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WELLESLEY,
Mass. -Make a difference by working for peace and taking
responsibility for making the world a better place. That
was the message at Wellesley College's 123rd Commencement
Friday, June 1, as Jehan Sadat, an internationally recognized
human rights activist, told members of the Class of 2001
and their guests about her lifelong mission for peace in
the Middle East. The widow of assassinated Egyptian president
and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Anwar Sadat, Dr. Sadat is
a resident scholar at the University of Maryland, where
she helped to establish the Anwar Sadat Chair for Development
and Peace.
"[The
education of women] is the key to success, not just
for women but also for their families and ultimately for
nations…. For the sake of yourselves and the generations
that follow, never stop learning. Never stop searching for
cures for the ills of society. Never close your eyes to
the suffering of others," said Sadat. "Go forth with minds
yearning to learn, hearts full of compassion and love, and
hands willing to build bridges to peace."
Although
she did not comment on specifically on current events in
the Middle East, Sadat remained hopeful about the future.
"I can honestly and sincerely tell you that I believe a
just, durable, and comprehensive peace will come to the
Middle East. It may not be this week, this month, or even
next year, but it will come," she said. "In my heart, I
believe as my husband believed, that peace will prevail
when our hearts set the path for our heads and hands to
follow."
Wellesley
College conferred bachelor of arts degrees upon 581 graduates,
including 102 who received departmental honors and 122 cum
laude, 106 magna cum laude and 46 summa cum laude honors.
President
Diana Chapman Walsh told the class it was time to make its
mark in the world.
"Now
it's your turn to work out what impact you will have, and
where, and how it will matter," she said. Referring to Wellesley's
125th anniversary this year, she challenged the class to
return in another 25 years with new stories to tell about
"women who have taken on the establishment in bold and exciting
ways."
Walsh
provided a keepsake for each graduate: a copy of the United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights. "I hope you'll keep
this declaration, tied with a ribbon, as a symbol of the
strings that are attached to your diploma, as a reminder,
always, that with rights come responsibilities to preserve
the institutions of freedom; with privileges come duties
to others less fortunate than you; with wisdom comes an
obligation to use your knowledge in the cause of justice;
with power comes the opportunity to remove that which subverts
love," she said.
Student
commencement speaker Lauren Rankin of Pennington, N.J.,
continued a tradition that began in 1969 when now Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton offered the first such speech. Rankin
reflected on the sisterly connections she came to cherish
at Wellesley.
"At
the end of my sophomore year, my world fell apart when my
sister died," she said. "One of the only things that kept
me going was the constant and unwavering support that I
received from people at Wellesley. Some people I didn't
even know wrote me cards and letters. I remember one of
them said, 'We're not as good, we're not as special, and
we're never going to take Amy's place in your heart, but
please know that when you come back to school, you'll have
2300 sisters who love you waiting for you.'"
Wellesley
College is a prominent liberal arts college and has been a
leader in the education of women for 125 years. The College's
500-acre campus near Boston is home to about 2,300 undergraduate
students. Wellesley's distinguished alumnae include former
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, US Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, and broadcast
journalists Cokie Roberts, Diane Sawyer, and Lynn Sherr.
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