Eyes on the Prize: Commencement Speaker Harriet Michel Urges Vision Harriet Richardson Michel ’65, president of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, recalled that as a college student she faced life head-on, challenged assumptions and was “not willing to go quietly into that good night.” She also reminded the 2010 graduating class at Juniata that she was just a small part of a much larger social movement and urged them to “keep their eyes on the prize to achieve success” at the College’s 132nd commencement ceremony. Michel quoted philosopher Martin Buber in her opening remarks, saying “Every single man (and of course woman) is a new thing in the world and is called upon to fulfill his particularity in this world.” Citing the serious challenges facing new graduates such as budget deficits, cuts in jobs and education, global warming and an increasingly partisan political atmosphere, she asked the class to consider, “Previous generations had the luxury to accept or reject the belief that one must assume responsibility for the well being of the world. Your generation, for better or for worse, enjoys no such luxury.”
Using her professional experiences, her work for civil rights and her experience as an African-American woman as an example for the graduating class, she explained that people who wish to return to a simpler, romanticized America are simply wishing for an America that never was. “The America of yesterday can never return (and) the America of tomorrow depends on you like never before,” she told the graduates. Michel quoted author David Cottrell’s book 12 Choices That Lead to Your Success, urging the students to make bold choices when it comes to character, actions and investment in the future. She concluded her address by reminding the graduates, “times of challenge and controversy are also times of extraordinary opportunity…a time when fresh perspectives and new ideas are most needed. …remember ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.’”
= video on juniata.edu/extra
Michael Boyle Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching, William J. von Liebig Chair in Biomedical Science Mike Boyle went back and forth on what to list. Five greatest grandchildren? (In order, Britton, Brycen, Gideon, Breanna and Evelyn.) Or how about Nobel laureates with whom he has eaten breakfast, lunch or dinner? (Rodney Porter (1972, Medicine), Peter Medawar (1960, Medicine), Francis Crick (1962, Medicine), Rosalyn Yalow (1977, Medicine) and Richard Roberts (1993, Medicine)). He ended up listing his top five mentors. Con O’Callaghan: My high school chemistry teacher who taught concepts not facts. Robert Creighton, Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow: He was my undergraduate research advisor and got me infected with the research bug.
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Tibor Borsos, Chief Humoral Immunity Section: He was my mentor at the National Cancer Institute who taught me how great scientists think. Jerry Schiebler, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida: He taught me how academic politics actually works. Carla Boyle: My wife of 37 years, who has taught me more and kept me out of more trouble than the rest of them put together.
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2010 Spring-Summer
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