Remarks and Speeches
» back to Remarks and Speeches
Alpha Lambda Delta Induction Ceremony
-
March 29, 2009
Good afternoon students, families and friends. On behalf of the campus, its faculty, staff, and students, I’d like to extend my welcome to all of you. I’m delighted that so many of you could manage to come here today through the inclement weather for this happy occasion.
As Chancellor of this outstanding institution of higher education I am expected to preside at a variety of ceremonies and events, and over the past eight months since I took office I have spoken at my fair share of functions. Today, however, is a very special day for me. And let me explain why.
The Chancellor of a campus has many and varied responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities, as you might imagine, are less pleasant than others. I have to deal with budget issues, which are especially difficult in these times of dwindling state revenues and huge deficits; I have to deal with complaints and requests from various constituencies, some of them bitter and insistent, others supercilious and slightly obnoxious; and on a daily basis I am confronted with other bureaucratic matters connected with running a large, complex university. I sometimes have the opportunity to meet with students, but often the issues that come to my attention with regard to undergraduates relate to those few members of the undergraduate student body who have distinguished themselves in an unconstructive and deleterious fashion.
So it is a particular delight for me to be speaking at this ceremony to students who have attained the very highest standards at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. You should be proud of your accomplishments at our flagship institution; you are the types of individuals that make ours such a great campus, and that make the faculty and staff so happy to be a part of the campus community. I also have the very special privilege of speaking to the parents of many of those students. Being a parent myself, I can imagine that you feel even more proud than your sons and daughters.
And you have good reason to be proud. Today we celebrate the induction of a select group of students into Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honor society for first-year college students. The qualification for this honor society ¬. As first-year students you are all relatively new to the University, yet already, each of you has a proven track record defined by discipline, focus, and well-applied aptitude. As a result of your exceptional effort, you sit here today with the stellar academic accomplishment of already achieving a grade point average of 3.7 or higher.
This achievement is all the more remarkable because you are a member of an exceptional class at UMass Amherst. You may not have been aware that last year we received a record number of applications for admission; over 30,000 young people wanted to come to Amherst to pursue their studies, and we offered admission to the lowest percentage of applicants in our history. Some of the parents or grandparents, aunts and uncles in the audience may recall the times when all you needed to gain admission to UMass Amherst was a high school diploma and a pulse. I’ve heard that one or both of those requirements could be waived by petition. But those times are long past.
As a result of the record number of applications, we had a first-year class that broke the previous high-water marks for both SAT scores and high school grade point average. We also welcomed to campus the most diverse class we have ever had. Let me add that last year was also a pace-setting year in a number of other areas. We awarded a record number of baccalaureate degrees and masters degrees in 2008, and we had the highest percentage of students retained from the first to the second year, and the highest six-year graduation rate in the institution’s history. Indeed, I am proud to tell you that UMass Amherst is the only public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that receives the designation “very high research activity” from the prestigious Carnegie Foundation, and that if we consider the rankings of academic departments as the most salient indicator of excellence, we are the best public university in all of New England.
While your record of accomplishment is in itself reason for celebration and pride, your efforts are all the more remarkable given your position as a first-year student on a campus that is quite obviously one of the best of its kind in New England and the nation. You have achieved this academic excellence within mere months of arriving in Amherst, while simultaneously dealing with the transition to campus life. Just this past September, you moved away from home, joined a vibrant and diverse university community, and began the rigors of college-level course work. Yet, even with all these transitional adjustments, you achieved an impressive academic record.
I think it’s fair to say that most college students across the country would have been happy to keep pace with their assignments, complete their coursework with passing grades, and figure out how to do their own laundry. (I’m assuming, of course, that all of you took enough time away from your studies to figure out where the washing machines and driers are in the residence halls.)
From my perspective a 3.7 average during your first term in college is quite an accomplishment. I stand in awe of this achievement, since in my time as an undergraduate some 40 years ago I never managed to attain that standard. I did have a semester or two when I got just over a 3.5 – I was a pretty good student – but I never managed a 3.7, and I don’t think I knew anyone who did either.
Now I’m a bit jealous of those of you who received such a high GPA, since if I had managed to get a 3.7, it would have done me some good with my parents, especially with my father. In high school I studied very hard, and at the end of my senior year, when the numerical averages were calculated, I found that I was second in my class, a pretty fair achievement for a large high school with many students headed for college. When I informed my father of my standing, his response was predictable: “why weren’t you number one?” Things didn’t get any easier in college. When I returned after my first term with two A’s and three B’s (in those days I don’t think my university had thought of the pluses and minuses that are so normal on college transcripts today), when I achieved a 3.4 GPA, my father’s response was: “what happened in the three courses in which you got B’s?”
So you can see why I envy the inductees to the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society so much. You have been able to bring home a transcript to your parents, and they can’t really say anything to you except: a job well done! Although if I had received a 3.7 or better in any of my semesters, my father would have probably said only: “Well, I guess you’re doing alright so far.” He was a tough man to please sometimes.
But as Chancellor of the campus, maybe that’s the way I should put it as well: You’re doing all right so far. For you have accomplished a great deal in your first term, and even though you’ve almost completed a second term of study, by the end of this semester you will have finished only one-fourth of your undergraduate college career. You have shown yourselves to be excellent students, worthy of the distinction for which you are being recognized today. But all of you are obviously bright enough to recognize that there is much more for you to accomplish at UMass Amherst.
I am confident that notable accomplishments of many sorts will follow from your current success. Each one of you is clearly exceptional, and with your auspicious beginning, not only are you defined by a remarkable achievement, but you are now poised for an exceptionally promising future.
My optimism is well supported: statistically, students elected into Alpha Lambda Delta tend to take active leadership roles at the University. Over the next three years, I urge you to find ways to contribute to the campus through your participation in Alpha Lambda Delta. This elite national honor society is defined by its emphasis on not only scholarship, but also leadership and service. As you have demonstrated, you have a firm grasp of scholarly and academic achievement, and I know you will continue to excel intellectually in the coming years.
In addition to your scholarly pursuits, however, I also urge all of you to take an active role in seeking out opportunities for leadership at UMass Amherst. We have an active undergraduate Student Government Association, and hundreds of Registered Student Organizations. These groups would be well served by your participation and willingness to lead. Take advantage of what the campus has to offer. We need to have the best and brightest minds of your generation engaged with our student government and with the many activities undertaken in student organizations.
We also have numerous venues for service learning and volunteerism at the University. It is important that you use your gifts of intellect and leadership to serve the campus and the community. Just follow the lead of other excellent students from UMass. Last week, for example, many of our students returned from “Alternative Spring Break.” Rather than head to the beaches of Florida or some other resort, these student chose to travel to underserved communities both in the United States and abroad, where they donated their time and labor to construct much needed buildings and rebuild homes devastated by natural disaster.
We have outstanding opportunities for you to work directly with prospective students and current students. Each year, our student tour guides showcase this great University to thousands of high school students and their families. Our New Students Orientation depends on the positive energy of current students to welcome a new class to campus each summer and prepare them for the transition to University life. And, once these students arrive in the fall to begin the academic year, our undergraduate Resident Assistants provide peer support and guidance. I urge you to help us make UMass Amherst even better by assisting us in attracting and retaining the best students in the state, the nation, and the world.
As you go through the University of Massachusetts Amherst you will be presented with these opportunities and many others, and I encourage you to fully embrace the pledge you take upon induction to Alpha Lambda Delta. You will have many challenges ahead, but I am confident you will meet them and overcome any obstacles you may encounter. To this point you have obviously made the most of your education, and I wish to congratulate you once again for your outstanding accomplishments. Acting in my father’s stead and as the Chancellor of this venerable campus, I can tell you unequivocally, “You’re doing all right so far.” Keep up the great work and don’t miss out on multitude of exciting educational and extracurricular opportunities at one of the foremost institutions of higher education in the country. I wish all of you the best on your examinations in your second semester, and in your coursework and activities throughout your four years of college.
We are fortunate to have each one of you at UMass Amherst, and I know I speak on behalf of our entire campus community in extending my heartfelt congratulations to you and your families. And thank you, most of all, for making this day special for everyone.
We don’t have a Latin motto for our campus, but if we did, it should be that famous quote from Horace: sapere aude, “dare to know” or “dare to be wise.” Go UMass!
