across campus
Mass. Gov. gives grads lesson in history
M
assachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker offered some practical advice for the Class of 2016: Don’t be a jerk. Don’t settle for average. And don’t be afraid to fail. “I would ask all of you to appreciate the value and the importance of civility in your personal and professional lives,” Baker told the 550 members of the Class of 2016. The governor, the father of graduate Andrew (A.J.) Baker, praised President Chester Arthur, Class of 1848, who he said “treated everyone with dignity and respect” and lived “by a code that was built on trust and decency.” Baker said Arthur was an inspiration, a “standup guy” who eschewed the roughand-tumble politics of his day. “It might be hard sometimes to turn the other cheek, but over time, it will serve you well,’’ he said. “As my dad has often said, ‘When people see two folks fighting, you can be pretty sure one of them is a jerk.’ Don’t be the jerk.” Baker, elected in November 2014, was inaugurated Jan. 8, 2015, as the commonwealth’s 72nd governor. A Republican, he previously served as a cabinet member in the administrations of Gov. William Weld and the
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker delivers the Commencement address
late Gov. Paul Cellucci. He urged the class to not be deterred by failure. “I ran against former Gov. Deval Patrick in 2010 and lost,” he said. “I learned a ton from the experience, and I sincerely doubt I would have won in 2014 if I hadn’t run and lost in 2010.”
AROUND
Baker received an honorary doctorate of laws degree. Receiving an honorary doctor of letters degree was William H. Kimbel, the Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment at Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social
Change. As director of ASU’s Institute of Human Origins, he is a preeminent researcher in the field of early human origins. In his charge to the graduates, President Stephen C. Ainlay recounted a number of their accomplishments, both academically and in the
Randall Kennedy speaks on “The Racial
APRIL
Promised Land? Creating a Racially Just
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4 | UNION COLLEGE Fall 2016
Social Order,” as part of the Presidential Forum on Diversity series. The Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, Kennedy is a leading scholar on race issues.