Ms. Susan Baber's Commencement Address

didn’t exist, a world in which hybrid vehicles weren’t on the roads, a world in which the words “Skype” and “Google” had no meaning. In the span of your lifetime, how we access information, how we care for our planet, and how we communicate have changed dramatically. Even more dramatic have been some of the global shifts in the economic and political landscape of our world. Who knows what’s next and what your role in all of it will be?

When talking about issues of justice, from time to time some of you have tried to convince me that I can’t really believe that significant change is possible or that a more just world is possible. After all, people who have power – political or economic – want to keep power and probably want to accrue more power. I think you’re right about the allure of greed – it’s really, really compelling. But just because some people are seduced by greed, I don’t believe we can underestimate the human capacity for good or the power of the human imagination.

I could talk about changes on a grand and global scale, because human history is full of fabulous examples, but in truth, most of us aren’t called to be agents of global transformation. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all influence the local situation. In your time at Loyola, you’ve met people who have been local agents of change. You’ve met Fr. Greg Boyle. His gang intervention program in Los Angeles hasn’t changed the whole world, but it has transformed the lives of hundreds of people whom society had written off, and restored hope to them and their loved ones. You’ve met Mr. Bill Ford, whose aunt, Sr. Ita Ford was killed in El Salvador in 1980. Mr. Ford’s a school principal. His school provides not only an education, but also critical work skills and experience for a student population 3