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Summer 2003

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During the recent war in Iraq, the minds of many Villanovans were filled with thoughts of soldiers and civilians in that far-away country. However, it can be stated that at least one person in Iraq was thinking hard – and somewhat nervously – about Villanova: the scheduled commencement speaker.

Brian Williams, NBC News anchor and managing editor of “The News with Brian Williams” on CNBC, was trapped on the Iraqi desert floor for three days in April, his helicopter forced down by a rocket. As he sat in hostile territory, he wondered when the Villanova commencement exercises were scheduled to take place and whether he would be able to fulfill his commitment to address the graduates.

Well, he made it to Villanova Stadium on Sunday, May 18, for the ceremony and so did a rain storm, for the first time in many years. However, the deluge had the courtesy to wait until Williams was completing his brief but compelling remarks.

“There are members of your great generation who, as we speak, are dug down in the desert . . . . They are taking fire still, they are living in deplorable conditions still, [in] the toughest conditions imaginable, and I would like to think that they are doing the hardest work of your generation, but I fear that there is going to be hard work to come. You are going to be called upon.”

Williams also reminded the more than 1,600 bachelor’s candidates, their families, friends, professors and the University administration about free speech. “You may hear some higher educated people, who are old enough to know better, making a mistake. They are mistaking questions about this nation’s policy for a lack of patriotism. You’ll forgive them; try not to be like them when you grow up. They just forgot. They forgot that those who came before them questioned the policies and directions [in which] we were headed. There have been some honorable protestors in the nation’s history; you may know some of their names from your studies: Adams, Madison, Jefferson.”

On a lighter note, Williams reminded his audience that he was from New Jersey and, not surprisingly, he received a loud cheer. He also poked fun at the once infamous but now fairly tame “Villanova Crawl” and some administrators were seen to flinch slightly.

Finally, turning serious, he told the graduates that they would soon have something in their hands which himself did not possess: a bachelor’s degree “There are now no excuses for any of you in this age of precision guided munitions and smart bombs. You are the most potent weapon on earth. You have an American college diploma.”

Speaking for his fellow graduates, Christian Ramirez-Coll reflected the ways the Class of 2003 grew and changed over the past four years, and how the world around them changed, too. He specifically referred to the growing cultural diversity of the University.

“Our academic achievements might be a testament to our commitment to excel but our submersion in Villanova’s culture is a sign of our love,” he said. “If we just cruised through Villanova unchanged by the different lifestyles, cultures an people we have encountered, these words have no meaning. Yet Villanova’s mission to enrich us as human beings has passed through us; we have pressed our ears close to the hearts of others and we have listened to their lives and words.”

Referring to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Ramirez-Coll continued: “As we rose from the ashes standing tall, united we faced the challenge of a pilgrimage from our parochial pastures to a world community committed to all our brothers and sisters from other nations. It began here.”

Honorary degrees recognize achievements in four different callings

Williams, who was awarded a degree of doctor of laws, was one of four honorary degree recipients. The Most Rev. Daniel T. Turley, O.S.A., bishop of Chulucanas, Peru, received the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters for spending his priestly ministry among the poor people of that country.

Herbert G. Rammroth ’57 A&S, received the honorary degree of doctor of laws in recognition of his distinguished business career, his loyalty as an alumnus, and his generosity to the University. He recently made a commitment to the establishment of an endowed faculty chair and scholarship fund in the College of Commerce and Finance.

Special Olympian Loretta Clairborne, who began her life developmentally challenged, was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters. She has become a powerful voice urging others with disabilities to succeed and has been a participant in Special Olympics for more than 30 years. (Villanova University annually sponsors the largest Special Olympiad in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.)

Kudos

Among the honors awarded to this year’s graduates, 39 were summa cum laude, 116 magna cum laude, and 244 cum laude. The University also awarded master’s degrees to more than 700 candidates in the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Science, Nursing, Engineering, and Commerce and Finance. Since the last commencement in 2002, six candidates earned their doctorates: James R. Scull in chemistry; Sarah Donovan, Jamey Findling, Shannon Mussett, Dana Belue, and Timothy Kirk in philosophy.