Remarks - Department of History, UC Berkeley

Graduation Speech 2013-Ethan Shagan
1. Please, be seated.
2. Welcome Graduates! Welcome parents, grandparents, partners, children, aunts,
uncles, cousins, and friends! Welcome everyone to the Department of History’s
Commencement, and congratulations to the Class of 2013!
3. My name is Ethan Shagan, and it is my great honor to be Chair of the Department
of History at UC Berkeley.
a. It is an honor in part because of the extraordinary faculty who have been
your teachers and mentors, a group that includes some of the greatest
teachers on this campus and some of the greatest scholars in the world. On
this stage behind me are winners of Pulitzer prizes, McArthur genius
awards, Mellon Career Achievement awards, Guggenheim grants, and just
about every other accolade that a historian can achieve.
b. It is also an honor to be Chair because of the extraordinary STAFF in this
department, who make Dwinelle Hall a place we genuinely look forward
to coming. So let me acknowledge particularly the Student Services
Staff—Kira Blaisdell-Sloan, Mabel Lee, Erin Leigh Inama, and Leah
Flanagan—for all your work on behalf of the graduates in this room!
c. But most importantly, it is an honor to be Chair of this department because
of YOU, our extraordinary students. So it’s a tradition in this department
that the Chair takes a few minutes to talk about you, the 240-odd members
of the History Department’s Class of 2013. This is my opportunity to
celebrate who you are, the things you’ve done, and where you plan to go
next!
4. So first of all, who are you? This seems like a simple question, but the answers
may surprise you as much as they surprised me!
a. It turns out that 20% of you are first generation college students, an
extraordinary number, and you were delighted to tell us how proud you
feel:
i. Zoraida Renteria writes, “My biggest accomplishment is being the
first in my family to attain a college degree; and not just any
degree, but a degree from the #1 public university in the world!”
b. 36% of you are transfers from the California Community College system,
which is a great tribute to the university, to this department, and to you.
i. Micah McElroy says, “I came to Cal as a transfer student and I
remember being doubtful that I'd ever make it through. I was
dumbfounded by the reading requirements in my very first history
syllabus. "A whole book in one week?" I thought the professor
must have been joking. But I came to relish the challenge… I've
stepped beyond what I ever thought I was capable of at Cal, and
I'm thankful for all the faculty and students who have made that
opportunity possible.”
c. Many of you are also non-traditional students, who have been out in the
world working before coming back to college:

i. Susan Clough arrived as a first-year student at age 40, already a
mother. She writes, “I am so grateful to live in a time and place in
history where a woman like me can have a second chance to
achieve a first-tier education.”
ii. René Galvan says that three years ago, he was working as a
custodian in an elementary school, now he’s a Berkeley graduate.
But the thing he’s most proud of is his two-year old son, and he
says, “Justin, Daddy loves you.”
d. Now, the majority of you are what we call “traditional students”—young
people ready to take the world by the horns. But that doesn’t make you
ordinary, you are extraordinary
i. To give you a flavor of how very non-traditional our traditional
students are, here’s what Alice Chernikoff says about her years at
Berkeley: “I struck a balance between hands-on social activism
and esoteric academic passions…This past semester, I spent most
of my afternoons in the BX section of mainstacks reading the
theological and monastic writings of Theodore, a ninth century
Byzantine abbot in what is now Istanbul, for my thesis. At night, I
hopped across the bay to facilitate writing seminars at San
Francisco Juvenile Hall, reaching out to students who have fallen
through the gaps in our education system. I treasure both
experiences as valuable branches of who I am: a passionate
educator and a history hipster.”
e. You are also a remarkably international community.
i. You speak the following languages at home: Armenian, Chinese,
Dari, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean,
Polish, Punjabi, Serbian, Spanish, Taiwanese, Tagalog, Telugu,
and Vietnamese.
ii. You and your families come from all over the planet, and it is a
great gift to the state of California that you chose to come here!
f. About 20 of you are graduate students who have just completed the
highest degree in academia, the PhD, and to you I would like to offer both
thanks and congratulations:
i. Thanks, because of all the hard work you’ve put into teaching the
undergraduates in this room: one of our Phds, Zachary Ramirez,
says that, “The most wonderful experience I have had here is when
a student tells me that he or she wants to take more history classes
at UC-Berkeley.”
ii. Congratulations, because we, the faculty, remember just how hard
completing a PhD really is:
1. One of you reports that you spent a week sleeping in your
car while conducting your research.
2. One of you recalls the shock when in your first week in the
program you were assigned 2,000 pages of reading.
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3. And worst of all, several of you reported having had to
endure invitations to dinner by members of the faculty,
where you were forced to ingest our cooking!
g. Finally, all the members of the Class of 2013, graduate and undergraduate,
are also members of families:
i. 28% of you have relatives with degrees from the University of
California. So we really are one big family. And speaking of big
families, a graduate named Clara Matthews reports that 10
previous members of her family have graduated from Berkeley
going back to 1899, so congratulations, Clara, on being #11!!!
ii. A student named Cody Gaynor writes: “My parents met here. For
my entire life, we have always attended the football games here.
When I came here, my father, godfather, and I got Cal tattoos.
Berkeley has been the singular guiding factor in my life.”
iii. And Braulio Ramirez speaks for the whole class when he writes,
“My parents' names should be included in my diploma. I wouldn't
have accomplished anything without them.”
5. So, in a nutshell, that’s who you are! Second, what have you been doing with
yourself at Berkeley? Well, the answer is: apparently you’ve been working really,
really hard!
a. 65% of you held jobs at least part time to put yourself through school.
You are baristas, waitresses, cashiers, and tutors, you are graphic
designers, security monitors, and legal assistants.
b. 75% of you report major participation in non-academic activities:
i. We have both the Sports editor and the Opinion Page editor of the
Daily Cal.
ii. We have a national champion rower, and we have the drum major
of the Cal Marching Band.
iii. We have two students who interned for Democratic Senators, and
we have two students who helped to run College Republicans.
iv. Where on earth do you find time to do all these things?
c. You have also found time to expand your horizons and learn about the
world.
i. You studied abroad in: Greece; Jordan; Italy; England; Scotland;
France; Germany; Russia; Spain; Ireland; Kenya; Australia;
Argentina; Brazil; Egypt; Morocco; and Israel.
ii. And 23% of you conducted off-campus research for your 101
Thesis, including research in Spain, South Africa, Mexico,
Germany, Morocco, Italy, France, Israel, and Brazil.
d. Ah yes, the 101 Thesis! You all are graduating from the only major
department on this campus that requires all of its majors to write a senior
thesis! When we asked you what accomplishment at Berkeley you are
most proud of, besides all you wiseguys who said “learning your way
around Dwinelle Hall,” the most popular answer was that you are proud of
your senior thesis! And you should be proud of it!

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i. Saya Wallace writes, “Some of my favorite moments were sharing
coffee and tales of research struggle with my fellow thesis writers
as we discussed our progress, (or lack thereof) throughout our final
semester. Not only was it interesting to hear the diversity in
research topics, but it was equally comforting to hear that we were
all facing the same challenges. The 101 thesis process put on
display for me the profound respect shared by students and
professors alike.”
ii. Tiana Yarbrough writes, “When I finished my Senior Thesis, I had
so many library books to return that I used two duffle bags to carry
them all! I don't think people understand the amount of time we
History Majors spend buried beneath the books!”
e. But when it comes to research travel, huge projects, and being buried
beneath books, our graduate students win pride of place! There is
NOTHING quite like earning a PhD:
i. So for instance, Faiz Ahmed conducted research for his
dissertation in Turkey, India, and Afghanistan. I can only imagine
how difficult the last of those was.
ii. Matthew Sargent writes, “While a PhD student at Berkeley - I took
classes in 13 departments, learned 4 languages, and traveled to 3
continents for my research. Along the way, I walked across
England, got married in Rome, repaired a car in a medieval street
in France, ate street food in Indonesia, and had a daughter. I regret
not having the time to learn to scuba dive.”
6. So that’s what you’ve been doing here! Third and finally, what are you doing
next?
a. Well, let me start with the graduate students.
i. Of course, not all of you have managed to find you dream jobs this
year. But a remarkable number have, and that should give
confidence to all of you that your futures look bright.
ii. You have so far landed academic positions at Brown University,
the American University in Paris, the University of Wisconsin, the
University of Massachusetts, the University of Connecticut,
Baruch College, Meiji Gakuin University in Japan, and many
others.
iii. You have landed postdoctoral fellowships in England, in Sweden,
in Germany, in Spain, in New York, in Hawaii, and even right here
in Berkeley, where a couple of you will be teaching the next
generation of our undergraduates.
b. And speaking of you wonderful undergraduates: some of you turn out to
be gluttons for punishment and for some crazy reason you’re headed back
to school in the Fall!
i. Your graduate school plans include not only several History PhD
programs and a whole gaggle of Law Schools, but also PhDs in
Political Science, Masters in Classical Archaeology, Masters in

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Criminology, Masters in Public Health, Masters in Education, and
Masters in Library Science.
c. Many of you have already lined up employment and will be moving in a
few weeks to that weird place called the Real World (I’ve never been there
myself, but I hear it’s very exciting!).
i. I can’t name all of your many jobs, but just a list a few: you will be
teaching English in Japan, you will be Management Consultants,
you will be Marketing Researchers, you will be competitive
dancers, you will write Science Fiction, you will Teach for
America, you will produce television shows, you will work at
Disneyland, and you will work at the State Capitol in
Sacramento—those last two, by the way, are two different jobs!
d. Many others of you, however, report that you need to take a deep breath
and rest a little bit before thinking about what comes next. And to you, I
offer the comments of a graduate named Cameron Holmes. When asked
to describe his plans for next year, Cameron played the part of a good
historian and quoted his sources, writing, “In the wise words of Otto von
Bismarck, "Man cannot control the current of events. He can only float
with them and steer."
7. So in sum, I say to you, the extraordinary Class of 2013, you should be proud of
everything you have done at Berkeley, as proud as we are of you. You mean
everything to us, and even after you leave today, you will forever be a part of our
community.
a. Berkeley matters because we share it. Thank you for trusting us, thank
you for sharing these years of your life with us. And never forget,
wherever you are, Berkeley will always be with you.
Let me now introduce our Undergraduate Speaker
Madeline Des Jardins is an eighteenth century French and American historian and an
avid Bonapartist. She is the current president of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor
Society, and has worked for Cal Performances as their Student Ambassadors for the Arts
Program Coordinator for two years. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and recently
received High Honors on her thesis in the History Department. She has also served as
president of Berkeley’s unofficial nerd club, BookWorlds, and has been on the DeCal
Board. She has taught three DeCals (student led, accredited courses), most recently Star
Trek: Where No Course Has Gone Before. Madeline will be working at Disneyland in the
fall, hoping to take a little time away from academia to earn her ‘Mousters’ and her
‘Ducktorate’ with the Walt Disney Corporation, and possibly go on to work in film
production.
Let me now introduce our Graduate Speaker

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Felicia Viator [VEE–ah–tor”] studies twentieth-century U.S. history. She is interested in
finding new ways to connect African-American history to the history of the American
West. To that end, she wrote a dissertation that explores black Los Angeles after the Civil
Rights Movement. Felicia has studied under the guidance of Pulitzer-Prize-winning
historian Leon Litwack for well over a decade, since her early years as a UC Berkeley
undergraduate. By earning her PhD today, she becomes officially Professor Litwack’s
last student – a distinct honor she cherishes. Felicia is currently a lecturer at San
Francisco State University, and next year she will be teaching a series of courses here at
Berkeley.
Introduction for Anthony Romero
I. It is now my great pleasure to introduce our guest speaker for today, Mr.
Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mr. Romero is, I think, not only the coolest graduation speaker we’ve ever
had in this department, but also probably the coolest person who would ever
willingly hang out with a bunch of history professors.
II.
Mr. Romero was born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, and he was
the first member of his family to graduate from high school. He subsequently
graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton,
and Stanford Law School.
III. He became the head of the American Civil Liberties Union on September 4 th ,
2001. One week later, his life was changed even more than most of our lives
were changed, as debates over civil rights, government power, and the proper
balance between liberty and security became more pressing than they had
been in generations. And in the twelve years since then, Mr. Romero has been
at the forefront of those debates.
IV. In 2005, Mr. Romero was named one of Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential
Hispanics in America. He has received dozens of public service awards and
an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York School of Law.
V. He is also co-author of In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil
VI.
VII.
Liberties in the Age of Terror, published in 2007.
I invited him here today not because the Department of History takes a
position on the many issues he has addressed in his career, but rather because
that career itself represents a model that this department aspires to and hopes
for in its graduates: the use of intellect for the public good! Mr. Romero has a
prodigious intellect, he is a person of such evident ability that he could do
anything he wants with his life. But he has chosen to apply that ability to
solving some of the pressing problems of our time, and for that reason I could
think of no one better to talk to the Department of History at the world’s
greatest public university.
Please welcome Mr. Anthony Romero.
Now the Masters and PhD degrees will be conferred by Professor Maureen Miller

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After the Undergraduate Names have all been read:
1. Could all of the undergraduate diploma recipients please rise:
2. ‘BY VIRTUE OF THE AUTHORITY VESTED IN ME BY THE
PRESIDENT AND CHANCELLOR, I GRANT YOU THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS’
3. You may now move your tassels from the right to the left side,
congratulations graduates!
Closing Remarks:
Let me just close our business with a couple of announcements
1. First, I want to acknowledge all of the people who helped put together this
marvelous ceremony: Daniella Ball, Marianne Bartholomew-Couts, Kira
Blaisdell-Sloan, Alex Coughlin, Leah Flanagan, Alice Goff, Michelle Hwang,
Erin Leigh Inama, Mabel Lee, Hilja New, Kristina Perkins Andrews, Katie Poole,
Sarah Suponski, Yana Skorobogatov, Ellen Thompson, and Jesse Watson. Thank
you all very much for a wonderful morning!
2. Second, I want to ask our guests to please stay in your seats while the faculty and
graduates recess out of the auditorium, and then you can follow us out.
3. Third, I want to invite all of you to join us for good food and drink at a reception,
right after this ceremony, in Ishi Court in Dwinelle Hall. Just follow anyone in a
funny hat, they all know where to go!
4. And finally, let me say one last time: Congratulations, Class of 2013!!!!