African drumming heralded members of the class of 2011 as they filed into the First Baptist Church of America to mark the beginning of Brown's 243rd Commencement Weekend Saturday. Students welcomed the beating drums at the Baccalaureate service as they welcomed their final moments of college — some danced wildly, some smiled uncomfortably and some locked their gazes forward, imagining the events to come.
The weekend culminated with the conferral of 2,334 degrees, including 1,554 bachelor's degrees and 10 honorary degrees.
In his Baccalaureate address, honorary degree recipient Kenneth Roth '77 P'12 emphasized the importance of personal morality in a world with no rules. "A society's moral standing is no more than the sum of the moral choices of its members," he said.
Roth spoke of his work as executive director of Human Rights Watch, an organization that calls on the public conscience as a tool for change. "Injustice for others contains the seeds of injustice for all," he said.
The morning's sun began to fade by the early afternoon, and members of the graduating class emerged sweat-soaked from the church as their family and friends enjoyed a cool breeze in front of the simulcast projectors on the Main Green.
But the clouds cleared for Sunday's Commencement ceremonies. The processional, which included alums and graduating members of the University's graduate and medical schools, marched down College Hill to the lawn of the First Baptist Church in full regalia and pomp.
Echoing Roth's advice, President Ruth Simmons urged the importance of empathy. "I know it can be painful, it can bring us down from time, it can be embarrassing," she said. "But there's nothing wrong with crying, especially if you're crying for another."
Senior orator VyVy Trinh '11 delivered her address on the Main Green about the evolutionarily preserved altruism of certain squirrels. The squirrels, who cry out warning calls to alert kin of predators, sacrifice their own safety for the good of the group. "We must listen to our altruistic impulses if we wish to endure and to strive," she said.
Senior orator Jacob Combs '11 spoke of his friend Virginia "Ginny" Woolf, who he said taught him the craft of reading just this year. "Now, we write the next book in our series," he said.
Katie King Crowley '97, Arianna Huffington, Nicholas Kristof, David Mumford, Jack Nicholson P'12.5, Lynn Ida Nottage '86, Lisa Randall, David Scott, Zhenkai Zhao and Roth accepted honorary degrees.
