Remarks delivered at Lewis & Clark's 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony

Excerpts from remarks delivered by Julio de Paula at the 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony of Lewis & Clark's College of Arts & Sciences
Lewis & Clark College
May 10, 2009

... from de Paula's welcome

I am Julio de Paula, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to the 137th Annual Commencement Ceremony of Lewis & Clark’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Now let me take a few moments to talk to you, members of the Class of 2009.

Through this Commencement season, I have spoken to Trustees, students, parents, members of the faculty and staff at several venues, and many of you have been at most of them. I have seized the opportunity to explore a theme with you over some of the addresses I have delivered. I wish to speak to you again about the value of a liberal arts education.

We need look only at our own alumni to see how a liberal arts education – and especially a Lewis & Clark education – creates informed citizens and civic leaders.

Consider Mary Keir, a member of the Lewis & Clark class of 1995. Mary graduated with honors in Biochemistry. But, being a science student in a liberal arts college, she also studied subjects across our curriculum, along the way developing the ability to think critically about every dimension of a problem before articulating a solution. Mary also learned science by doing science, completing an ambitious research project over two summers and an academic year.

After leaving Lewis & Clark College, Mary received a doctorate in biomedical science at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the nation's premier research institutions. While working on HIV, Mary developed an interest in immunology that sustains her work to this day. Her career trajectory first led her to Harvard Medical School and then Genentech, a company that pioneered biotechnology in the United States. Now Mary is a respected research scientist who designs new therapies for such diseases as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. She states that “there is nothing better than a liberal arts degree to prepare a student for communicating about complex ideas with people of varied backgrounds.”

Mary's story reinforces what studies have already shown: liberal arts colleges are among the most efficient generators of top-quality scientists in our country. The reason is, in my opinion, obvious: at institutions like Lewis & Clark science is not presented in isolation, but rather in context. Context that only a liberal arts approach to education can provide.

Of course you will write your own story, chart your own course. But know that the education you received at Lewis & Clark will guide you because you are and always will be seekers of knowledge.

... from de Paula's charge to the Class of 2009

I end with another story. Erin McNamara Egan arrived from Hawai’i and graduated from Lewis & Clark in 1998 as an international affairs major. She took advantage of all the opportunities we offer for learning in and out of the classroom, making broad meaning of every course she took. While an undergraduate, she went to a United Nations Women’s Conference in Beijing. She went to Poland on one of our overseas programs, led by Professor Emeritus Klaus Englehardt. After the program ended, she remained to conduct research with an economist. The work eventually led to a senior thesis on Poland’s transitional economy.

After graduation, she spent two years in Germany and two years in France, working and learning new languages. She is convinced that her broad international experience increased her value to her employers back home in the United States. From her work in the aeronautical field, she went to the Fletcher School at Tufts University, from which she received a Masters degree in Law and Diplomacy. Then she went to Harvard University Business School, where she graduated a year ago with an MBA degree. She is now an executive at the Microsoft Corporation. I hope that the stories I have shared with you will give you a sense of what you are prepared to do. You are graduating at a time when the global economy is in crisis and unemployment is high. But graduates like you who are trained in the tradition of the liberal arts understand the socio-economic, political, and technological contexts of the problems we all face. You are more likely to find solutions that affirm human rights, protect the environment, raise — and then stabilize — standards of living across the globe. To capitalize on this opportunity you must waste no time – as Mary Keir and Erin Egan wasted no time – to think of ways in which to make a positive impact on the communities you will join.

In conclusion, my charge to you is: No matter what personal and professional choices you make, do put to good and constant use the intellectual tools you honed at Lewis & Clark. Making and helping others make informed decisions about the future of our country will be a tribute to your professors, your family, and—very importantly—to your hard work at Lewis & Clark over the last few years. In this task I wish you clarity of thought, patience, perseverance, and, above all, peace.

Graduates, you will now join your family and friends in celebration of your significant achievements. CONGRATULATIONS.