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UD celebrates 157th Commencement
4:48 p.m., May 27, 2006--Author Ron Chernow urged graduates of UD's Class of 2006 to seek success but also to use adversity as an opportunity to grow in self-awareness and personal fulfillment. Chernow made his remarks to a crowd of more than 20,000 graduates, guests, faculty and administrators during the 157th Commencement on Saturday morning, May 27, in Delaware Stadium. “Today, getting into and through college has become the ultimate survivor show in America. It's much tougher than anything seen on reality TV,” Chernow said. “All of you here today have completely met this challenge, and I would like to applaud your efforts and your achievements.” A prize-winning author, essayist and commentator, Chernow's recent biography Alexander Hamilton was lauded as one of the best books of 2004.
“In America, success is the very oxygen we breathe in our cradle, and I have no personal quarrel with that,” Chernow said. “I hope that all of you have dazzling good fortune when you step across that magical threshold that separates college from your future lives.” Chernow also said despite the winning combination of talent and luck that most graduates take with them across the threshold, it is not unusual for many setbacks to occur on the road to success. “I tell you, the road will not be smooth,” Chernow said. “It will not resemble an interstate highway system but will seem more like a maze of narrow, backcountry roads filled with small stones, big boulders and many unforeseen detours.” Learning from possible setbacks and negotiating these detours can shape character and lay the foundation for eventual success, Chernow said. “My aim this morning is not to fill you with fear. That is not why the University of Delaware invited me here,” Chernow said. “I would like to stress that your success in life will be shaped by how you deal with failure.” Chernow said that sometimes the best opportunities in life occur during hard times when everything seems lost, and that it is during moments of doubt and despair when the most important lessons in life are to be learned.
Commencement exercises Receiving a warm welcome from the Class of 2006 were alumni representatives from the classes of the 1930s to the 2000s. The Commencement ceremony also marked the official passage of the Class of 2006 from being students at UD to becoming members in the Alumni Association, with a membership of 140,000 in 81 countries around the world. Leading the alumni delegates were Dalit Gulak and Thomas Isherwood, recipients of the Alumni Association's 2006 Emalea Pusey Warner and Alexander J. Taylor Sr. awards, which recognize the outstanding senior woman and man. Commencement ceremonies began with the Presentation of the Colors by members of the University of Delaware Air Force and Army ROTC, followed a moment of silence for loved ones not present and the singing of the national anthem by Lori Marateck, a music major of the Class of 2006. Conferred were 245 doctoral degrees, 775 master's, 123 associate's and 4,240 bachelor's degrees earned during the past academic year. Honored by Robert Fischer, vice chairman of the UD Board of Trustees, for achieving the highest grade point average--4.0--in full-time study at UD were Ryan Charles Burk, of Hummelstown, Pa., Jessica Ann Hall, of Exton, Pa., Ryan Eric Morgan, of Dallas, Pa., Virek Prashant Patel, of Newark, and Andrea Lang Schrijvers, of Larimore, N.D.
The Class of 2006, whose members range in age from 18-70 years, includes seven graduates celebrating birthdays and eight sets of twins, Roselle said. Jonathan Sabino, a finance major from New Fairfield, Conn., said he had mixed feelings about Commencement. “It's exciting to have made it through,” he said, “but I'll miss Delaware and the University and the great people I met here.” “I can't believe four years went by so fast,” Melanie Butler, a marketing major from Newark, said. “It was a blast, and it was busy.” Joseph Cardella, a music management major from Baldwin, N.Y., said he will miss being a member of The Deltones a capella group the most. “To me, college has been Deltones, and Deltones has been college. You can't find a closer group than The Deltones,” Cardella, who traveled to South Africa as a study abroad student, said. “We've been brothers for the last four years. It's hard to leave, but it's not the end--it's just a beginning.” Veronica Casina, a biochemistry major from Newtown, Pa., said, “It's been an amazing four years. I'm happy that one period of my life is ending and that I am starting a new life, and I want to thank my parents and my professors for their guidance on the right path. I'm going on to Wake Forest University for a Ph.D. in chemistry.”
“I don't think the whole thing has really hit me yet,” Jaclyn Weinstein, a human services, education and public policy leadership major from Needham, Mass., said. “All four years were great.” Article by Jerry Rhodes
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