UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 1, Page 1
September 1, 1994
Convocation ceremony welcomes Class of '98

     In his first formal address to the University, Provost Melvyn
Schiavelli welcomed the Class of 1998 at the New Student Convocation,
held in Mitchell Hall Monday.
     "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, face
them with the tools you will acquire here and make better lives for
yourselves and for those around you. I encourage all of you to
question," Schiavelli said. "I encourage you to balance your
challenges with perspective and good humor. I encourage you to pursue
knowledge with gusto and in that pursuit, above all else, with respect
for each and every human being.
     "And I encourage you to have a good time. The Class of 1948, who
entered the University 50 years ago, and some of whom are present
today, remember their experience here as among the happiest and most
rewarding of their lives."
     Schiavelli also commented on the special characteristics of the
new University class. "I am happy that you have chosen the University
of Delaware as a place to make a difference," he said. "It is a
university rich in heritage and tradition. What you bring with you is
a diversity greater than any class before you in the history of this
institution. You represent a diversity of culture, race, and of
lifestyle and you live in a world of instantaneous global
communication that ensures that you will have the ability to affect
the lives of more people than any other class before you."
     Earlier, trustee Sally Higgins, Delaware '48, presented incoming
freshman class representative Doug DiLorenzo, a graduate of Archmere
Academy and a Eugene du Pont and an Alison scholar, with a banner to
be displayed at incoming class events and at its future alumni
reunions.
     Following Schiavelli's speech, John K. Rosenberger, professor and
chairperson of the Department of Animal Science and Agricultural
Biochemistry, was presented with the Francis Alison Award, given in
recognition of Rosenberger's outstanding academic contributions to the
University and to his profession.
     John P. McLaughlin, associate professor of psychology and
president of the Faculty Senate, introduced Rosenberger and read from
the citation honoring the recipient as "an outstanding scholar, an
expert whose advice is sought around the world and a respected and
loved teacher."
     McLaughlin also cited Rosenberger's research in diseases
affecting agriculture, particularly his success in identifying a virus
that almost devastated the Delmarva poultry population."
     Rosenberger thanked students and colleagues and praised the
"administrative climate" at the University as "exceptional."
     An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree was awarded to Hanna
Holborn Gray, who recently retired after 15 years as president of the
University of Chicago. Gray also had served as dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and provost and acting
president at Yale University.
     She has received numerous awards, including the Medal of Liberty,
presented to her and 12 other distinguished foreign-born Americans by
President Ronald Reagan at ceremonies honoring the centennial of the
Statue of Liberty in 1986. In 1991, she received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom Award, the nation's highest civilian honor, from
President George Bush.
     Andrew B. Kirkpatrick, chairman of the University Board of
Trustees, introduced Gray and praised her as an "articulate advocate
for higher education, widely recognized for significant contributions
to the advancement of higher education."
     Gray, who has received honorary degrees from more than 60
institutions, including Oxford, Brown, Yale, Columbia and Princeton
universities, began her speech by noting the irony in receiving an
honorary degree at a ceremony welcoming students who have yet to begin
their studies.
     "It does of course seem a bit unfair for me," she said, "to be
graduating with a degree after doing no work at all, just at the
moment when all of you as entering students are being welcomed to
years of study and exhorted to the rewards of hard work along the way
towards your degrees. But life, as they say, is unfair."
     Quoting from the poet Robert Frost, Gray said, "'education
doesn't change life much, it just lifts trouble to a higher plain of
regard. College is a refuge from hasty judgment.'
     "Education will not make life easier, but it certainly will or
should help to enrich and expand the possibilities of your life," Gray
continued.
     The convocation also celebrated the 80th anniversary of the
founding of the Women's College, something Gray took note of in her
speech.
     "A great deal has happened in these 80 years, in the 50 years
since a genuine co-education came to Delaware and, even in those 50
years, there have been enormous changes in the expectations and in the
opportunities for young women, and as a consequence, for young men as
well, because young men as well as young women... should to some degree
be liberated to do what they want and not to have imposed on them the
stereotypes of particular careers and professions but be allowed to
explore and develop in their own way, as should young women.
     "And of course the difficult thing is that freedom is not always
easy, that thought is often painful, that choice is often difficult.
But remember that 'lifting trouble to a higher plain of regard' really
does make life in the end more enhanced, more enriched, more
enjoyable-a deeper one in which you can make so much greater a
contribution."
     The new students also heard from Ronald Lieberman, president of
the Delaware Undergraduate Student Congress, who encouraged them to
make the most of the new-found freedom that college brings and get
involved with student activities.
     Convocation had been planned for the South Mall, but rain forced
ceremonies inside. The sun began to shine about an hour before
Convocation, prompting President David P. Roselle to remark in his
greeting to students, "If you don't like the weather at the University
of Delaware, just wait an hour and it will change."
                                                      -Chris Keirstead