Congratulations, Class of 2010! - Columbia College - Columbia ...

columbia college today
Class of 2010 Joins
Ranks of Alumni
B y Et h a n Ro u e n ’04J a n d Al e x Sa c h a r e ’71
P h o t o s b y Ch a r Sm u l l y a n a n d Ei l e e n Ba r r o s o
As the Class of 2010 celebrated Class Day on May 17,
the College’s newest alumni were treated not just
to mild temperatures and sunny skies but also to
a rousing call to arms from keynote speaker Benjamin
Jealous ’94, NAACP president.
“These are days when we each are called on to be clear about
what we want not just for ourselves, but for the world,” Jealous
told the seniors gathered on South Field. “Now is the time for
you to decide that you will move this country always forward
and never backward. Now is the time for all of us who believe in
hope, not hate, to speak up and be heard, because change happens
every day, not just during elections.”
Jealous, a campus activist who was suspended from Columbia
before being reinstated and going on to become a Rhodes Scholar,
spoke about his time as a civil rights activist in the South and
warned of the need to always be questioning who are your enemies
and who are your friends.
Presiding over her first Class Day, Dean Michele Moody-
Adams received an enthusiastic ovation as she addressed the
graduating class. “You dove into this big pond that we call Columbia
College and you did what was required of you not only
to stay afloat, but to swim with assurance and power, and to do
so in more than one sense,” she said, drawing a laugh with her
reference to Columbia’s famous swim test.
Smiling faces were everywhere at Class Day and Commencement.
NAACP President Benjamin
Jealous ’94 exhorted graduating
seniors to “speak up and be
heard.”