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Remembering Commencement 2005
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May 15, 2005
As proud families and friends watched, 368 students
received their diplomas during the College's 112th
Commencement on May 15 in Bridges Auditorium.
Students in the Class of 2005 came from as far away as Japan,
Ireland and Germany. Their majors ran the gamut from
mathematics to music to media studies.
As they headed off to graduate fellowships, careers and other
adventures, the class joined the ranks of more than
19,000 Pomona alumni living around the globe.
In his charge to the class of 2005,
Pomona College President David W. Oxtoby emphasized that the
role of higher education is to teach students not just how
to answer questions, "but how to pose interesting and
important questions themselves."
"As you leave this hall today and move on in your lives,
take with you the questioning spirit you have developed on
campus," said Oxtoby. "Challenge accepted dogma, look at
both sides of every issue, and don’t give up until you are
satisfied with the answers to the questions you pose."
Kyle Edward Warneck '05 and Senior Class President Lucy
Beatty Meyer '05 gave the student speeches. Honorary degrees
were awarded to:
-- Steven Koblik, president of the Huntington
Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens. The Library’
rare books and manuscripts comprise one of the largest and
most extensively used collections in America outside of the
Library of Congress. From 1968 to 1991, Koblik was a history
professor at Pomona College, where he received three Wig
Awards for outstanding teaching.
 --
John Payton, widely considered to be one of the
nation's leading civil rights attorneys, gave the
keynote address as well as receiving an honorary degree during the
event. A member of the Pomona Class of 1973, Payton was the
lead counsel for the University of Michigan in the two
landmark college admissions affirmative action cases decided
by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004.
-- Thomas Dean Pollard, M.D., Pomona Class of 1964,
chair of Yale’s University's Department of Molecular,
Cellular and Developmental Biology. He previously served as
president of the prestigious Salk Institute for Biological
Studies (1996–2000) and as a professor at the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine (1976–1996).
Delivering the keynote address,
Payton noted that this class began college just days
before September 11, 2001, which "has hung like a
cloud over much of the time you have spent in college.
Sometimes in the foreground, always in the background."
His talk addressed "two very disturbing developments" that
emerged as the post-September 11 spirit of unity faded. "The
first was a rejection of and hostility toward the value of
racial, ethnic, religious and cultural diversity,'' he said.
"This manifested itself in extreme distrust of certain
persons and religions thought to be incompatible with
American values and culture."
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President David Oxtoby applauds keynote speaker John
Payton '73. |
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"The second development was a serious erosion of fundamental
legal rights that we cherish and promote as Americans."
Payton recalled his own generation's activism for racial and
social justice and against the Vietnam War. He urged the
Class of 2005 to be engaged in the issues of today.
"You can bring commitment to these issues," he said. "You
can bring courage to these issues. It's your turn. Make us
proud."
Read Payton's full speech |
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