Class of 2008 Readies for Life of Leadership and Service

The College's 61st annual Commencement ceremonies celebrated the Class of 2008 on Saturday, May 17a farewell to 281 graduates led by President Pamela B. Gann and Trustee and Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert '77. After processing in black mortarboards and robes through the traditional faculty tunnel outside of Bauer Center, Leppert challenged the graduating class on an unusually warm afternoon to be of service in the larger world. “Your first role as a leader is to serve,” he said. Consider, he noted, the more than four million children who need a mentor, “Try to be one,” Leppert urged. He also told graduating seniors that their lives would change rapidly, “and in ways you do not anticipate.”
In other remarks, Class president Kirthi Narasimhan's brought classmates and the audience back through timerecalling the Class's 2004 arrivaland then into the future, looking forward two decades. "Do what you love," he urged his classmates. "Don't get outsourced."
Special moments during the ceremony included President Gann conferring an Honorary Degree of Laws on Tom Leppert, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Harry T. McMahon '75 P'08 P'09 awarding son Ryan his undergraduate degree. Gregory Hess, vice president for academic affairs, dean of the faculty and the Russell S. Bock Chair of Public Economics and Taxation, presented Saturday's candidates, with the awarding of degrees by President Gann and presentation of diplomas by Harry McMahon.
Saturday's benediction was led by Zanetta Harris '08. Following the recession by graduates from Pritzlaff Field, members of the Class of 2008 and family and friends gathered for a reception on Parents Field.
View photos from Saturday's ceremonies: http://cmc.edu/news/pressreleases/grad08/ Read Trustee Tom Leppert's Commencement address: http://cmc.edu/news/pressreleases/grad08/Claremont_Commencement_final.doc Read complete Latin Salutation by Michael Sciortino '08: http://cmc.edu/news/pressreleases/grad08/Salvtati08.doc