Commencement '89

Author Joseph Brodsky battles the redundancy of time.

Nearly everyone has a heard a boring commencement speech, but few can boast about attending a commencement speech about boredom. "The worst monotonous drone coming from a lectern or the eye-splitting textbook in turgid English is nothing in comparison to the psychological Sahara that starts right in your bedroom and spurns the horizon," Nobel Prize winner Joseph Brodsky told the class of 1989.

From the poet's viewpoint, boredom deserves scrutiny because it "represents pure undiluted time in all its repetitive, redundant, monotonous splendor." Brodsky urged his listeners to combat boredom with passion. "Avoid TV," he said, "especially flipping the channels: that's redundancy incarnate."

In closing his remarks, Brodsky told the College's youngest class something that older alumni already know. "As for this place, today it becomes your past . . . Look at it with all the tenderness you can muster, for you are looking at your past. Exact, as it were, the full look at the best. For I doubt you'll ever have it better than here."

Perhaps because of threatening clouds overhead (the rains never came) and a ceremony set a week after Chinese troops marched against students, the Commencement had a serious mood. The Chinese strife was noted in prayer and speeches, and nearly everyone wore a white armband expressing support for the Chinese students. President Freedman asked for a moment of silence during the ceremony.

Later, in his address to members of the class of 1992, Freedman urged them to take up the cause of improving elementary and secondary school education. "More than any other persons in our society, teachers are the curators of our heritage," he said.

The ceremony was not without its joyous moments. The crowd rose to its feet when outgoing Surgeon General C. Everett Koop '37 received his honorary degree. And the '89s had reasons of their own to celebrate, as the facts below show.

Number of freshman who matriculated in September, 1985: 1,028.

Number of seniors who graduated in June, 1989: 891 (528 men and 363 women).

Number who graduated with honors: 205 cum laude,

114 magna cum laude, 48 summa cum laude, 105 Phi Beta Kappa.

Number of'89s who graduated before 1989: 11.

Number of seniors who wrote a thesis: 149.

Number of seniors participating in varsity sports: 128.

Number of seniors completing the physical education

requirement during their final spring term: 22.

Number of seniors who had to complete the language requirement during their final spring term: 3.

Number of men in Greek organizations: 376.

Number of women in Greek organizations: 215.

Department with the largest number of majors: History (151).

Smallest number of majors: Linguistics (1).

Number of double majors: 76.

Number of seniors who went through corporate recruiting: 410.

Valedictorian: In the classroom, computer science major Paul Sorensen earned a 3.99 out of a possible 4.0 grade point average. (Sorensen carried a perfect 4.0 until his next to last term when he got at A- in art history.) Outside of the classroom Sorensen garnered honors on the gridiron. From his linebacker spot, Sorensen led the team in tackles, earned an NCAA post-graduate scholarship, was named National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete, and was chosen Playboy magazine's Anson Mount Scholar Athlete.

Still in School: Among the 'B9s receiving prestigious national scholarships for graduate work were Jeanne Shea, ITT International Fellowship; Peter Monaco, Winston Churchill Scholarship; Suzanne Murphy, Fulbright Scholarship; Jean Robertson, St. Andrew's Society Scholarship. The National Science Foundation awarded fellowships to Damian Hajduk and Derek Walton.

Trekking: Ann Huebner was one of the few seniors not on campus during fall term. She visited Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and India and conducted a study on the moral development of Buddist monks. Her work caught the eye of scholars she was invited to speak at a seminar at Emery University and will be a panelist at the annual conference of the Association on Moral Education at the University of California.

Hedging their bets: Four hundred ten seniors went through the interviewing process at Career and Employment Services. This was about 20 percent fewer than last year. According to CES Director Skip Sturman '70, CES director, the class has a passion for keeping its options open. "The worst fear these kids have is commitment," he says, adding that many feared the commitment of an entry-level corporate job.

Senator John Danforth and D.D. Danforth '89 embrace.

Provost John Strohbehn, left, Dean of the College Ed Shanahan, center, and President James O. Freedman.

Now they are alumni: Jennifer Avellino, left, and Class Secretary Carrie Luft.