Class Day Combines Humor, Serious Reflection

The 1999 Class Day ceremony, featuring a self-deprecating speaker, nods to the end of Radcliffe College and lots of song, began with a lyric that seniors have heard innumerable times over the past week.

"Tonight we're going to party like it's 1999," shouted Harvard first marshal Baratunde R. Thurston '99 to a near-filled Tercentenary Theater.

The songs continued when the class marshals who introduced Institute of Politics Director Alan K. Simpson, Jante C. Santos '99 and Nicholas K. Davis '99, alternated original rap lyrics to the beat of clapping audience members.

Simpson then assumed the podium, delivering a speech devoid of any political talk and instead focusing on the fact that "humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life."

Simpson said he recognized that many students were disappointed with what they may have viewed as a B-list choice for Class Day speaker.

He said that Santos and Davis had asked him to help them land Oprah Winfrey, John Glenn or Colin Powell for the speech, but they were unsuccessful.

"So they came to me and said, 'You're it,'" Simpson chuckled.

The theme of humor was apparent throughout the speech, even if some of his jokes were recycled.

"I didn't graduate magna cum laude, but thank-the-lordy," he said.

Simpson's more serious message came later in the speech.

"Striving for perfection--I know it's a noble effort, but give it up," he said. "Learn to take your work seriously, but not yourself."

Simpson said learning to forgive oneself is crucial to a healthy life.

Along with the Class Day speaker, three students also were granted the microphone.

Sharmil Modi '99 delivered the Harvard oration, the speech given by a male student.

Modi related his early Harvard days cowering in his "Canaday cellblock," which he called the "black hole."

Modi said the experience, although painful at the time, was one he would never trade.

"It's the first time in my life that I learned humility," he said.

Modi quoted from the famous line on the Dexter Gate near Wigglesworth Hall, which reads "Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind."

"This is our obligation and legacy to the world," he said. "You live on through the people you touch."

Molly Hennessy-Fiske '99, the Radcliffe orator, spoke of the historical plight of women over the last century--but cited the progress made by female members of her own class who have risen to the top of campus student organizations.

Fiske, who is also a former Crimson executive, warned that progress--especially in the workplace--still needs to be made.

"My hope is to break the mold," she said. "Our very presence is a revolutionary step to a new age. We will change the world, be rebellious, improper and just a little rude. The nature of this flower is to bloom. We are the revolutionary petunias."

The Ivy Oration, traditionally a humorous speech was titled, "Crimson is a pretty color."

Noam I. Weinstein '99 began by noting it is hard to believe so much time has past since his class began college.

"Was it all a dream?" he asked. "If so, why was storing boxes over the summer such a big hassle?"

One of the few things graduates will take with them is a memory of what their professors looked like--"small dots," Weinstein Joked. "There's no question we've learned as much from each other as from our driven personalities."

Weinstein congratulated his class, who he said "is ready to embark on careers in any field--from investment to banking."

Earlier in the ceremony, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III presented two students with the Ames Award, a prize give to two seniors who have displayed leadership and self-reliance.

The award is given in honor of two brothers who drowned trying to save their father in a boating accident off of Newfoundland in 1935.

Scott C. Seider '99 was recognized for his work with the UniLu soup kitchen.

Soondarie J. Barker '99 received the award for her commitment to her family.

President-Elect of the Harvard Alumni Association T'ing C. Pei '65 and Radcliffe College Alumnae Association (RCAA) President Jane E. Tewksbury '74 welcomed the class into the body of Harvard alumni.

Both emphasized the importance of joining the alumni associations after graduation.

Tewksbury said female graduates should not worry about the future of Radcliffe, but she noted that last year at this time, she had predicted that degrees with Radcliffe signatures would become rare.

"I said, 'They might be worth a lot of money one day," she said. "How prophetic of me."

Even with the merger turning Radcliffe into an Institute of Advanced Study, Tewksbury said the RCAA will remain powerful.

"Radcliffe will become stronger and more influential than it has ever been," she said.

The ceremony ended with the singing of the 1999 Class Ode, sung by members of the Harvard Krokodiloes to the tune of "Fair Harvard," with lyrics by George W. Hicks '99.

As audience members filed out of the Yard, Joanna G. Hootnick '02, sister of Danielle A. Hootnick '99, said, "as a freshman, it's good to know these students love it so much."

Arnita L. Thurston, mother of Crimson editor Baratunde Thurston, said the student speeches were the most moving part of the day.

"Sharmil made me cry. Molly made me know crying is okay," Arnita Thurston said. "Noam reminded me, don't take any of this crap too seriously."