- COMMENCEMENT 2009
- COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM
- SPEAKER REMARKS
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Debora L. Spar
- Anna Quindlen
- Sarah G. Besnoff
- CITATIONS FOR MEDALISTS
- CITATION FOR MEDALIST AND SPEAKER
- IMAGES FOR MEDIA
FOR COMMENCEMENT INQUIRIES
Lillian Appel, Commencement Coordinator
212.854.2024
lappel@barnard.edu
ABOUT COMMENCEMENT
» Past Recipients of the Barnard Medal of Distinction
commencement 2009
Greetings from the Board of Trustees
ANNA QUINDLEN, CHAIR
Wow, am I surrounded by strong women today: the CEO of a major American corporation; an uncommonly inspiring legal voice for women and children; a Harvard professor who is internationally known for her knowledge of and respect for the antiquities of past civilizations; and, of course, your commencement speaker, who reminds me that when I ran off to Barnard knowing that I was not cut out to be a secretary, it may have been because I didn't know exactly what being a secretary could amount to. All of these women inspire me, but I have to be honest. Day in and day out, the women who are really my role models, because of their intellect, their fearlessness and their focus, are all of you Barnard students.
President Spar and I have a regular phone conference scheduled each week, and not long ago we were discussing a person we just met, and she said to me, "She's so Barnard." How had she learned so quickly and how had I understood so viscerally what that meant? Because being Barnard is not equivocal. In visual terms, it's high definition, vivid and indelible and unmistakable. We are the women who, at work and at home, intellectually and emotionally, are audacious, engaged, directed, and smart.
At Midnight Breakfast, a tradition in which administrators dish out eggs, bacon, and pancakes to hundreds of students on the eve of final exams, one young woman danced up to me last year and shouted over the music, "We totally rock." So I bring you greetings today from those of us who rock with you—the members of the Board of Trustees. Athena is our homegirl.
I have received honorary degrees from many fine liberal arts colleges, but as you can see I stand before you today in a plain robe, no hood. There's only one degree I've actually earned, and that's just fine, because I was lucky enough to earn it here, where two splendid X chromosomes come together to create a sonic boom of power that spreads throughout this country.
So whether you wind up raising children or raising hell, taking care of others or taking care of business, or, in all likelihood, all of the above, we who have gone before you have no question that you will do it well. I can tell by what you're wearing today. At this moment, you are dressed for success.
So from my fellow trustees, I bring you this message: See you around. See you in boardrooms and newsrooms and operating rooms and classrooms. See you on Page 1 and Air Force One. But don't forget where it all began. You will be professors and playwrights, rabbis and writers, doctors and directors, literary agents and change agents, because you are Barnard women—and, believe me, it doesn't get any better than that.
Bless you all.
Watch video of ceremony