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Campus News:
2002 Commencement
Antioch Welcomes a New
Dean of Students, Patricia Whitlow
Antioch Up for Accreditation
The Connection Between
Alumni and Admissions
The Antioch Area Theater
Around Campus
Antioch
Welcomes New Community Members!
The
Antiochian is published by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
Articles submitted for publication should be addressed to the Antiochian
Editor, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387-1697. Or send via email: alumni@antioch-college.edu Editor:
Rachel Moulton '97
Contributing
Writers:
Laurien Alexandre
Derek Ali
Patricia Corrigan
Masha J. Etkin '63
Lauren Heaton
Dan Kaplan '76
Fred Kraus
Mary Laskowski '02
Meredith Moss
Rachel Moulton '97
Robyn Overstreet '96
Anne Townsend '03
Photography:
Dennie Eagleson '71
Lauren Heaton
©2002
Antioch College
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2002 Commencement
By Rachel
Moulton '97
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| Commencement speaker Bobby Seale calls for action. |
"Education," said Bobby Seale, "never stops." Seale,
who founded the Black Panther Party, was the 2002 commencement speaker
for Antioch
College. He delivered his address with a sense of humor and honesty.
Seale gained recognition as a defendant in the 1969
Chicago Eight Conspiracy Trial and wrote the book Seize the Time while
in jail. He offered students his
personal experiences and heroes -- Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson
Mandela -- as a way of lending perspective. He emphasized the notion that
humanity needs graduates' ideas, realizations, and realities to match the
realities of the world around them and that "grassroots organizing evolves
from higher education." Seale ended his speech with a challenge for the
graduates: "We have to arrive! Humanity has to arrive."
Thundershowers threatened the morning of Saturday, April
27, 2002, seemingly
intent on thoroughly dousing Antioch's 150th class of graduates. But the
Sesquicentennial class lucked out as the rain held off, and the air remained
heavy with the scent of magnolias in front of Main Building. As the procession
began, attention shifted from the gray skies and focused on the excitement of
the day.
Ceremonies began with welcoming remarks from President
Joan Straumanis '57.
This was Dr. Straumanis's first graduation as President, and with a semester
behind her, it was clear that she was proud to be present. "I will always
feel like I'm a part of this graduating class," she said. Chairman
of the Board of Trustees, Robert Krinsky '57, expressed an equally deep
love of Antioch and was the first, although not the last, to paraphrase Horace
Mann's famous quote, "Be ashamed to die until you've won some
victory for humanity."
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| Former President Robert H. Devine '67 speaks by
invitation to the class
of 2002. |
Commencement speaker Bobby Seale's words of inspiration were followed by
two longtime Antioch community members retiring from the College -- Hazel
Latson, Associate Professor of Education, and Stephen Schwerner '60, College
Professor and former Dean of Students. Both Latson and Schwerner offered a historical
perspective. Latson focused on transition, inclusion, and perception and encouraged
students to build coalitions. Since retiring, Latson has returned to fill the
position of Director of Multi-cultural Affairs. Schwerner left graduates with
a view of Antioch that would sustain them: "Do not only think of the things
that are wrong and need to be fixed, but the things that are right...We should
cherish those things and take them with us." In addition to these two faculty
members, former President and current College Professor Robert Devine '67
spoke at the special request of the graduates. Like President Straumanis, Devine's
relationship with this graduating class was strong: "I've learned
more from you than you have from most of us here."
Student speakers included Nicolas Shawn Ruley, Margaret
Ann Shepard, Abigail Elizabeth Heinz, April Magnolia Dyer, Andrea J.
Summers, Vanessa Ann McDonnell,
Melissa Kristen Petro, Timothy Andrew Dixon Noble, and Shannon McCarville. From
Abigail Heinz with a guitar to April Dyer with a celebratory dance, each student
expressed a strong sense of self and a gratitude to those who helped them make
it. Melissa Petro explained that Antioch challenged her to think of herself in
different ways, "I have spent the last four years at Antioch being uncomfortable
and afraid, for this I am grateful."
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| Graduating Senior April Magnolia Dyer dances
to celebrate the day. |
Antioch commencement draws friends and family as well
as local spectators who listen and watch the students cross the mound
in everything from suits to prom
dresses to feather boas to butterfly wings. It's the casual nature of these
ceremonies that draws spectators, but no matter where you choose to sit during
the ceremony, it's safe to assume that you're looking at people who
have seen Brazil, Japan, and Kenya, who have worked in or traveled through a
healthy portion of the 50 states and have gained a great deal from listening
and acting as a group.
While there are many things that contribute to the excitement
of the morning,
it's ultimately the sense of pride, power, and future discovery that makes
graduating seniors like Andrea Summers call out to her peers: "I challenge
you to do amazing things."
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| President Straumanis is presented with a plaque
from the English River First
Nation in honor of Wahji Sander's '02 graduation. |
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| Professor Chris Hill and Vanessa McDonnell after
the ceremony. |
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| Abigal Elizabeth Heinz sings, accompanied by
Professor Jim Keen. |
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| Shannon McCarville, Community Manager, thanks
the faculty. |
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| Graduating senior Stephanie Perron accepts her
degree. |
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