Bagpipes, wisdom and 458 degrees at the 101st commencement
By Mark Tarnacki
Justice Unity Dow of Botswana told Saint Michael’s Class of 2008 to “tread gently, lovingly and purposefully, leave graceful heart prints” in their lives. Dow, speaker for the college’s 101st Commencement May 15, is the first woman appointed to her country’s high court and also a prominent author and women’s rights activist.
In her speech, Dow encouraged the graduates to “Do what you truly believe will give you joy, for only then will you give others joy … When in doubt, do nothing! No one should be holding a stop-watch to your life because you should not be running to start with.”
The justice said ceremonial occasions like graduations are ways to celebrate the values we hold dear — therefore the honorary degrees presented at this ceremony to honor Vermont philanthropist Lois McClure, scientist, naturalist and author Bernd Heinrich and Rev. Richard Myhalyk, SSE ’66 show we recognize philanthropy along with respect for the environment and also faith and humility. She also noted that her presence symbolized our shared honor for justice and the rule of law.
During the proceedings, President John J. Neuhauser presented the Katherine Fairbanks and Father Prevel memorial awards for the outstanding woman and man, respectively, in the graduating class. Michelle Kayser ’08, a political science major, received the Fairbanks award, while the Father Prevel Award went to Owen Glubiak ’08, an economics/business major.
Kayser earned a prestigious Pickering Fellowship and will study at the Woodrow Wilson Institute at Princeton University before entering the diplomatic corps. Glubiak, whose alumni parents met in their student days at Saint Michael’s, made a name for himself through his environmental activism and research in addition to his strong scholarship and leadership in student government.
Kristin Jarvis, an English major with a 4.0 grade point average, was named class valedictorian.
Class of 2008 members selected Kevin Eugene Anglin, a political science major, to address them as their class speaker. Anglin kept them and the entire audience entertained throughout, while offering useful and serious ideas to think about. “We can’t allow these to be the best four years of our lives,” he said, noting that Saint Michael’s “prepared us so each year after this will be the best of our lives.”
President Neuhauser spoke of the habits he hoped they had developed from a liberal arts education: to listen carefully, be tolerant, not judge, work hard and practice civil discourse while wrapping all in an aura of kindness, the result of “four years practice” strongly influenced by a religious dimension in life. “An educated person must be able to understand another,” he said.
