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Mon., May 31, 1999 Heat doesn't wilt grads' enthusiasm By MARTY BODWICZ Middletown Press Staff MIDDLETOWN -- Under a blazing sun, this year's Noble Prize-winning economist told the 167th graduating class at Wesleyan University Sunday that "the real world does need the theories" of academicians. "There can be little doubt a college education can transform life," said Amartya Sen, who is the master, or president, of Trinity College in Cambridge, England and a part-time professor at Harvard University. Sen's son, Kabir, was one of 724 undergraduates and 127 graduate students who received degrees. While friends and family of the graduates sought the shade of a large tent and trees on the university's quad, students adorned in Cardinal red caps and gowns sat in bright sunshine on the hottest day of the year. The only sign of controversy at the graduation ceremonies became evident when a handful of students calling themselves, Students For Administrative Accountability, handed out a one-page statement with seven demands, including the hiring of more minority faculty and an end to the university review of a class on pornography. As part of the student's demands to stop the university review of the porn class, half of the school's students have signed a protest statement and some graduates handed university President Doug Bennet hand-written comments instead of contributions to the Senior Class Gift when they received their degree. The students say only 36 percent of them have contributed to the Senior Class Gift compared to 83 percent last year. The students also want the university to establish an ethnic and homosexual studies curriculum. Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences earlier this year for his work that showed famine is not necessarily the result of natural catastrophes. Instead, political and economic problems are the cause of famine. He noted there has not been one famine in a Democratic country, only ones with authoritarian leadership, and that famines have occurred in countries that have simultaneously experienced bumper harvests. Wesleyan awarded Sen an honorary degree in 1995. Playwright Tony Kushner, who won the Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards for "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," was one of five recipients of honorary degrees. Kushner said he was asked to speak a minute, and be witty while passing along some wisdom. "I lost my wit shortly after graduating from college," Kushner said, and if he had any wisdom, "I would not be working in the theater." The other recipients of honorary degrees were: n Thadious M. Davis, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Davis has been a scholar of literature for more than 30 years, has written extensively about Southern literature, and has edited and co-edited numerous reference texts on African-American literature. n Bill Lan Lee, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Deepartment. The son of Chinese immigrants who operated a store-front laundry in New York City, Lee graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and earned his J.D. degree from Columbia University. n Steven B. Pfeiffer, a 1969 Wesleyan graduate and partner in one of the country's largest law firms, he was chairman of the university's board of trustees from 1987 to 1992 and is now chairman emeritus of the university. Pfieffer's daughter, Victoria, a member of the Class 0f 1999, is the eighth member of the family to graduate from Wesleyan and the fourth generation. n K. Barry Sharpless is one of America's leading chemists and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His discovery of "Sharpless oxidation" is generally recognized as a major scientific advance by the world's synthetic organic chemical community and is a critical step in the synthesis of a number of modern pharmaceuticals. His daughter, Hannah, is a member of the Class of 1999. Also during the ceremony, the inaugural Freeman Medal for International Understanding was presented to Houghton "Buck" Freeman, a 1943 Wesleyan graduate, and his wife, Doreen. The Freemans have worked for most of their lives in Asia rebuilding those countries' economies after WWII. The Freeman Foundation funds a program to bring Asian students to Wesleyan. Fifteen Freeman Asian Scholars graduated with the Class of 1999. |
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