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Video Closed Captions

Hip, hip! Rah, rah, rah!

Tiger, tiger, tiger! Siss, siss, siss! Boom, boom, boom! Ah!

Princeton! Princeton! Princeton! (cheers)

[drums]

Mickheila Jasmin:
Can we please start with a round

Mickheila Jasmin:
of applause for the illustrious class of 2010?

[cheers]

Eric Plummer Jr.:
We've been there through football bonfires,

Eric Plummer Jr.:
through Presidential inaugurations, through independent work,

Eric Plummer Jr.:
we've been there for each other every step of the way.

Eric Plummer Jr.:
And the fact of the matter is that the bond that we share as classmates,

Eric Plummer Jr.:
and as friends, is strong and unique.

Diana Hill:
I think what I've learned most here, is that it's

Diana Hill:
important to surround yourself with good people.

Imani Perry:
As you exist in the world, you will be actively

Imani Perry:
creating Princeton, defining what it is to the world, long

Imani Perry:
after you leave, and it will continue to be a part of who

Imani Perry:
you are perceived to be for years into the future.

Imani Perry:
Claim power in that relationship: the power to name and to define it and you.

[drums]

Debra Bazarsky:
Welcome to our ninth annual Lavender graduation ceremony.

Mariam Rahmani:
I just want to thank the community for

Mariam Rahmani:
accepting me and letting me voice my own opinions, rather than

Mariam Rahmani:
holding assumptions about what I believe.

Lianne Sullivan-Crowley:
The premise that you will be better

Lianne Sullivan-Crowley:
at anything that you do if you approach life and others with

Lianne Sullivan-Crowley:
dignity and respect is an unwaivering truth.

[music]

Patricia Fernandez-Kelly:
Let me advise you to allow your identity to fly,

Patricia Fernandez-Kelly:
your notion of who you are expand.

Patricia Fernandez-Kelly:
Let your self-definition embrace unexpected possibilities.

[music, cheers]

[singing]

Karambir Khangoora:
Contemplate and reflect upon knowledge,

Karambir Khangoora:
so you will become a benefactor to others.

Jeff Bezos:
Will you be a cynic?

Jeff Bezos:
Or will you be a builder?

Jeff Bezos:
Will you be clever at the expense of others?

Jeff Bezos:
Or will you be kind?

Jeff Bezos:
I will hazard a prediction.

Jeff Bezos:
When you are 80 years old and in a quiet moment of

Jeff Bezos:
reflection, narrating, for only yourself, the most personal

Jeff Bezos:
version of your life story, the telling that will be most

Jeff Bezos:
compact and meaningful will be the series of choices

Jeff Bezos:
you have made.

Jeff Bezos:
In the end, we are our choices.

Jeff Bezos:
Build yourself a great story.

[singing, bell ringing]

Aditya Panda:
There are a lot of institutions in America that

Aditya Panda:
can teach you how solve an equation or critically read a

Aditya Panda:
piece of literature, but I truly believe that Princeton

Aditya Panda:
shines in its ability to teach us about something much more

Aditya Panda:
important, the value of community and of friendship.

Charles Gibson:
Above all, I want for all of you to matter.

Charles Gibson:
That doesn't mean people have to know who you are.

Charles Gibson:
We live in the world that is obsessed by fame, and I've

Charles Gibson:
had a little bit of that

Charles Gibson:
-- not according to the New York Times -- but I've

Charles Gibson:
had a little bit of it.

Charles Gibson:
And I can tell you that, in the long run, is not what matters.

Charles Gibson:
It's being a force in your community.

Charles Gibson:
It's being a great teacher or coach.

Charles Gibson:
It's ministering to patients or to a congregation.

Charles Gibson:
It's being a great parent.

Charles Gibson:
It's having a positive effect on others, and it's

Charles Gibson:
standing for something.

[music]

William Russel:
Today, we add to the gown that you already wear, a hood

William Russel:
appropriate to your degree and academic discipline.

William Russel:
At Princeton, these disciplines span the fundamental arts and

William Russel:
sciences, as well as their application to fundamental and

William Russel:
contemporary problems in architecture, finance,

William Russel:
engineering and public policy.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
Whether you've been laying the

Shirley M. Tilghman:
groundwork for a life in academia, preparing for a

Shirley M. Tilghman:
career in government, industry or the nonprofit sector, or

Shirley M. Tilghman:
enhancing your professional credentials, you have the

Shirley M. Tilghman:
potential to have a decisive impact on the lives of others.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
One important characteristic of a well-educated mind is the

Shirley M. Tilghman:
ability to explain what you do and why it matters to others.

[bell ringing, music]

Marguerite Colson:
[Translated from Latin] Eo Ipso, Princetonians, as you go forth, see, conquer and imbibe,

Marguerite Colson:
may you be always faithful to the traditions your success is built upon.

Marguerite Colson:
Remember, though, to make them new and to make them you.

[applause]

David Karp:
And, now that we have all successfully run the

David Karp:
great intellectual gauntlet that is the Princeton undergrad

David Karp:
experience, I hope that all of you will continue to seek out

David Karp:
things that challenge you, not just as a lawyer, or a teacher,

David Karp:
or a hockey player, but as a person.

Charles Gibson:
President Tilghman, I have the honor to

Charles Gibson:
present to you for the degree of Doctor of Laws,

Charles Gibson:
honoris causa, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Charles Gibson:
She has dedicated her life to vindicating the Constitution's

Charles Gibson:
promise of equality under law, as a distinguished law

Charles Gibson:
professor, a respected Supreme Court litigator and a trail-

Charles Gibson:
blazing advocate for women's rights.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
It takes real self-confidence to confront the

Shirley M. Tilghman:
other point of view rather than retreat into the safety and the

Shirley M. Tilghman:
comfort of what is familiar.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
To critically explore a different way of thinking, and

Shirley M. Tilghman:
to be open to the possibility that one might actually

Shirley M. Tilghman:
change one's mind.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
Those inclinations define the well-educated individual.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
Now, that's not say that our goal is to graduate a class

Shirley M. Tilghman:
of like-minded thinkers.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
Just the opposite is true, in fact.

Shirley M. Tilghman:
We want you to hold strong and well-considered views on a wide

Shirley M. Tilghman:
variety of issues and to be prepared to articulate those

Shirley M. Tilghman:
views in debate and to defend them to critics.

[singing]