Message from the Chancellor

Dear Graduates, Families and Friends,

Today the trustees, faculty, and staff of the University of Massachusetts Amherst salute the great accomplishments of the Class of 2001.

     The 4,000-plus members of this year’s class come from 34 states and 21 countries; range in age from 16 to 57; and earned degrees from 60 departments and interdisciplinary programs, majoring in 85 subject areas. Some 800 students studied in other countries; 8 percent of the class will graduate from the Honors Program, and 30 percent of those who entered four years ago participated in learning communities as first-year students.

     There is much to celebrate in the last four years: Commonwealth College, the state’s public honors college, was established on campus; the new Computer Science building opened; the Center for Teaching received national recognition; a new award-winning logo was developed leading to a stronger image for the University; Campaign UMass concluded one year early, raising more than $130 million dollars; 98 percent of the buildings on campus were wired for a total of nearly 22,000 Internet connections; in 1998 the football team won the Division I-AA National Championship and the Minuteman Marching Band—“The Power and Class of New England”—won the Sudler Trophy, the most prestigious national marching band award. In addition, the University was ranked among the top ten public universities nationally in the value of your education for the cost.

     Of the personal transformative power of education and the vital role of education in preserving our democracy, President John F. Kennedy wrote, “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”

     For today’s graduates, UMass was where your hopes and dreams were shaped, nurtured, and catalyzed into action. Today all of us celebrate your contributions to the University, this region, the Commonwealth, and the nation. Remember as you go forth that while your UMass family extends around the globe, you are always welcome back home.

     We also thank those who have supported the Class of 2001 in so many ways—the parents and families, the teachers, the support staff, the Legislature, and many others. Without them, this day might not have been possible. Certainly, it would have been harder.

     In a way this is also a Commencement for me, since I am leaving the University with you. It has been a privilege to serve you and this University as Chancellor over the past eight years. On this occasion the words of a popular song come to mind:

We are the boat; we are the sea.
I sail in you; you sail in me.

     Best wishes on all your future voyages and come home to this UMass port often.

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