A festive and early arriving crowd of more than 21,000 filled Delaware Stadium for the University of Delaware's 154th Commencement on Saturday morning, May 31.

Families and friends cheered, waved and held up handmade signs as the Class of 2003 wound its way onto the lush green grass of the Tubby Raymond Field wearing the traditional deep blue gowns, many adorned with the colors of nations visited through UD's active Study Abroad program, and mortarboards, some decorated with initials, messages and toys for easy identification from the stands.

UD conferred an estimated 4,794 degrees during the ceremony, held under skies alternately sunny and cloudy, with rain falling only toward the close of the festivities. Of those, 3,851 were bachelor's degrees, 778 master's degrees, 155 doctoral degrees and 10 associate's degrees. The total reflects all degrees completed since last May's ceremony.

UD President David P. Roselle welcomed the graduates, reminding them that the Class of 2003 has representatives of 44 states and 47 nations and drew attention to a colorful display of flags celebrating the role that UD benefactor Pierre Samuel du Pont played in establishing the Delaware Junior Year Abroad Program, the first program of its kind in the world.

"Delaware continues to rank among the top universities with study abroad programs," he said, asking graduates who had studied internationally to stand.

Roselle said the graduating class features "a wealth of diversity and interest greater than any before you," noting that its members range in age from 20 to 72, the oldest being Elizabeth Kuchta Melnik, who earned a bachelor's degree in nursing.

This year's graduates had lived through an extraordinary year, Roselle said, one that "fell in the shadow of the tragic events of Sept. 11" and saw the nation at war in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It was a year for us to reflect, for our patriotism to be reawakened and for our commitment to be renewed," he said, taking a moment to honor the 43 UD students and five employees who put their academic and professional careers on hold as their Reserve and National Guard units were called to active duty.

"All of you bring your own set of identifying characteristics and experiences to this celebration today," Roselle told the graduates. "All of you set forth today on a path even more remarkable than the one that brought you here. All of you will meet challenges, and we want you to face them with the tools you have acquired here and to make better lives for yourselves and the people of our world."

That last phrase was a fitting segue as Roselle turned the podium over to U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., himself a UD graduate, who introduced the Commencement speaker, former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell who gained distinction as a diplomat and international peacemaker.

Nothing is more rewarding in life than service to others, former senator and international peacemaker George J. Mitchell told the graduates seated on the field.

"Our society is the most free, most open, most just society in all history," Mitchell said. But, he said, with these benefits comes responsibility and the University's newest graduates will have an important role to play in preserving and improving the American way of life.

Reflecting on the first American graduation ceremony held in 1642 at Harvard, Mitchell said that nine graduates listened to three addresses--in Latin, Hebrew and Greek--and the event took all day. "I speak only English," Mitchell said as he promised "to stop speaking before you graduates stop listening."

Mitchell listed three important challenges for the Class of 2003.

"If you believe as I do," he said, "that every American child is entitled to a good education regardless of background or family wealth, you must oppose any actions denying them that opportunity.

"If you believe, as I do, we have an obligation to have clean air, pure water and unpoisoned land," Mitchell continued, "you must demand that public policies are there to meet these obligations.

"Thirdly," Mitchell said, "if you believe in equal opportunity and equal justice, you must speak out against all forms of discrimination and injustice. In the presence of evil, silence makes you an accomplice."

Mitchell told the graduates that life is a never ending search for respect--first self-respect, followed by the respect of others. Nothing, he said, is more rewarding than service to others.

"It is inevitable and appropriate that you will devote much of your life to earning the income you will need to support yourself and your family," Mitchell said, "and you will want status and wealth, and many of you will get them. But, the more successful you are, the more evident it will become to you that there's much more to life."

Fufillment will not come with self-indulgence or with things that you buy, he concluded, but by "Striving with all of your physical and spiritual might for a worthwhile objective that helps others and is larger than your self interest."

After Mitchell's speech, Howard E. Cosgrove, BE '70M, chairman of the Board of Trustees, conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, upon the Commencement speaker. Hailing Mitchell in his citation as a tireless public servant, champion of the human spirit, esteemed peacemaker, respected environmentalist and citizen of the world, Cosgrove concluded, "George Mitchell, you have served the nation and the world with an inspiring sense of duty and honor. You have upheld the public trust and advanced the common good of our global community--people both known and unknown to you--with a legacy of commitment and service. It has been said that there is a loftier ambition than to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift humankind higher. This you have done, and for this, we salute you."

Mitchell, who served as United States Senator from 1980 to 1995, also is known for brokering an international peace agreement in 1998 between the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom. That same year, the George J. Mitchell Scholarships were created by the United States-Ireland Alliance, enabling American citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 to study at universities in Ireland. More recently, he chaired a fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East, and the committee's recommendations, known as The Mitchell Report, were endorsed by the Bush administration, the European Union and many other governments.

Following Mitchell's address and the presentation to him of an honorary UD degree, Roselle recognized Todd Macbeth and Sarah Lyman, co-chairs of the senior class gift committee, who presented the University a check for more than $13,000 to support a Sept. 11 memorial tribute.

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner then took the podium to honor graduates Karen Brown, Matthew Buckley and Christopher Eller for earning perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point averages.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, UD Alumni Association President Thorpe Moeckel welcomed the graduates into membership, which now numbers more than 120,000. "You are joining a distinguished group of individuals who are involved with every human endeavor worldwide," he said.

--Neil Thomas, AS '76 and Cornelia Weil