Cheers, Tears Mark Sunlit Ceremony

Amidst rivaling chants of "Harvard" from senior men and "Radcliffe" from senior women, the University awarded degrees to the Class of 1999--including the members of Radcliffe College's final class of undergraduates--on June 11.

The University conferred 6,847 degrees at its 348th Commencement, including eight honorary degrees given to luminaries including Commencement Speaker and Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, Economist Kenneth J. Arrow and Herbert Block, a noted political cartoonist.

University President Neil L. Rudenstine presided over this year's sunlit ceremonies from a Jacobean chair that has been used at every Commencement ceremony since the 18th century.

And he declared undergraduates to have completed their College careers using the same celebrated words that have been used at many Commencements past.

"By the authority delegated to me I do confer on you the first degree in the Arts or in the Sciences," Rudenstine told the 1,659 seniors. "And I do finally admit you to the fellowship of educated persons."

He also offered special thanks to two administrators--Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III and Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson--who are leaving the University this year.

"You have defined for Harvard the very meaning of what it is to be a Dean of Students," Rudenstine said of Epps.

Rudenstine also praised Wilson for leading Radcliffe as it made the decision to merge with the University.

"You have guided Radcliffe steadily and with great distinction to a point where you can now leave it, with enormous satisfaction, to a new future," he said.

After undergraduates and students from the University's 11 other schools received their degrees, Rudenstine conferred honorary diplomas on this year's eight honorary degree recipients.

The University Marshal introduced the recipients--Arrow, Harvard Professor Bernard Bailyn, Block, Professor Andrew F. Brimmer, statistician David R. Cox, Greenspan, Literary Theorist Julia Kristeva, and Author Mario Vargas Llosa. Rudenstine bestowed a witty epithet on each recipient--describing Greenspan as the man who "keeps America green"--before conferring the degrees.

The ceremony also included speeches by two undergraduates from the Class of 1999 and one by a graduate student, Hazel Trice Edney of the Kennedy School.

In his Latin Oration, Quentin Chu '99, told students to embrace the "trivial delights and daily vignettes" of everyday life.

"Whoever notices these trifles in life and delights in them, he has discovered the secret to happiness which eludes the rest of us," Chu proclaimed in Latin as graduating students followed along with the English translation.

"Many years from now, what you remember of this University will be precisely these trifles that escape your notice now," Chu added.

In his English Oration, Selamawi H. Asgedom '99 discussed the unique advice his mother has given him. In a Sudanese refugee camp, Asgedom said, she told him to keep the covers over his mouth while sleeping so as to avoid swallowing snakes. Later in life, she told him to remember where he came from.

"Her later advice meant, I now realize, that I should know when to pull the covers down and stick my neck out," Asgedom said. "That's the hard part."

"You are ready to peek out, to see beyond yourselves, and cast off the covers," he added.

Edney delivered the final address, recounting milestones of the past year, from the special convocation for South African leader Nelson R. Mandela to Radcliffe's decision to merge with the University.

"We marvel at how far we have come since 100 years ago when the Harvard class of 1899 was all white and all male," said Edney, who told graduates to continue to work to "knock down the fences that divide." At least one sleepy senior--roused by House officials at 6:30 am along with the rest of his class--admitted to sleeping through the morning ceremonies which lasted over two hours.

After the speeches, seniors headed to their Houses for lunch and smaller, more informal ceremonies, where they received their diplomas--including the last degrees bearing the Radcliffe College seal.

After speeches by House officials, seniors feasted on their final Harvard meal in their House dining halls and courtyards with members of their family.

The Adams House ceremony, held in Randolph Court, was the final Commencement for Adams House Master Robert J. Kiely '60 and his wife Jana, who retired this year after 26 years as Co-Masters.

Allston Burr Senior Tutor David B. Fithian complimented Kiely's dedication to what he called "the most distinctive of Harvard Houses."

"They raised their own children while playing surrogate parent to hundreds more," he said.

"It has been a great privilege for us to live there for 26 years," said Jana Kiely, motioning to the masters' residence behind her. "We have always felt at home here."

Special awards honored students with particular dedication to music and the arts as well as community service and "international understanding."

The masters also honored House tutors who received graduate degrees this year, lauding them as "not simply proctors, but advisers and friends."

As Maria C. Kiely '99 crossed the stage to receive her diploma, Fithian had to pause in his reading of names while the co-masters gave their daughter flowers and hugs.

In his final address, Kiely commented on House character and his own administrative style.

"There's now a handbook [for House masters] which I still haven't read," he said dryly.

"If I tried to run Adams House like a well-oiled machine, I would say my 26 years were a great failure," Kiely said. "Adams House is always at a slightly off angle, and I love that."

The contrast of the morning exercises and the ceremonies held in Adams and the other House was not lost on students or administration.

"The pomp and circumstance of this morning was wonderful but you know that's not the real Harvard," Kiely said.