Peering up from beneath the colorful umbrellas that shielded them from a steady rain, members of the Class of 1997 listened intently as Class Day speaker David McCullough '55 described his first glimpse of Yale. It was on a gray November day that the famous historian and biographer first saw the campus, he recalled. He was a high school student, and his most vivid impression was of watching a group of male students playing touch football on the Old Campus. As one of the players ran out for a pass, he disturbed the scorched earth beneath his feet. "These Yale guys, they kick up the dust," Mr. McCullough remembered thinking.
Many of the 1,227 seniors who gathered for Class Day exercises -- in the same spot where Mr. McCullough watched that football game more than 20 years ago -- broke out in knowing smiles when the historian later called upon them to use the knowledge they obtained and the skills they honed at Yale to "kick up some dust" in the world beyond college.
On several occasions throughout his address, Mr. McCullough, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1992 biography "Truman" and five other books, quoted historical figures to pass on tidbits of wisdom or advice to the soon-to-be graduates. He drew a parallel between the opportunity faced by 18th-century American statesmen such as John Adams the subject of Mr. McCullough's next book to build a government from scratch, and the possibilities awaiting today's young adults. They -- unlike previous generations whose national priorities were determined by such events as the Great Depression, World War II or the Cold War -- have a rare opportunity to determine a new "national ambition" for the United States, he said.
"What is going to be our national ambition now?" he said. "It can't be just balancing the budget; it can't be just school uniform programs. It's got to be something grand and noble. It has to be a big idea, because that is what we have been from the beginning, that's what this country was at the beginning, a very big idea. And you, you the Class of 1997, can choose. You can have the big idea. You can change the direction and give focus to the treasure and the ingenuity and the imagination of this marvelous country. ... And with that ennobling, unifying undertaking, in the figurative or literal sense, we will belong to something that is larger than ourselves, and that is something that at base, at heart, all human beings want."
It is his own "fervent belief," Mr. McCullough stated, that the national ambition the graduates choose should combine the promotion of education with "the restoration, the revitalization and the enlarging of the purpose of the city as an idea, as an ideal." Praising the efforts of President Richard C. Levin and other University staff who have focused attention on initiatives to improve life in the City of New Haven, as well as the thousands of undergraduates who volunteered in community service efforts, Mr. McCullough added that "it would be wonderful if more were being done."
He continued, "I hope you will leave this campus knowing that having been to a great university in the city will be a decided advantage in the world, in the life that you are going to be taking part in in the future. You are blessed not just that you came to Yale but that you came to Yale in the city."
Recollections of Yale
Mr. McCullough, who graduated from Yale with a degree in English, was first greeted at the podium by a group of students singing "Happy Birthday" and offering him a birthday cake. After blowing out the candles, the Yale alumnus chuckled, then announced: "I want to commend the Class of 1997. It's clear that its members will go very far in life. You have imagination, spirit and great hearts. My birthday is July 7." The graduating seniors and the nearly 5,000 spectators in the audience burst into laughter over the blunder. In addition to his anecdote about his first Yale visit, Mr. McCullough shared recollections of his own undergraduate days at the University, citing fond memories of New Haven pizza, the bountiful musical groups on campus and the many famous writers who came to speak or teach. But the most memorable part of his Yale experience, said the historian, was the University's noted faculty. He especially praised his former teacher Vincent J. Scully Jr., Sterling Professor Emeritus and lecturer in the history of art, who was awarded the Harwood F. Byrnes Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize during the Class Day ceremonies. For more on teaching prizes, see page 10-A. Professor Scully, Mr. McCullough stated, was "the brightest star in the Yale firmament," adding, "He was funny, opinionated, romantic, brilliant, never dull, never, never boring, never patronizing, irrepressibly full of life. His lectures in the history of art and architecture were standing-room-only. He threw open the windows for us, threw open the shutters, let the light in. He got us to read, got us to think, he got us to see, to see, and he's never stopped. When I think of the privilege of a Yale education, I think of those lectures and to express one's admiration for such a teacher, one's abiding, life-long gratitude, is probably impossible."
The 'real world'
Once the seniors have graduated, many will hear some 'well- meaning, perhaps cynical person' tell them: "Welcome to the real world," Mr. McCullough predicted. But, he commented, "you know, and you will always know because you have been educated at Yale, that Beethoven is the real world and Puccini and Gershwin are the real world, and Michelangelo and Yeats and Ella Fitzgerald and the Sermon on the Mount are the real world and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address is the real world. Great universities are the real world; Yale University is the real world."
Mr. McCullough urged the students to continue reading, recommending not only works of fiction but history. "How are you going to know who you are and where we're going if you don't know how we've gotten to where are and at what cost? Everything we have, our universities, our way of life, our laws, our art, our music, our institutions and our freedoms -- our freedoms -- are because of others who went before us. ... To be indifferent to that isn't just to be ignorant, it's to be rude."
The prize-winning writer also offered these words of advice to members of the Class of 1997: " D on't become cynical ... It's mostly a pose; it does no good, and it's very unrealistic. Skeptical, yes, sure, but not cynical. Hold on to your idealism. God knows the world needs it. And God knows the world needs you, all of you. And your intelligence and your warmth and all that good humor and generosity that's so obvious in you. Go out and make your life matter, kick up a little dust. ... Good luck, Godspeed, and sometime, somewhere along the line, do something for your country."
'Take advantage of every adventure'
Class Day festivities officially began with a procession of the graduating seniors onto the Old Campus. It is a longstanding Yale tradition for seniors to celebrate the occasion by wearing unique and often humorous hats or headgear. This year umbrellas obscured the students' hats as they filed in and took seats with other members of their residential colleges. An occasional straw hat, sombrero or clear plastic rain hat dotted what seemed like endless rows of umbrellas. Some of the guests in the audience took refuge from the rain underneath large trees, and here and there students could be seen huddled together to keep themselves dry and warm.
Shane MacElhiney, secretary of the Class of 1997, began his welcome address to his classmates by sharing a story about an experience during his sophomore year. After staying up all night, he and some friends took a car ride away from the campus in search of some breakfast. Instead, they soon found themselves hiking in the woods in Guilford, Connecticut, where they sat and watched the sun rise over a mist-covered lake. The camaraderie he felt and the adventure of the experience made it one of Mr. MacElhiney's most memorable at Yale.
"The lesson of the story is that we must take advantage of every adventure that presents itself, whether it is an intimate relationship, a location change or just a late-night journey in search of breakfast," the senior told his classmates. "Because you never know where it is going to finish. Every new opportunity has the potential to lead to 1,000 more if we are courageous enough to seize it."
Mr. MacElhiney also challenged members of the Class of 1997 to be brave enough to pursue what makes them happy. "How often do we over-analyze ourselves; how often are we paralyzed by the pressure to succeed or please those around us? How often do we get lost thinking about the future? We have a tendency to get trapped in our minds, and to lose sight of what is important to us. My challenge to you is to take that risk."
Awards and honors
Fourteen students were honored for scholastic, personal or athletic achievements during the Class Day ceremonies. This year, two students each won two of the top prizes awarded at Class Day. In addition, one faculty member was presented with two of the top teaching awards.
Winning two of the top scholastic prizes was David Kai-An Lam, who won the Arthur Twining Hadley Prize awarded to the student majoring in the social sciences who ranks the highest in scholarship and the Russell Henry Chittenden Prize for the student majoring in the natural sciences or mathematics who ranks the highest in scholarship . Mr. Lam majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and economics, earning distinction in both.
Karen Kristen Dabbs was presented both the James Andrew Haas Prize and the William H. McKim Prize, which she shared with Mark Smith. The former award is given to a member of the senior class whose "breadth of intellectual achievement, strength of character and fundamental humanity," have inspired in fellow students "a love of learning and a concern for others." The latter award is presented each year to a member of the senior class who has shown marked improvement in his or her academic standing in upperclass years and made a significant contribution in activities outside the classroom.
Other winners of scholastic prizes were Tali Farimah Farhadian, who won the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize; Tova Ann Leigh Choate, who received the Warren Memorial High Scholarship Prize; and Hilary Koob-Sassen, who was presented the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts.
Jennifer McCleary-Sills and Themistoclis Stavros Protopsaltis both received the David Everett Chantler Award.
In recognition of their work in the Yale and New Haven communities, David M. Ratzan and Aurore Victor were presented the Roosevelt L. Thompson Prize.
Winning awards for their athletic accomplishments were Amanda Taft and R. Daniel Chibuzo, who received the Nellie Pratt Elliot and William Neely Mallory awards, respectively, for their accomplishments in varsity athletics, and Christian Manders and Kelvin Wu, who were presented the Robert E. Lewis Award for their dedication to intramural sports.
Ian Baucom, assistant professor of English, was the recipient of two of the top teaching prizes: The Yale College Sidonie Miskimin Clauss Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities and the Sarai Ribicoff '79 Award, which is given to a junior faculty member in the humanities whose instruction and character reflect the qualities of independence, innovation and originality that were exhibited in the life, thought and writings of the late Ms. Ribicoff. This is only the second time in the history of the prizes that one faculty member won both awards, according to Yale College Dean Richard H. Brodhead, who presented the teaching awards at the ceremony.
In addition to Professors Baucom and Scully, other winners of teaching prizes are John Kihlstrom, professor of psychology, The Lex Hixon '63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences; Roger E. Howe, professor of mathematics, The Yale College Dylan Hixon '88 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences; and Iona Black, lector in chemistry, The Yale College Prize for Teaching Excellence by a Lector of Lector.
Aliens watching Following another Class Day custom, seniors Leigh Bardugo, Bradley Farwell and Joshua Kamensky presented a tongue-in-cheek version of the history of the Class of 1997. Aliens, they announced, have been watching members of the class throughout their four years on campus, and even played an instrumental role in University events. "They invented the major "Race, Ethnicity and Interplanetary Migration," joked the three class historians, who on occasion covered their faces with huge cardboard alien masks.
During their rendition of the class history, Ms. Bardugo, Mr. Farwell and Mr. Kamensky recounted such events as the installation of the Women's Table; the arrest of a Yale undergraduate for falsifying his transcript to get into the University; the controversial return by the Yale administration of a $20 million gift from Lee Bass; the retirement of football coach Carm Cozza; the banning of halogen lights on campus, and the grade strike by graduate teaching assistants. Because of the presence of the secretive aliens during their undergraduate years, in the future the Association of Yale Alumni will be able to "cross-list every students' DNA, so instead of having class reunions, alumni can simply clone their classmates in their own homes," the class historians quipped. "This is our Independence Day," they concluded. "Report to Commons to be summarily probed."
The Ivy Ode, which is traditionally read in an esoteric language, was presented in Swahili by Amelia Shaw in honor of people struggling against oppression in the region of the Congo, formerly Zaire. Ms. Shaw actually sang the ode in a musical style used by the South African a cappella singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The ode was then translated into English by its author, Kristen Kane. Traditionally, the Ivy Ode describes the connection between the growth of the ivy vine and the flourishing of the graduating class. A line from this year's ode reads: "We stand here, barefoot and naked, with time threatening to forget us and these tremors of bliss, so we reach for each other to let go, taking our pleasure as guide after the Blue azure that is deepest when spanned by memories, dripping dry like raindrops caught on a vine."
As the ode was read Class Day coordinators Analisa Barbosa and Jonathan Klein planted the ivy in honor of their class and dedicated a stone which is engraved with the numerals of the Class of 1997. The planting of the ivy follows a tradition dating back to 1852.
'Bright College Years'
As is the Class Day custom, the ceremony concluded with the singing of the alma mater, "Bright College Years." Like so many graduates before them, the seniors were right on cue as they waved their white handkerchiefs in the air during the last line of the song: "For God, for Country, and for Yale!" While some were soaked to the skin by the rain, the weather did not interrupt the celebratory spirit of the seniors, whose smiles were radiant in the shadows of their umbrellas. As some students scurried off after the ceremony anxious for dry clothes and indoor warmth, others gathered with their classmates so family members could take photographs of the almost- graduates -- photos that may one day remind them of the words from "Bright College Years" they had so merrily sung: "How bright will seem, through mem'ry's haze Those happy, golden by-gone days!"
-- By Susan Gonzalez