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FEATURES

Kraft Urges Class of 2005: Dream Big, Take Risks, Have Fun

By Alex Sachare ’71

Kraft peppered his talk with anecdotes from his tenure as owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

"Have some fun and dream big."

With those words, keynote speaker Robert Kraft '63 welcomed about 1,000 members of the Class of 2005 into the fraternity of Columbia College alumni on Class Day, May 17. "Fear not," Kraft reassured the graduates massed on a sun-drenched South Field, "a Columbia education will serve you well throughout life."

Kraft, a successful businessman, philanthropist and Columbia trustee emeritus, is best known as the owner of the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last four National Football League championships. Yet, said Kraft, "Outside of my family, the greatest experience of my life was my four years at Columbia."

He urged graduates to follow four steps as they leave campus:

. Identify your core values and write them down,

. Identify what you most enjoy in life and pursue it with a passion,

. Take risks and don't be afraid to fail,

. Positively impact the lives of others

Kraft, Dean Austin Quigley, President Lee C. Bollinger and salutatorian Alexander Prescott-Couch '05 all noted how members of the Class of 2005 arrived on campus and began classes just one week before the tragic events of 9-11. Quigley recalled that there was speculation that many students would leave New York because of their fears or family members' concerns, but that exodus never materialized.

"You learned what it is to be deeply afraid, but you knew you couldn't be in a better place. You found out what courage is, and that it resides deeply in every one of us - including your parents," said Quigley.

"Congratulations on rising to the challenges of a Columbia education, with the best of the past consistently demanding of us, and of you, that we make the best of the present and the best of the future." The dean closed his remarks by urging graduates to "leave the world a little better than you found it."

The Class of 2005 already has begun to make its mark, with a record 77 percent of graduating seniors donating to the Senior Fund to support the education of students who come after them. That triggered a $50,000 participation challenge from the College's Board of Visitors, which had pledged to contribute $25,000 to the Senior Fund if it matched last year's participation rate of 75 percent, and another $25,000 if it reached 76 percent or more. During the Class Day ceremony, leaders of the Senior Fund Gift Committee presented Quigley with a scroll bearing the names of class members who donated.

Leaders of the Senior Fund Gift Committee -- (from left) Jordan Davis ’05, Janine Materna ’05, committee chair Stephanie Katsigiannis ’05, Ling Wu Kong ’05 and Patrick Dunn ’05 -- presented Quigley with a scroll listing those who contributed to the fund and helped achieve a record 77 percent participation.

The next day, under similarly sunny skies, College graduates joined about 10,000 peers from other schools for University Commencement. More than 30,000 people filled Low Plaza as Bollinger observed, "When today's graduating seniors began classes on September 4, 2001, it was a time of peace and prosperity. You were probably just getting used to hearing the term 'globalization,' and maybe beginning to use it yourself. And then, one week later, on September 11, it became an indispensable part of your vocabulary."

Bright sunshine bathed South Field as members of the Class of 2005 marched across the podium, where they were greeted (from left) by President Lee C. Bollinger, Class Day speaker Robert Kraft ’63 and Dean Austin Quigley.

Bollinger urged graduates to avoid the pitfalls of a polarized world and not to "pick a side and become cloistered in one worldview, to the exclusion of all others." That, he said, is not the Columbia way. "Columbia abounds in different perspectives, different theories, different cultures. Over the past several years, you have been encouraged not to take refuge in your opinions. We have urged you to see issues from competing perspectives - to question, to doubt, to resist the allure of certitude.

"Developing this open-mindedness is not easy. It's even tougher outside these gates . But when you do join the fray, remember what you've learned here. Remain open to the complexity of things. Be reflective, even when you're advocating what you believe in."

Among the eight people who received honorary degrees at Commencement was Henry Graff, who served in Columbia's history department for 46 years and whose "Seminar on the Presidency" was one of the College's most popular courses. Others who received honorary degrees were Yale professor emeritus Robert A. Dahl, architect Zaha Hadid, civil rights leader Dorothy Height, former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, Princeton president Shirley M. Tilghman, human memory specialist Endel Tulving and playwright August Wilson.

Writer Jhumpa Lahiri '89 Barnard received the University Medal for Excellence, and Presidential Teaching Awards went to Nicholas J. Dames, associate professor of English and comparative literature; Patrick X. Gallagher, professor of mathematics; Lydia D. Goehr, professor of philosophy; Bruce G. Link, professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences (in psychiatry); and Sanford I. Padwe, associate professor of professional practice, Graduate School of Journalism.

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