1632. And I'm blanking on the third one, but I think that it was not in Cambridge. It was Newtown. That's the third one if I remember correctly. But anyway, there are three lies connected with it. And we hope that everybody who's rubbing the foot at this time is at least having some good luck, and perhaps we rubbed it yesterday to get the good weather, Nancy. One of the things I love about Harvard commencement is we are in the actual place where commencement have been celebrated since 1642. In the early years of college, the elders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who founded the college to train ministers for the colony, they were concerned that the college wouldn't survive. And so they would come en masse from Boston to celebrate, listen to the orations of the graduates, and celebrate. And the next year they invited the alumni and the following year. So our alumni tradition dates actually from 1643, and it has always happened right here on this site. There are several traditions that date from the 17th and 18th century, including that beer is served free in the old yard on commencement day. So this morning as I was walking through the yard, I saw the trucks being unloaded with kegs of beer. So if you're ever in the Boston area on commencement day, you can come during lunch and you will be offered a glass of beer. There's another tradition. Rennie, you and I both live here in Cambridge. And it is in fact in the charter of Harvard that Cambridge residents can graze their sheep in Harvard Yard. So one year I would like to bring my sheep, if I ever have any, into Harvard Yard so they can graze and enjoy the commencement festivities, as well. In the 18th century, there would sometimes be circus animals, including elephants, and men dressed up as mermaids. And I can just imagine seeing elephants and mermaids on Harvard Yard. Unfortunately, we won't see any of those characters today. Probably not. Probably not. During lunch, there was a number of the graduates with their mortar boards on. And the discussion came up as to whether you put your tassel on the left and then moved it over to the right, which always comes up at commencement whether it be at college like Harvard here or high schools and so forth. And one year a graduate wore a ponytail and told those around him, remind me when I graduate and I'll flip my pony tail from left to right. A nice sentiment, but there is no meaning attached to whether the tassel drapes right or left. Otherwise, an expert in such matters has noted, quote, "a gust of wind could change your academic standing in a moment." Thursday is our commencement day here at Harvard, so not only the undergraduates but the graduates of all the professional schools are with us in the morning and in the afternoon for the afternoon exercises. Wednesdays of graduation week are what we call Class Day, where each of the individual schools invites a speaker. So yesterday, Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, and graduate of Harvard College '91, Harvard Business School '95, addressed the senior class. At the Kennedy School, Samantha Power, who has a JD from Harvard, a law degree from Harvard, class of 1999, who is currently the US Ambassador to the United Nations and a former professor at the Kennedy School-- she spoke to the Kennedy School graduates. The medical school invited Vivek Murthy, who is the current nominee to be the US Surgeon General and founder of Doctors for America, addressed the medical and dental school graduates. At the business school, Salman Khan, who is the founder of the first free online education Khan Academy addressed the MBA graduates. At the School of Public Health, Thomas Friedan, who's the director of the Center for Disease Control, talked to the graduates. At the Graduate School of Design, Michael Van Valkenburgh, the professor of landscape architecture spoke. At the law school, Preet Bharara, who overseas investigation and litigation of criminal and civil cases, was one of the speakers, along with Mindy Kaling, who's a writer and producer known for playing Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom "The Office." Graduate School of Education were addressed by Michael Johnston, who's a Colorado State senator and a graduate of the ed school. And at the divinity school, Charles Hallisey, who is a lecturer on Buddhist literature, gave the address. So it's always a busy couple of days. Wednesday is Class Day where each school individually celebrates. And today is the day for the university-wide celebration. We're expecting probably 20,000 people today here in Harvard Yard to hear Michael Bloomberg. The yard can seat as many as 35,000. And I remember for the Bill Gates and J. K. Rowling, we had 35,000, standing room only. Not sure we'll quite reach that, but we should easily have 20,000 people here with us today. Well, it won't be as crowded in the afternoon. Mornings fill up, and we often say it's an event for the 35,000 people and 27,000 seats, which makes it somewhat difficult. But the atmosphere is such that the university has never made any effort to accommodate all of the parents and so forth, which is difficult for them in the morning. But to ever consider moving it down to the stadium where Class Day exercises in the old days were held has never been considered. I think part of it is because we're lucky enough to have a lot of good, nice trees that are well taken care of up here that give us a pretty good shade. And not too many trees, too, so the people can't see around them. Years ago, back in 2004, because of the crowds and because it's difficult to see around some of the trees and things, the university put in the first of its LED screens. And we had two of them at that time. I think we now have, one, two, at least four with an additional one put up in the old yard where the general alumni spread is, which helped to take care of those who couldn't find a seat within the stadium itself. So they have been a great help. Not only do you see them, but because you can read what's being said if you can't hear it, which you generally can't. You're seeing a lot of interesting hats as we go around here. And Nancy, I'm sure, could tell you more about that hats, but I can remember having served on the first committee about women's wear. And in the old days, women wore all white. It was dictated they all wore white. Now, as I understand it, that's not something that every good-looking woman has in their wardrobe. So we had quite a committee put together, because it was white with a red sash. The red sash was attached with a carnation at the bottom, and in some cases, a very [INAUDIBLE] hat that was just awful. And we had a meeting on this, and there was a lot of venting. In fact, at the meeting-- it took place, I think, at one of the HAA meetings in the Commonwealth HAA, the Commonwealth office of the Harvard Club of Boston. And Myra Mayman, who at that time was the head of the arts, which Jack Megan now is, Myra got quite excited about this and got going on it. And the alarm went off. The fire alarm went off, and we had to vacate the building. But we then changed the ruling to that you could either wear black or white, but you couldn't wear both because then you'd look like the Harvard dining services. Rennie, now we see the stage is filling up with the 25th reunion class, as well as the honorary degree recipients and the dignitaries, our speakers for this afternoon. So I think in a few minutes, we will be starting. You see the banners in the trees. Each of the banners represents one school of Harvard and also the Harvard undergraduate houses. Undergraduates at Harvard don't live in dormitories. They live in what are called the houses, and each house has its symbol. Each house has its co-masters who really organize the administrative lives of the students. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors live in the houses, and freshman all live in Harvard Yard. So there you can see a view of the crowd that we are seeing from here, some of the estimated 20,000 people who will be here today. And now I believe we're looking at the stage, which is-- yes, there on the right, you see Alan Garber, class of 1977, who is our provost. He is sitting, waiting for the ceremonies to begin. The woman on the left in the white jacket is Katie Lapp, the executive vice president of the university who is in charge of all of the administrative aspects of the university. And you'll see other of the dignitaries there on the stage. Many people are still standing, waiting for the procession to conclude. Here comes the president's procession up the center aisle. So as the president's procession comes to the stage, we will begin our afternoon program. What we see in the lead there is the Chief Marshal and his aides. That's A-I-D-E-S. In the morning, they are A-I-D-S, and we have to get that straight. The Chief Marshal is the one with the red-- looks like a red ribbon or a red corsage, on the left side. And there is the bell signaling the beginning of the afternoon program. So as soon as the president and fellows-- you'll see the sign there for the president and fellows. You see-- There's the president coming in. --President Drew Faust on the right with her white jacket with dark trim. And on the left, in the middle you see Jack Reardon, the Executive Director of the Alumni Association, class of 1960, who's stepping down. And to the left of the screen is Kate Gellert, who's the current president of the Harvard Alumni Association. Behind them are the directors of the Alumni Association, former directors, current directors, and members of various committees that have served in the Alumni Association. And you can hear the bell from Memorial Church signaling the beginning of the afternoon program. That's a signal for people to take their seats. And we will continue to talk until Kate Gellert opens the meeting with the pounding of her gavel. We hear from time to time the music coming up from University Hall. The stage next to the east side of the University Hall was built for the band in 2001. There we see the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Science, Michael Smith. And there we see the medalists that we mentioned, Anand Mahindra, Emily Pulitzer. And normally Louis Newell would be there as well, but unfortunately he wasn't able to do be there today. For a long time, it was difficult to figure out who was who, especially if they didn't have a name tag. Now, with the signs, it's very helpful because we can line people up behind the signs and make sure that everybody's there. Not everybody wants to be in parading. As I said, we don't see too many of the undergraduates who have been down at their houses getting their diplomas. There's President Faust with, to her left, Jim Rothenberg, the current treasurer of the university. He will be stepping down from that post as of July 1 to be replaced by Paul Finnegan, who's the class of '75, MBA '82. Paul is the former president of the Harvard Alumni Association. There is a good view of the crowd. So I would say we're about half full. What happens is the graduates have all gone somewhere back to their schools for lunch, and as the afternoon wears on, more and more of them will be coming to hear Michael Bloomberg speak. So we will see the chairs fill up as the afternoon progresses. There's a good view of the stage. The podium is to the right of your screen, where you see the flowers. And you see the dignitaries, the overseers, the president and fellows, the honorary degree recipients on the stage starting to take their seats so we can begin our program. Most of the older classes have now been seated. Class of '54 is having their 60th reunion. That's Ted Kennedy's class, John Calder's class, and John Updike. And I should note that John Updike-- Houghton Library has a display of Updike's special exhibit, from 1950 to 1954 of his writings, which he gave to the Houghton Library. There is Kate Gellert, our president, the woman in the white dress who has just taken her seat. She's getting ready for the afternoon. We have quite a crew whose job both morning and afternoon-- in the morning, the seats are all done by the university. In the afternoon, we have a crew from the Happy Committee that helps to set up the seating for those on the podium. The older classes sit on the far left, as we have, as I said, the bigger tent now than in the old days and one that doesn't leak. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about the [? rain ?] plants, so we don't even mention it. And there we have a good view of the podium with the flowers. That's where the speakers will be addressing the crowd. And you can see the cage where the different cameras are located. There's a good view of the flowers in front of the podium. So, Rennie, we're getting a little bit of a late start. We like to start by about 2:30, so right now we're about seven minutes behind schedule. Normally, commencement ends at somewhere between 4:00 and 4:15 PM. We'll see if we can keep to that schedule today. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Honored guests, fellow alumni, family and friends, my mom and dad, it's wonderful to see you all here. Welcome to the 145th annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. I am Kate Gellert, member of the college class of 1993. As the 135th president of the Harvard Alumni Association, the HAA for short, and in accordance with the tradition set by our very first HAA president, John Quincy Adams, I raise this gavel and call this meeting to order. This morning after receiving their degrees from the college and the graduate schools, 6,500 new alumni joined our ranks. All graduates automatically become lifelong members of the HAA, with the many privileges and resources we hope to help you discover in the coming years. Congratulations, and welcome to an astounding community made only richer by your presence among us. I also want to congratulate your parents, your families, and friends, faculty, and staff across the university, the people who have believed in you and supported you throughout your time at Harvard, and those that are not with us here today but who would be very proud and who are very much here with us in spirit. When the Harvard Alumni Association was founded in 1840, there were no more than 10,000 living alumni. Today, you have joined over 320,000 Harvard alumni, including 17% living outside of the United States in 189 countries. We want to welcome you, and we want to celebrate. So please turn in your program and join me in singing "Gaudeamus Igitur," or in English, "So Let Us Rejoice." Why did we just sing that song in Latin? Why am I wearing a hat? And just what does the Happy Committee for the Observance of Commencement do? Today is a celebration of Harvard's most enduring traditions. We will end this afternoon singing our alma mater, "Fair Harvard." In the second line of the song, it will talk about the pageantry that has unfolded today, referring to these festival rights. Some of you in the audience are participating in these festive rights for the first time. Some people are here today for the first time since they graduated. And some come back every year. I was curious. What did commencement look like 50 years ago? Are we still flying the same banners, singing the same songs? I did some research about this and went where all good researchers go, to the archives of The Crimson, where I found an article dated Commencement Day, June 11, 1964. And I quote, "Aside from Thanksgiving, the commencement pageantry which will gradually unravel in the yard this morning is America's oldest continuous festival. By its forthright uniqueness, it is also one of the most enduring signs of everlasting Harvard." Hopefully, you, like me, are proud of our traditions. And I am honored through the HAA to have been the custodian of them this past year. In the spirit of an annual meeting, I feel obliged to report on some of the activities of the HAA. As the university launched the Harvard Campaign, the HAA focused on how our alumni connect, with each other and with the university. Knowing that our alumni desire intellectual content, we launched HarvardX for alumni, a survey course of Harvard's offerings on the EdX platform. Wanting to connect alumni with campus and student life today, we launched a series called Your Harvard, in which President Faust shares her vision for the future of the university. Hundreds of alumni attended in London, Los Angeles, and New York. Mark your calendars for the series dates in Dallas, Seattle, and Chicago next year. Recognizing the unique reach of our club network, we held regional conferences in Europe, South America, Asia, as well as here in Cambridge, to connect our volunteers with university leadership, faculty, and staff. Throughout my travels this year, one theme emerged over and over. Attending Harvard, no matter what school, was a transformative experience. When our alumni talk about their time here, they talk about being challenged, about looking differently at the world, about making lifelong friends, and about learning what is possible to achieve in life. The role of the HAA is not only to keep our alumni connected to the traditions of Harvard, but also to keep people, near or far away, days or decades removed, connected to the vibrant university life that transformed them. It has been a great, really great privilege and also pleasure to have served in this role as the trustee of great traditions, as well as laying plans to shape the future. Thank you. Now, in a most humbling and inspiring tradition, we recognize the two senior alumni who led the alumni parade this afternoon. From the Radcliffe class of 1937, Lillian Sugarman, who turned 98 last year. And from the Harvard class of 1939, Robert Rothschild, who celebrated his 95th birthday this past January. Thank you for leading our alumni parade. It is an honor to celebrate you today. And now, it is my privilege to present a member of the class of 1989, elected by his classmates to serve as Chief Marshal on the occasion of this, their 25th reunion. After this year's Chief Marshal graduated, he helped start Teach for America, along with a number of other Harvard folk. For the past nine years, he has led the Knowledge Is Power Program Foundation, which oversees the national network of KIPP public charter schools. Under his tenure, KIPP has tripled in size, now serving more than 50,000 students across the country. In communities were roughly half of the students drop out of high school, KIPP is proving that it doesn't have to be this way. Among KIPP students, 93% graduate high school and 83% go on to college. Today we recognize a fellow alumnus who has committed his life to helping students succeed despite great obstacles. Ladies and gentlemen, Chief Marshal Richard Barth. And will the entire 25th reunion class seated on stage this afternoon please stand and be recognized? On June 30, I will, with some reluctance and some relief, turn over the gavel to one of the alumni association's most enthusiastic supporters. A member of the college class of 1980 and business school class of 1984, Cynthia Torres has given generously of her time and energy from coast to coast and indeed around the world. Hailing from Southern California, she has led the local club there, as well as being active in career mentoring for current students. I am excited for Cynthia, because I am sure she has no idea just how much fun is in store for her next year. I know I leave the HAA in great hands. Ms. President-elect Cynthia Torres, will you please stand? Let me also recognize a distinguished alumnus who will step down this June after 18 years of consecutive service on Harvard's governing boards, six as an overseer, 12 as a member of the corporation, and the last four as the corporation's senior fellow. Please join me in applauding and thanking an extraordinary leader in Harvard's governance over the past two decades, Robert Reischauer. Next, it is my pleasure to announce the results of this spring's elections for Harvard's board of overseers and the elected directors of the Harvard Alumni Association. We are grateful to the entire slate for their willingness to be of service to the governance of Harvard. Additionally, thanks to all you who voted and participated. Please hold your applause until all the names in each category are announced. Five individuals have been elected to the board of overseers to serve for six years each. They are-- Michael Brown, AB '83, JD '88, of Boston, Massachusetts; James Hildreth, AB '79 of Davis, California; Jane Lubchenko, PhD '75, of Corvallis, Oregon; Michael Lynton, AB '82, MBA '87, of Los Angeles, California; Lesley Friedman Rosenthal, AB '86, JD '89, of New York, New York. The following six alumni have been elected as directors of the Harvard Alumni Association to serve for three years each. They are-- Henry Biggs, AB '86, of Saint Louis, Missouri; Raphael Bostic, AB '87, of Los Angeles, California; Margaret J. [? Bratz ?], EdM '93, EdD '99, of Chicago, Illinois; Leea Nash Bridgeman, AB '02, MBA '05, of Louisville, Kentucky; Jessica Gelman, AB '97, MBA '02, of Wellesley, Massachusetts; and Vanessa Liu, AB '96, JD '03, of New York, New York. Congratulations, and we look forward to working with you in continuing to shape Harvard's future. At this annual meeting, the Harvard Alumni Association confers the Harvard Medal, our highest honor for extraordinary service to the university. We recognize those whose devotion has been exemplary and inspirational. President Faust will read the citations. Will each medalist please stand as your name is announced? Anand Mahindra, AB '77, MBA '81, distinguished graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, you have served the university on several continents with deep devotion and insight, affirming the vital importance of the humanities while advancing interdisciplinary studies within a broad liberal arts education. Anand. Our next medalist, Louis Newell, is not able to be here with us to receive his Harvard Medal today. Although we will hold a special medal presentation at a later date, I want to share his citation with you. J. Louis Newell, AB '57, whether cheering from the stands at the stadium or chairing the committee charged with making commencement happy, you stand always ready to answer Harvard's call as a stalwart leader of your class of the Harvard College Fund, the Harvard Club of Boston, and the Harvard Varsity Club. Let us applaud Louis Newell. Emily Rauh Pulitzer, AM '63, as Harvard Overseer, expert in modern and contemporary art, and devoted friend of Harvard's art museums, you have elevated the university and its embrace of creativity through your profound belief in the power of art and education to transform how we look at the world. I'm now pleased to present a special Harvard Medal to John P. Reardon, Jr., AB 1960. How you doing? Want a speech? I'm hoping we didn't give him a heart attack. You're OK? OK. From admissions to athletics to alumni affairs, you have shaped the Harvard we know and love, touching and changing countless lives through your skillful leadership and sage counsel, your inpeccable judgment, and inimitable way with people. The whole Harvard family salutes you and thanks you. I hope you can all appreciate how much fun it was to keep a secret from the man who knows everything about Harvard. And now, we will actually hear from Jack in a video about why he has dedicated and continues to dedicate his life to Harvard. Harvard's been from the beginning very important in my life. I was surrounded by classmates who, in the dining halls, in my living situation, were always wanting to discuss issues, issues in ways sometimes that I had never given a lot of consideration. Plus faculty, professors, who were really great. Professor Brzezinski was my sophomore tutor. I remember at the beginning of the year I was late to a meeting and he said to me, I'm busy, too. If you can't be on time, don't bother to come. And I got the point. That helped me to be on time places. I think opening opportunities to as many people who can take advantage of what's here as possible is a great thing. I had a good example of a person years ago who I recruited who was a very good football player, listed in the Parade High School All-Americans as a top player. We looked at those kids one year, and this is the one person who looked like maybe they could do Harvard work. Basically, he was an orphan. He was probably going to go to Washington or Oregon. Forget him. I said, forget him? Let's get him back here. He came. He played three years of football. He went to work. Very, very successful guy. And more recently, he provided some money for the admissions office to spend finding kids that you otherwise wouldn't find. I think there are opportunities like never before. I think Harvard was very much a local institution 50 years ago compared to the way it is today. In the last 50 years, throughout the university the diversity is huge, tremendous change. It's just a very different group of people here today than were here 50 years ago. We have great resources-- libraries, labs, and so forth-- but the people that are drawn here as students, and faculty, and staff want to work with each other. And whatever they do, they want to do it really well. I was lucky to meet very special people through being at Harvard. And they certainly made a difference to Harvard, and they made a difference for my thinking about how to do things in life. Most alumni have had ultimately good experiences. They want to see the place strong and want to support it in ways that can help it be strong. It also suggests that overall people had good experiences that they think have made a difference in their lives, and they want to see the strength of the place continue. The one thing that is very special, and a lot of people don't know it, but Harvard is a very human place. You think of the bricks and the concrete, but I think they do support one another. I think it's an unusually human place where people do care about one another. It's been a spectacular place to spend my life. I would like to congratulate Jack and all of the Harvard Medalists. Except for Jack, one of the best things I got to do this year was to call each winner and share the exciting news with them. So we are all citizens of this great university. And our medalists today are representative of the incredible dedication of our alumni to Harvard. They are joined by a core of tens of thousands of alumni who give of their time and their talent to support Harvard. Our 234 Harvard clubs and shared interest groups are run by volunteers. Over 15,000 alumni interview applicants to Harvard College each year. Nearly 10,000 alumni and guests return to campus university wide to attend volunteer-run reunions. So as we celebrate today, we also give thanks to our alumni and friends, students and parents, faculty and staff. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do for this great university. To all the volunteers committed to connecting Harvard's alumni, thank you for all that you have done this year and all that you will continue to do. This week, thousands of alumni returned to campus in a great show of commitment to the community of Harvard. Many come back for Harvard and Radcliffe college reunions to reconnect with each other, to experience the campus of today, and they show their support through impressive levels of giving. Under the leadership of many volunteers, including college reunion committees and the class secretaries and treasurers, we've drawn more than 6,500 alumni and guests to Cambridge this week and helped generate nearly 5,400 gifts as of May 28. Today, we take a moment to recognize some particularly impressive college reunion efforts. The class of 1964 celebrating their 50th reunion is led by reunion programs co-chairs Thomas Brome and Harriet Todd and reunion campaign committee co-chairs Tom Brome, C. Boyden Gray, Tom Stevenson, and Jim Schwartz. The class of '64 has 800 classmates and guests in attendance and has raised more than $28 million to date from almost 50% of their class. Would all of you please stand? And now to this year's 25th reunion. The class of 1989, under the leadership reunion program co-chairs Jeff Behrens, Carolyn Magnani, and Lori Rutter. And with over a dozen reunion campaign co-chairs-- and yes, I'm going to read them-- Peter Chung, Dave Goldberg, Ken Griffin, Patrick Healy, David Heller, Jerry Jordan, [? Amis ?] [? Marone, ?] John Moon, Kristin Williams Mugford, Scott Nathan, Valerie Peltier, Charlie Ryan, and Sophocles Zoullas. The class of 1989 has generated impressive attendance and giving with 1,900 classmates and guests in attendance and an astonishing record-- an astonishing record-- of nearly $180 million dollars contributed to date. would all of you please stand? Please stand and be recognized. Included in the class of 1989's incredible total is the transformative gift Ken Griffin made to support financial aid, the largest individual gift in the college's history. His generosity ensures that future generations of Harvard students will be able to come to Cambridge regardless of their financial background. And I would like to give him special recognition. One more person needs special recognition. A former president of the HAA and former co-chair of the Harvard College Fund, he helped lead his class to set a new 60th reunion record. Would Charlie Egan of the class of 1954 please stand and be recognized? And now would all the members of the Harvard College Reunion Program Committees and Reunion Campaign Committees please stand and be recognized? Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the college. And now, a final word of thanks to our newest alumni, the class of 2014. The Senior Class Committee, which throughout the year has brought their class together through over 20 events, including Class Day yesterday, is represented on stage today by Jin Zhou and Christopher Cleveland, the first and second Class Marshals. In addition, under the leadership of Arleen Chien, Preetha Hebbar, Tara Lyons, Kavya Shankar, and Joshua Zhang, 78% of the class of 2014 contributed to their senior gift. Would the Marshals Senior Gift co-chairs please stand and be recognized? Congratulations. To all of you, our dedicated citizens of Harvard, we continue to be inspired by your volunteerism and philanthropy. Thank you. To celebrates these amazing volunteers and our entire alumni community, please join the Harvard University Band and the commencement choir in their performance of "Harvardiana." The band got to practice that song a lot in Spokane this winter. Harvard's 21st president, Charles W. Eliot, in his inaugural address 145 years ago said, quote, "The inertia of a massive university is formidable. A good past is positively dangerous if it makes us content with the present and thus unprepared for the future." Harvard's 28th president, Drew Gilpin Faust, has demonstrated dynamic leadership under which there could be no inertia. In the past seven years, President Faust has expanded financial aid to improve access to a Harvard education for students from all economic backgrounds, advocated for increased federal funding for scientific research, broadened the university's global reach, raised the profile of the arts on campus, and this past fall, launched the Harvard Campaign, an ambitious fundraising campaign to position Harvard, in her words, to seize an impatient future. Please join me in welcoming the Lincoln Professor of History, Harvard's 28th president, Drew Gilpin Faust. Thank you. Thank you. Goodness. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all, and good afternoon, alumni, graduates, families, friends, honored guests. For seven years now, it has been my assignment and my privilege to deliver an annual report to our alumni and to serve as the warm-up act for our distinguished speaker. Whether this is your first opportunity to be part of these exercises or your 50th, it's worth taking a minute to soak in this place, its sheltering trees, its familiar buildings, its enduring voices. In 1936, this part of Harvard Yard was called Tercentenary Theatre in recognition of Harvard's 300th birthday. It's a place where giants have stood and history has been made. We were reminded this morning of George Washington's adventures here. And from this stage in 1943, Winston Churchill addressed an overflow crowd that included 6,000 uniformed Harvard students heading off to war. He said that he hoped the young recruits would come to regard the British soldiers and sailors they would soon fight alongside as their brothers in arms. And he assured the audience that we shall never tire nor weaken but march with you to establish the reign of justice and of law. Four years later in this same place, George Marshall introduced a plan that aided reconstruction across war-stricken Europe. And he ended his speech by asking, what is needed? What best can be done? What must be done? Here in 1998, Nelson Mandela addressed an audience of 25,000 and spoke of our shared future. The greatest single challenge facing our globalized world, he said, is to combat and eradicate its disparities. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female head of state in Africa, stood here 13 years later and encouraged graduates to resist cynicism and to be fearless. Here on the terrible afternoon of September 11, 2001, we gathered under a cloudless sky to share our sadness, our horror, and our disbelief. And here just three years ago we marked Harvard's 375th anniversary dancing in the mud of a torrential downpour. Here, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had celebrated Harvard's three centuries of accomplishment in a comparably soaking rain. Here, J. K. Rowling encouraged graduates to think themselves into other people's places. And Conan O'Brien told them that every failure is freeing. Here, honorary degrees have been presented to Carl Jung, and Jean Piaget, and Ellsworth Kelly, and Georgia O'Keeffe, Helen Keller, and Martha Graham, Ravi Shankar, and Leonard Bernstein, Joan Dideon, and Philip Roth, Eric Kandel, and Elizabeth Blackburn, Bill Gates, and Tim Berners-Lee. I remember feeling awed by that history when I spoke here at my installation as Harvard's 28th president and when I reflected on what has always seemed to me the essence of a university, that among society's institutions it is uniquely accountable to the past and to the future. Our accountability to the past is all around us. Behind me stands Memorial Church, a monument to Harvardians who gave their lives at the Somme, and [INAUDIBLE] and Verdun during World War I. Dedicated on Armistice Day in 1932, it represents Harvard's long tradition of commitment to service. In front of me is Widener Library, a gift from a bereaved mother, named in honor of her son Harry who perished aboard the Titanic, a library built to advance the learning and discovery enabled by one of the most diverse and broad collections in the world. Widener's 12 majestic columns safeguard texts and manuscripts, some centuries old, that are deployed every day by scholars to help us interpret and reinterpret the past. But this afternoon, I would like to spend a few minutes considering our accountability to the future, because these obligations must be our compass to steer by, our common purpose, and our shared commitment. What does Harvard-- what do universities owe the future? First, we owe the world answers. Discovery is at the heart of what universities do. Universities engage faculty and students across a range of disciplines in seeking solutions to problems that may have seemed unsolvable, endeavoring to answer questions that threaten to elude us. The scientific research undertaken today at Harvard and tomorrow by the students we educate has the capacity to improve human lives in ways virtually unimaginable even a generation ago. In this past year alone, Harvard researchers have solved riddles related to the treatment of Alzheimer's, the cost-effective production of malaria vaccine, and the origins of the universe. Harvard researchers have proposed answers to challenges as varied as nuclear proliferation, American competitiveness, and governance of the internet. We must continue to support our answer seekers who work at the crossroads of the theoretical and the applied, at the nexus of research, public policy, and entrepreneurship. Together they will shape our future and enhance our understanding of the world. Second, we owe the world questions. Just as questions yield answers, answers yield questions. Human beings may long for certainty, but as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, certainty generally is allusion, and repose is not the destiny of man. Universities produce knowledge. They must also produced doubt. The pursuit of truth is restless. We search for answers not by following prescribed paths but by finding the right questions, by answering one question with another question, by nurturing a state of mind that is flexible and alert, dissatisfied and imaginative. It's what universities are designed to do. In an essay in Harvard Magazine, one of today's graduates, Cherone Dugan, wrote about seeking what she called an education of questions. I hope we have indeed given her that. Questions are the foundation for progress, for ensuring that the world transcends where we are now, what we know now. And questions are also the foundation for a third obligation that we as universities owe the future. We owe the future meaning. Universities must nurture the ability to interpret, to make critical judgments, to dare to ask the biggest questions, the ones that reach well beyond the immediate and the instrumental. We must stimulate the appetite for curiosity. We find many of these questions in the humanities. What is good? What is just? How do we know what is true? But we find them in the sciences, as well. Can there be any question more profound, more fundamental, than to ask about the origins of the universe? How did we get here? Questions like these can be unsettling and they can make universities unsettling places, but that, too, is an essential part of what we owe the future-- the promise to combat complacency, to challenge the present in order to prepare for what is to come, to shape the present in service of an uncertain and yet impatient future. We owe the future answers. We owe the future questions. We owe the future meaning. The Harvard Campaign launched last September will help us fulfill these obligations and pay our debt to the future, just as the gifts of previous generations anchor us here today. As today's ceremonies so powerfully remind us, we also owe the future the men and women who are prepared to ask questions and seek answers and search for meaning for decades to come. Today we send some 6,500 graduates into the world to be teachers and lawyers, scientists and physicians, poets and planners and public servants, and as our speaker this morning reminded us, to be in their own ways revolutionaries, ready to take on everything from water scarcity to virtual currency to community policing. We must continue to invest in financial aid to attract and support the talented students who can build our future. And also, we must invest in supporting the teaching and learning that ensures the fullest development of their capacities in a changing world. If we fulfill our obligations, today's graduates will have found the education of questions Cherone described, a place where, as she put it, ceilings are made only of sky. But look around you. We're there. This place is a theater without walls, without a roof, and without limits. It's a place where extraordinary individuals have preceded us, a place that must encourage our graduates of today and all the years passed to emulate those women and men, to look skyward and to soar. Thank you very much. Thank you, President Faust. There is no question that we are fortunate to have you as our leader. Thank you, Kate. To honor the contributions of Radcliffe College and it's alumni and to mark its historical significance for men and women alike, please stand and join in singing Radcliffe's alma mater, "Radcliffe, Now We Rise to Greet Thee." The words are in your program. This afternoon's commencement speaker is known around the world. If you work in finance, you are aware of what a Bloomberg Terminal is and the unique color-coded keyboard that comes with it. If you live in or near a city, you probably follow mayoral politics and have heard something about the former mayor of New York City. And if you are here with an interest in public health, the arts, the environment, or education, then you know how his philanthropic support is focused around impact. After growing up a little over five miles from here in Medford, Michael Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1964 with a degree in electrical engineering. After college, he attended Harvard Business School and in 1966 was hired by a Wall Street firm, Solomon Brothers, for an entry-level job. He left in 1981 to found Bloomberg LP, which he led for 20 years. In 2001, he ran for mayor of New York and was elected two months after the 9/11 tragedy. During his three terms in office, he focused on public health, combating crime, gun control, the environment, and many other issues important to New Yorkers. Throughout his entire career, Michael Bloomberg has also been an active philanthropist. As a philanthropist, Bloomberg has been realistic about how to tackle large problems around the world. In business, he has shown that there are many ways to make a difference. As mayor, he understood that he is responsible for delivering results. There is nobody better qualified to address our alumni today than Mr. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, 108th mayor of New York City, and philanthropist. Thank you. Thank you, Katie. And thank you to President Faust, and the Fellows of Harvard College, the Board of Overseers, and all of the faculty, alumni, and students who have welcomed me back to campus. I am excited to be here, not only to address the distinguished graduates and alumni at Harvard University's 363rd commencement, but most importantly to stand in the exact spot where Oprah stood last year. O-M-G. Let me begin with the first order of business. Let's have a big round of applause for the class of 2014. They've earned it. Now, excited as these graduates are, they are probably even more exhausted after the past few weeks. And parents, I am not referring to their final exams. I'm talking about the Senior Olympics, the Last Chance Dance, and the booze cruise-- I mean the midnight cruise. Anyways, this year has been exciting on campus. Harvard beat Yale for the seventh straight time in football. The men's basketball team went to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. And the men's squash team won the national championship. Who'd have thunk it? Who'd have thunk it? Harvard, an athletic powerhouse. Pretty soon, Drew, they're going to be asking whether you have academics to go along with your academic programs. Now, my personal connection to Harvard began back in 1964 when I graduated from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and matriculated here at the B school. You're probably asking yourself, or maybe whispering to the person next to you, how did he ever get into Harvard Business School, particularly since his stellar academic record where he always made the top half of the class possible? I have no idea. The only people who were more surprised than me were my professors. Anyways, here I am back in Cambridge, and I've noticed a few things have changed since I was a student here. Elsie's, a sandwich spot I used to love near the square, is now a burrito shop. The Wursthaus, which had great beer and sausage, is now an artisanal gastropub, whatever that is. And the old Holyoke Center is now named the Smith Campus Center. Don't you just hate it when alumni put their names all over everything? I was thinking about this morning as I walked into the Bloomberg Center on the Harvard Business School campus across the river. But the good news is, Harvard remains what it was when I first arrived on campus 50 years ago, America's most prestigious university. And like other great universities, it lies at the heart of the American experiment in democracy. Their purpose is not only to advance knowledge but to advance the ideals of our nation. Great universities are places where people of all backgrounds, holding all beliefs, pursuing all questions, can come to study and debate their ideas freely and openly. And today I'd like to talk to you about how important it is for that freedom to exist for everyone, no matter how strongly we may disagree with another's viewpoint. Tolerance for other people's ideas and the freedom to express your own are inseparable values at great universities. Joined together, they form a sacred trust that holds the basis of our democratic society. But let me tell you, that trust is perpetually vulnerable to the tyrannical tendencies of monarchs, mobs, and majorities. And lately we've seen those tendencies manifest themselves too often, both on college campuses and in our society. That's the bad news. And unfortunately, I think both Harvard and my own city, New York, have been witnesses to this trend. First, for New York City. Several years ago, as you may remember, some people tried to stop the development of a mosque a few blocks from the World Trade Center site. It was an emotional issue, and polls showed that 2/3 of Americans were against a mosque being built there. Even the Anti-Defamation League, widely regarded as the country's most ardent defender of religious freedom, declared its opposition to the project. The opponents held rallies and demonstrations. They denounced the developers, and they demanded that city government stop its construction. That was their right, and we protected their right to protest. But they could not have been more wrong, and we refused to cave in to those demands. The idea that government would single out a particular religion and block its believers, and only its believers, from building a house of worship in a particular area is diametrically opposed to the moral principles that gave rise to our great nation and the constitutional protections that have sustained it. Our union of 50 states rests on the union of two values, freedom and tolerance. And it is that union of values that the terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001 and on April 15, 2013 found most threatening. To them, we were a godless country. But in fact, there is no country that protects the core of every faith and philosophy known to humankind, free will, more than the United States of America. And that protection, however, rests upon our constant vigilance. We like to think that the principle of separation of church and state is settled. It is not, and it never will be. It's up to us to guard it fiercely and to ensure that equality under the law means equality under the law for everyone. If you want the freedom to worship as you wish, to speak as you wish, and to marry whom you wish, you must tolerate my freedom to do so or not to do so, as well. Now, what I do may offend you. You may find my actions immoral or unjust, but attempting to restrict my freedoms in ways that you would not restrict your own leads only to injustice. We cannot deny others the rights and privileges that we demand for ourselves. And that is true in cities, and it is no less true at universities where the forces of repression appear to be stronger now, I think, than they have been at any time since the 1950s. When I was growing up, US Senator-- yes, you can applaud. When I was growing up, US Senator Joe McCarthy was asking, are you now or have you ever been? He was attempting to repress and criminalize those who sympathized with an economic system that was even then failing. McCarthy's Red Scare destroyed thousands of lives, but what was he so afraid of? An idea, in this case communism, that he and others deemed dangerous? But he was right about one thing. Ideas can be dangerous. They can change society. They can upend traditions. They can start revolutions. And that's why throughout history, those in authority have tried to repress the ideas that threaten their power, their religion, their ideology, or their reelection chances. This was true for Socrates and Galileo. It was true for Nelson Mandela and Vaclav Havel. And it has been true for Ai Weiwei, Pussy Riot, and the kids who made the "Happy" video in Iran. Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness, and it is up to us to fight it at every turn. Intolerance of ideas, whether liberal or conservative, is antithetical to individual rights and free societies. And it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarships. Now, there is an idea floating around college campuses, including here at Harvard, I think, that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a particular view of justice. There's a word for that idea-- censorship. And it is just a modern form of McCarthyism. Think about the irony. In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting to repress left wing ideas. Today on many college campuses, it is liberals trying to repress conservative ideas, even as conservative faculty members are at risk of becoming an endangered species. And that is probably nowhere more true than it is here in the Ivy League. In the 2012 presidential race, according to federal-- yes, thank you. In the 2012 presidential race, according to Federal Election Commission data, 96% of all campaign contributions from Ivy League faculty and employees went to Barack Obama. 96%. There was more disagreement among the old Soviet Politburo than there was among Ivy League donors. And that statistic should give us some pause. And I say that as someone who endorsed President Obama for reelection. Because let me tell you something. Neither party has a monopoly on truth or God on its side. When 96% of Ivy League donors prefer one candidate to another, you really have to wonder whether the students are being exposed to the diversity of views that a great university should offer. Diversity of gender, ethnicity, and orientation is important, but a university cannot be great if it's faculty is politically homogeneous. In fact, the whole purpose of-- in fact, the whole purpose of granting tenure to professors is to ensure that they feel free to conduct research on ideas that run afoul of university politics and societal norms. When tenure was created, it mostly protected liberals whose ideas ran against conservative norms. Today, if tenure is going to continue, it must also protect conservatives whose ideas run up against liberal norms. Otherwise, university research and the professors who conduct it will lose credibility. Great universities must not become predictably partisan, and a liberal arts education must not be an education in the art of liberalism. The role of universities is not to promote an ideology. It is to provide scholars and students with a neutral forum for researching and debating issues without tipping the scales in one direction or repressing unpopular views. Requiring scholars and commencement speakers, for that matter, to conform to certain political standards undermines the whole purpose of a university. This spring it has been serving to see a number of college commencement speakers withdrawal or have their invitations rescinded after protests from students and, to me, shockingly from senior faculty and administrators who should know better. It happened at Brandeis, Haverford, Rutgers, and Smith. And last year, it happened at Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins, I'm sorry to say. In each of these cases, liberals silenced a voice, and they denied an honorary degree to individuals that they deemed politically objectionable. This is an outrage, and we must not let it continue. If the university thinks twice before inviting a commencement speaker because of his or her politics, censorship and conformity, the mortal enemies of freedom, win out. And sadly, it's not just commencement season when speakers are censored. Last fall when I was still in City Hall, our police commissioner was invited to deliver a lecture at another Ivy League institution, but he was unable to do so because students shouted him down. Isn't the purpose of the university to stir discussion, not silence it? What were the students afraid of hearing? And why did administrators not step in to prevent the mob from silencing speech? And did anyone consider that it is morally and pedagogically wrong to deprive other students the chance to hear the speech? Now, I'm sure all of today's graduates have read John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, but just let me read a short passage from it. Quote, "the particular evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race, posterity, as well as the existing generation, those who dissent from the opinion still more than those who hold it." He continued, "if the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth. If wrong, they lose what is almost as great a benefit, the clear perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error." Now, Mill would have been horrified to learn of university students silencing the opinions of others. He would have been even more horrified that faculty members were often part of the commencement censorship campaigns. For tenured professors, to silence speakers whose views they disagree with is really the height of hypocrisy, especially when those protests happen in the Northeast, the bastion of self-professed liberal tolerance. Now, I'm glad to say that Harvard has not caved into these commencement censorship challenges. If it had, Colorado State Senator Michael Johnston would not have had the chance to address the Education School yesterday. Some students called on the administration to rescind the invitation to Johnston because they opposed some of his education policies, but to their great credit, President Faust and Dean Ryan stood firm. And as Dean Ryan wrote to the students, quote, "I have encountered many people of good faith who share my basic goals but disagree with my views when it comes to the question of how best to improve education. In my view, those differences should be explored, debated, challenged, and questioned, but they should also be respected and indeed celebrated." He could not have been more correct. He could not have provided a more valuable final lesson to the class of 2014. As a former chairman at Johns Hopkins, I strongly believe that a university's obligation is not to teach students what to think but to teach students how to think. And that requires listening to the other side, weighing arguments without prejudicing them, and determining whether the other side might actually have made some fair points. If the faculty fails to do this, then it is the responsibility of the administration and the governing body to step in and make it a priority. If they do not-- if students graduate with ears and minds closed, the university has failed both the students and society. And if you want to know where that leads, look no further than Washington DC. Down in Washington, every major question facing our country, involving our security, our economy, our environment, and our health, is decided. Yet the two parties decide those questions not by engaging with one another but by trying to shout each other down and by trying to repress and undermine the research the counters their ideology. The more our universities emulate that model, the worse off we will be as a society. And let me give you a few examples. For a decade, Congress has barred the Centers for Disease Control from conducting studies of gun violence. And recently Congress also placed that prohibition on the National Institute of Health. You have to ask yourself, what are they afraid of? This year the Senate has delayed a vote on President Obama's nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, a Harvard physician, because he had the audacity to say that gun violence is a public health crisis that should be tackled. Th gall of him. Let's get serious. When 86 Americans are killed with guns every single day and shootings regularly occur at our schools and universities, including last week's tragedy at Santa Barbara, it would be almost medical malpractice to say anything else. But in politics, as it is on far too many college campuses, people don't listen to facts that run counter to their ideology. They fear them. And nothing is more frightening to them than scientific evidence. Earlier this year, the state of South Carolina adopted new science standards for its public schools, but the state legislature blocked any mention of natural selection. That is like teaching economics without mentioning supply and demand. Once again, you have to ask, what are they afraid of? And the answer, of course, is obvious. Just as members of Congress fear data that undermines their ideological beliefs, these state legislators feared scientific evidence that undermines their religious beliefs. And if you want proof of that, consider this. An eight-year-old girl in South Carolina wrote to members of the state legislature urging them to make the woolly mammoth the official state fossil. Legislators thought it was a great idea, because a woolly mammal fossil was found in the state way back in 1725. But the state Senate passed a bill defining the woolly mammoth as having been, quote, "created on the sixth day with the beasts of the field," unquote. You can't make this stuff up. Here in 21st century America, the wall between church and state remains under attack, but it's up to all of us to man the barricades. Unfortunately, the same elected officials who put ideology and religion over data and science when it comes to guns and evolution, often are the most unwilling to accept the scientific data on climate change. Now, don't get me wrong. Scientific skepticism is healthy, but there's a world of difference between scientific skepticism that seeks out more evidence and ideological stubbornness that shuts it out. Given the general attitude of many elected officials toward science, it's no wonder the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to invest in scientific research, much of which occurs at our universities. Today federal spending on research and development as a percentage of GNP is lower than it has been in more than 50 years, which is allowing the rest of the world to catch up and even surpass the US in scientific research. The federal government is flunking science, just as many state governments are. But we must not become a country that turns its back on science or on each other. Now, I get back to the class of 2014. You graduates must help lead the way. On every issue, we must follow the evidence where it leads and listen to people where they are. If we do that, there is no problem we cannot solve, no gridlock we cannot break, no compromise we cannot broker. The more we exchange or embrace a free exchange of ideas, and the more we accept that political diversity, the healthy we are, the stronger our society will be. Now, I know this has not been a traditional commencement speech. And in fact, it may keep me from passing a dissertation defense in the humanities department, but there is no easy time to say hard things. Graduates, throughout your lives, do not be afraid of saying what you believe is right, no matter how unpopular it may be, especially when it comes to defending the rights of others. Stand up for the rights of others, and in some ways it's even more important than standing up for your own rights, because when people seek to repress freedom for some and you may remain silent, you are complicit in that repression and you may well become its victim. Do not be complicit. Do not follow the crowd. Speak up and fight back. You will take your lumps. I can assure you of that. You will lose some friends and make some enemies. I can assure you of that, too. But the arc of history will be on your side, and our nation will be stronger for it. Now, all of you graduates have earned today's celebration. You have a lot to be proud of, a lot to be grateful for. So tonight, as you leave this great university behind, have one last scorpion bowl at the Kong. On second thought, don't. And tomorrow get back to work making our country and our world freer forever, freer for everyone. God bless and good luck. Thank you, Mr. Bloomberg, for delivering such thoughtful remarks to our community. As we prepare to close these afternoon exercises, please stand once again and join me now as we sing our alma mater, "Fair Harvard." The words are in your program. On behalf of the Harvard Alumni Association, let me once again welcome and congratulate the class of 2014. You join one of the world's most respected alumni communities, and we welcome you. I now hereby declare the 2014 meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association adjourned, to reconvene same time, same place, same weather, on the 28th of May, 2015. Thank you for coming. And here we are at the close of the 145th meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association in conclusion to Harvard's 363rd commencement. We heard former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg charge the class of 2014 to follow evidence where it leads. It was an appeal for the preservation of freedom of expression, not only on college campuses but in cities and in towns throughout our democracy. Mayor Bloomberg said that freedom of expression and tolerance are the hallmarks of a democracy and that too often on college campuses liberals were repressing conservative ideas and not allowing expression for those ideas. He's concerned that today with liberals repressing conservatives similar to the McCarthy era when right wings were repressing liberals. He said it's the responsibility of the university to teach students how to think, to listen to the other side, and to be able to discuss, debate, and learn. This was the charge of Michael Bloomberg to the Harvard class of 2014. Rennie. Our president first noted the buildings around the theater, which contribute to the support of our students. She then outlined the obligations which Harvard shared purposes. Our research efforts, she noted. We owe the world our research efforts and entrepreneurship. We owe the world to produce the knowledge and education of question. And we owe the world to create critical questions whose answers will shape the future. And finally, we owe the future men and women to be teachers and public servants, ready to take on today's problems and continue to invest in them in the future. Thank you for joining us for the afternoon exercises of Harvard's 363th commencement. And I will conclude with the "Villanelle for an Anniversary," written for Harvard's 350th celebration in 1986 by Seamus Heaney. He entitled the Villanelle "John Harvard Walks the Yard." "A spirit moved. John Harvard walked the yard. The atom lay unsplit, the west unwon, the books stood opened and the gates unbarred. The maps dreamt on like moondust. Nothing stirred. The future was a verb in hibernation. A spirit moved. John Harvard walked the yard. Before the classic style, before the clapboard, all through the small hours of an origin, the books stood open and the gate unbarred. Night passage of a migratory bird. Wingflap. Gownflap. Like a homing pigeon, a spirit moved. John Harvard walked the yard. Was that his soul, look, sped to its reward by grace or works? A shooting star? An omen? The books stood open and the gate unbarred. Begin again where frosts and tests were hard. Find yourself or founder. Here, imagine, a spirit moves. John Harvard walked the yard. The books stand open and the gates unbarred." Thank you so much, and we look forward to seeing you on May 28, 2015 for the 146th meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association as part of Harvard's 364th commencement.