Stepping into the future.

How early rises the sun, at the time of the summer solstice! And how warmly it shines when there's no June Gloom.

The several thousand folding chairs had been set up on Thursday the 14th, in rows precisely measured and marked by members of LSU Physical Plant and Custodial departments. VIP seats were marked, and more than 3000 commencement program books were set out, ready for the families and friends of the graduates. Under every chair was a bottle of spring water, and water dispensers were set on tables at the rear of the area. Security officers directed parking, and ushers patrolled the area and assisted people in settling in. Flowers and balloons were available in the bookstore, and there was a festive air.

Graduates gathered on the upper mall, donning their regalia and shooting pictures of each other in groups of three and four. Several women had garlands of roses pinned to their mortarboards, or smiley faces stuck to the tops of their hats. Many students were covered in leis of flowers or tinsel, and some of the School of Business and Management grads were wearing leis of twisted dollars.

Professors and administrators gathered on the patio between La Sierra Hall and HMA, and chatted quietly in the shade before the music started.
At 8:00 a.m., Kimo Smith, associate professor of music, fired up the organ, and played "Crown Imperial," by William Walton, as the processional began. First came members of the President's party (platform participants, honorees and guests), then candidates for degrees, trustees and faculty.

President Geraty welcomed graduates and the audience to La Sierra's 79th annual conferring of degrees ceremony. In his opening remarks, he recognized all the fathers (including his own, Dr. Thomas Geraty) present that morning, Father's Day. He also thanked the Trustees, who serve the University faithfully.
Dr. Geraty also reported on the successes and changes of the 2000-2001 school year, including the strengthening of the academic programs, the Honors program, the increased enrollment, the recent installations on the Path of the Just, and the development of the farm land east of Pierce Street.

Next, Dr. Geraty called attention to graduates who have contributed heavily to the campus life and brought prestige to La Sierra through their excellence. As he mentioned names and accomplishments, and the graduates stood for recognition, cheers or applause came in delighted smatterings across the audience.

"There are so many graduates who I would love to mention by name," he said, "but time does not allow it. The ones I have called on are representative of all the others, and through them all of you are noted in this wonderful Class of 2001. I wish you all could have attended First Service where so many decisions for Christ were made public. I wish you could have been at the worship services, the recitals, the art shows, the plays, the talent shows, the research day, the athletic events, heard the honors and research presentations, witnessed the awards assemblies, and visited the sites all around the city and the globe where these graduates have been involved in volunteer activities and where they have made such a tremendous difference."

The President presented citations to a graduate, professor, trustee, and two members of the community who contribute greatly to the life of the University and community. (See Special People Honored at LSU Commencement.)

Chris Lindstat exults in his bachelor's degree.

Dr. Geraty also recognized a couple who have served La Sierra for a combination of 81 years, Earl and Gwen Gillespie. Both LSU alumni, they were given a round of applause and flower leis. (See accompanying story.)
In introducing the commencement speaker, Jedediah Purdy, JD, graduate of both Harvard and Yale Universities, Dr. Geraty said, "Jed, welcome to Southern California. As a member of the Class of 2001 at Yale Law, I hope you recognize the Class of 2001 at La Sierra! For the next few minutes, you are the only thing that stands between them and their degrees. Make the most of it!"

As you can imagine, there was a great deal of laughter as Purdy came to the podium.

His commencement speech urged graduates to make a difference in the world by becoming involved in public life.

" We live in a time that values public life very highly, suspects that public life is dishonorable and unnecessary. I am going to ask you to consider the idea that we need public life, as well," Purdy said.

He continued, "There are reasons for our disaffection from politics that run deeper than the events of the last decade. One is the idea that "politics" means the work that professional politicians do: running for office, fighting over legislation in Congress, trying to advance the interests of your party. This is a narrow idea of politics. Professional politics attracts the worst ambition, even if it also sometimes attracts the best. Maybe more important, it doesn't make much room for the rest of us, except as spectators or employees. It's sometimes hard to get inspired by a politics that is just the ritualized warfare of powerful men, and now a few powerful women.

"There is a better way of thinking about politics. It's a way that makes a space for all of us, and doesn't imagine that changing the world is the only goal of political work.

"St. Augustine defined a political community as one whose members loved something in common. This didn't have to be a high-minded devotion: a band of robbers all loved loot, and a community could also be bound together by sensuality, by an appetite for conquest, or by any other of the bad as well as the good things that people love. But if we take this definition of politics--St. Augustine's definition--it helps us to understand something about our own political practice.

"Politics is one way that we decide which of the things that we have in common we will publicly acknowledge, which ones will define us, which ones we will stand up and say that we love. And politics is also how we take care of those things. It is political work to preserve something good. It is political work to prevent the destruction of something we care for.
"The question is not whether we are public or private people, but whether or not we live in a way that respects and adds to our cultural inheritance, our social inheritance, and our ecological inheritance. Politics is one way to address ourselves to this question."

Purdy congratulated the graduates, and then it was (nearly) time for the conferring of degrees. First, the pre-professional students were recognized. The majority are in programs such as nursing, dental hygiene, or allied health professions, who will be completing their programs at other institutions.

The deans of the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and Management, School of Religion, and School of Education, read the names of their respective graduates for bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The diplomas were awarded by the President, Provost and VP for Academic Administration, the Registrar, and and the deans. Although most graduates accepted their moment in the sun with aplomb and dignity, some couldn't resist showing their elation by waving or grinning broadly.
The brand-new alumni of La Sierra University were welcomed by Beverly Freese Russell, president of the LSU Alumni Association, and M. Leon Seard, President of the Black Alumni Association of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities.

After a benediction, the celebratory grads moved down the grassy aisle, surrounded by flash cameras, laden with bouquets and balloons, and stepped into their futures.

For a gallery of Commencement photos, click here.

Story & Photos by Christy K. Robinson