As the members of Hope College亚洲色吧檚 graduating Class of 2019 prepared to cross the stage during Commencement on Sunday, May 5, featured speaker Dr. Kristen Gray reflected on ways that their lessons had prepared them to travel from the campus community to living in the larger neighborhood of the global village.
亚洲色吧淲hether you experienced the arts, natural and applied sciences, social sciences and the humanities as part of your major, or for your core education, the culmination of a liberal arts education at Hope is intended to inspire and prepare you for lives of leadership and service in our global society,亚洲色吧� said Gray, who is the associate dean for health and counseling and directs the Counseling and Psychological Services office at the college. 亚洲色吧淚n other words, we have been educating you to be neighbors.亚洲色吧�
Read the 2019 Commencement address View the 2019 Commencement photo gallery
A total of 713 graduating seniors participated in the ceremony, held at 3 p.m. at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium. The class consisted of students from across the United States and around the world.
Also during the event, the graduating class named Dr. Chuck Green, professor of psychology, as recipient of the 55th 亚洲色吧淗ope Outstanding Professor Educator亚洲色吧� (H.O.P.E.) Award. The award is normally a surprise until its announcement. However, because Green was unable to attend the event due to a family wedding, he was informed earlier in the week and expressed thanks via a prerecorded video message played on the large screen at the stadium.
Through her address, titled 亚洲色吧淣eighbors,亚洲色吧� Gray explored in turn how each of the four academic divisions provided crucial and distinct insight regarding how to live well with others.
亚洲色吧淪tudying the arts makes you a more empathetic neighbor,亚洲色吧� she said 亚洲色吧� a neighbor who can 亚洲色吧渟ing, strum, soar, syncopate, percuss, tap, pirouette, sweat, hip-hop, paint, sketch, sculpt, carve, film, photograph, see 亚洲色吧� really see, visualize, imagine, embody, transform, design, build, express, write, revise, rise up, fall down, rise up, see the world, push past your fear, reach out to tell the stories that need to be told.亚洲色吧�
亚洲色吧淭he natural and applied sciences, in their exploration of the physical world, educate neighbors who are scientifically literate,亚洲色吧� she said. 亚洲色吧淭he sciences allow you to be a more critical consumer of science reports, to understand the impact of single-use plastics and live more environmentally sustainable lives, to give thanks to the people who spent untold hours in a lab to develop the life-saving medication your loved one needs, to be a neighbor who understands.亚洲色吧�
亚洲色吧淭he social sciences, by examining behavior across time, by individuals and groups and institutions, allow for insight into the world. By gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for all the variety as well as commonalities of human lives, we might just be able to live together in more peaceful and harmonious ways,亚洲色吧� Gray said. 亚洲色吧淎 person who has studied in the social sciences can recognize that opinion-based editorials are not investigative journalism, correlation is not always causation, translation differs from interpretation, and research is not the same as Google.亚洲色吧�
亚洲色吧淭he humanities, with the word human tucked right in there, give us ways to grasp and grapple with what it means to be human,亚洲色吧� she said. 亚洲色吧淗umanities allow you to think philosophically about religion, and religiously about philosophy; reflect historically about politics, while questioning the politics of our history; challenge English translations for colonialist leanings; and debate the dreaded Oxford comma. Rather than memorizing 亚洲色吧榗orrect亚洲色吧� answers, the humanities nurture neighbors who ask life-changing questions.亚洲色吧�
The students亚洲色吧� academic work, Gray said, was complemented by meaningful lessons learned during their time outside the classroom, whether through worship, the residence hall, campus activities, campus activism, service, athletics, relationships, engagement with the Holland community, or off-campus study both in the U.S. and abroad.
亚洲色吧淚f you were curious and interested you could make friends with people with different backgrounds and different experiences and world views and religious beliefs and political thoughts,亚洲色吧� she said.
亚洲色吧淵ou met people in their neighborhoods. You learned that your neighborhood is so much greater than any backyard; your neighborhood is the world.亚洲色吧�
The students, she noted, also served as examples themselves. 亚洲色吧淛ust as the liberal arts and Hope have offered you lessons on becoming good neighbors, you have had lessons of your own to teach Hope about what it means to be responsible to and for your neighbors,亚洲色吧� she said.
The Commencement ceremony was preceded by the college亚洲色吧檚 Baccalaureate services, which were held in Dimnent Memorial Chapel and featured the address 亚洲色吧淭he Running Father亚洲色吧� by Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger, who is the Leonard and Marjorie Maas Professor of Theology.
Bouma-Prediger based his text on Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son who demands his inheritance early, squanders it and finds his father overjoyed when he returns home. To emphasize the significance of the father亚洲色吧檚 response, and what it would have conveyed to a biblical audience about the depth of God亚洲色吧檚 love, Bouma-Prediger provided additional cultural context by reimagining the scriptural passage as a first-person narration by one of the father亚洲色吧檚 workers.
When the younger son 亚洲色吧� who Bouma-Prediger dubbed 亚洲色吧淛acob亚洲色吧� 亚洲色吧� returned, the narrator explained, 亚洲色吧淭here was our master, Jacob亚洲色吧檚 father, running 亚洲色吧� in fact, racing 亚洲色吧� toward Jacob as fast as his aged legs could carry him. Now in our town, no man of his age runs anywhere. It is undignified. And among my people, the head of the household goes out to no one. People come to him.亚洲色吧�
Similarly, when the older son, 亚洲色吧淟evi,亚洲色吧� complained about the extravagant celebration that followed, and forced the father to come outside to discuss it, the narrator noted, 亚洲色吧淔or this flagrant public rebellion a son would normally be promptly punished.亚洲色吧� Instead, he continued, 亚洲色吧淭his father now further humbled himself by publicly pleading with his petulant son. This father, already enduring the shame of a public dispute, entreated his older son to be reconciled.亚洲色吧�
亚洲色吧淚 will never forget the compassionate father and his two lost sons. I will never forget the depth of this father亚洲色吧檚 love nor the breadth of his mercy,亚洲色吧� the narrator said. 亚洲色吧淎s long as I live, I will never forget the running father.亚洲色吧�
God亚洲色吧檚 boundless love, Bouma-Prediger said, is also always with the graduates.
亚洲色吧淣ever forget that when you are lost, God loves you more than you can ever fathom and longs to embrace you with that love.亚洲色吧�
Read the 2019 Baccalaureate sermon