In
the classroom, in research labs, on the athletic fields, in the
community — and in ways both large and small — the University of
Delaware’s Class of 2023 is already changing the world.
Blue Hen pride was overflowing at Delaware Stadium as UD celebrated
its newest class of graduates at the annual Commencement Ceremony on
Saturday, May 27.
With a crowd of about 20,000 in the stands and on the field, UD
President Dennis Assanis began by lauding the accomplishments of the
Class of 2023 while also acknowledging the hardships they have faced.
“You’ve encountered adversity, and you’ve supported each other.
You’ve spoken out against injustice and complacency to demand change.
You generously gave your time and energy when you saw that others needed
help,” Assanis said. “As you leave the UD campus today, remember that
there are no problems you cannot solve, no summits you cannot reach, no
vision of a brighter future that is outside your grasp.”
As UD’s newest alumni, the Class of 2023 will join the rest of
society in trying to solve many complex problems, including climate
change, racial and economic inequality, and social and political
polarization.
“These are incredibly difficult questions — far too difficult for
artificial intelligence to figure out,” Assanis said. “Answering them
will require you to work together, drawing on your knowledge of science
and engineering, the arts and the humanities, public policy, education,
business — basically everything you’ve learned during your time at UD.”
Even more importantly, Assanis said, the world will need the Class of
2023’s ingenuity, innovative mindset, curiosity, creativity,
persistence and optimism.
“I am extremely optimistic because I know that you — the amazing
Class of 2023 — will be out there, continuing to change the world,”
Assanis said.
After receiving an honorary doctor of science degree, Commencement
speaker Dr. Mae Jemison, thought leader and a former NASA astronaut and
the first African American woman in space, emphasized that it is the
choices that UD grads make that will effect change and beneficially
impact the world.
“You can take action, and I know that you're up to the challenge,
because you have the same resilience and potential that every child is
born with. You, as a living creature, are both tenacious and fragile,”
said Jemison, who earned engineering, social science and medical
degrees. “Make sure your actions are imbued and steeped in that
understanding. Actions taken in the past have created the world today.
The action we take today can build a beautiful world tomorrow.”
Jemison encouraged graduates to look up from their devices and observe the world around them.
“Look up at the sky, the clouds, beyond the sun, the moon, the stars
when you need to recharge your spirit,” she said. “Let the gravity of
Earth give you a warm hug. Look up and remember what inspires you, what
you were doing this for and why you cared in the first place.”
Indeed, Jemison said it was looking up beyond Earth — not down on it
during her spaceflight — that sparked her recognition that she is a part
of the universe “as much as any speck of stardust.”