Be Visible

Thank you very much Dean Hazlett and President Porterfield. Thank you, members of the F&M Board of Trustees, distinguished alumni, faculty, families and friends, and to my fellow students for giving me an opportunity to speak before you today. It is truly an honor to be selected to do so.

"Congratulations, members of Franklin & Marshall's Class of 2015, for all you have learned and done and given (and grown) these past four years on campus. You have gained expertise in your fields. You have written theses of distinction. You have gained faculty mentors for life and made lifelong friends. Congratulations on all the meaning you have made."

Fellow classmates, do those words sound familiar?

Well they should! Those were the words spoken by President Porterfield at our Convocation Ceremony four short years ago. On that very special day, the new President of Franklin and Marshall chose to flash forward to our graduation day and addressed us as the graduating class. He invited us to think forward to this day.

President Porterfield also told us - with Shadek Fackenthal Library behind us, Old Main to our left, and Keiper Liberal Arts in front of us "You are entering a land of opportunity here at F&M: What will you make of this time?" He then went on to describe the opportunities that our 2015 selves had taken advantage of, our experiences, the adventures we had embarked upon, and the results of the effort we had put forth in our four years at the College.

It is hard to believe that we have now reached that day which President Porterfield described to us four years ago.

I remember thinking, as I listened to the president: What will I make of my time at Franklin and Marshall??

I recall that I walked away from Convocation that day wanting to accomplish, by the time I graduated, many of the things that President Porterfield had highlighted. But I was a first year student, anxious and a bit scared of this new environment and not totally sure how I would ever achieve such a goal.

I entered Franklin and Marshall as a very shy and reserved student, content to remain anonymous in a crowd. But, F&M was not as content to allow me to remain invisible.

As a small and intense liberal arts college, no student is able to hide in the back of the classroom here. Even on move-in day, I remember that all of the students in Bonchek College House were led outside to take a photo. The photographer was strategically positioned on the balcony of the college house in order to get everyone in the picture. I have a very distinct memory of Dean Stameshkin saying to the photographer, "Make sure that I can see everyone." That photo, which still hangs prominently on the wall of Bonchek, marked the beginning of four years that would lead me to this moment standing before you.

Beginning in my first semester at F&M, like every member of the Class of 2015 here, I was encouraged to join organizations that introduced me to the F&M community and pushed me outside of my comfort zone.

I was given the opportunity to take classes that I was passionate about, with professors who challenged me, encouraged me, and required me to speak up in the classroom. I had professors who would put more red ink than there was black ink on my papers in order to push me to be a better writer and thinker. I made friends with people who challenged me socially to take advantage of all that F&M has to offer, refusing to let me hide in my room or remain in the library for too many hours working on assignments, even when I insisted that I needed to study more.

I realized quickly that learning at our college took place not only in the classrooms, but in the college houses, through our clubs and activities, and our daily interactions with one another. Through all of the many learning experiences, the people at F&M helped me to become a visible member of an incredible community.

You may be wondering; What, exactly, do I mean by visible? Visibility is defined as "the state of being able to see or be seen." This may seem like a mundane idea, but it is actually very important. It is a powerful concept, and it is one that I would like to talk about today. This year, I had the opportunity to work on an honors thesis for the Department of Anthropology, with the guidance of both Anthropology and Classics professors. My thesis focused on how marginalized groups of people become visible in society.

As a case study, I focused my attention on gladiators in the imperial period of Ancient Rome, specifically those that were captives from foreign territories. My thesis was a study of how these foreign gladiators had to compete in front of a Roman audience in order to become socially accepted in the society that had conquered and now surrounded them. Gladiators had to, quite literally, "fight for their lives" in order to be seen as persons. However, there was danger associated with the gladiators becoming excessively visible. They wanted visibility as a measure of acceptance, but being too visible in society was also very risky for them.

You are probably wondering what is so relevant about this topic today, while we celebrate graduation. My research has shown that every person - indeed, every group of people in a culture - wants the opportunity to be socially visible. Regardless of the time period or where they are from, people desire social acceptance. Everyone wants and desires the opportunity to be seen and to be perceived as having value in the world.

As students, we are no different. We want to find our voices, step forward, and make an impact in the world. We want to be heard and we want to be seen. I believe that what makes Franklin and Marshall so special is its commitment to helping each and every student attain visibility in a variety of different ways.

F&M has allowed us to become visible on the playing field, on the stage, and in the classroom, as leaders in our college houses, as representatives of the college in the Lancaster community, in the art studio, as editor-in-chief and staff members of the college newspaper, as class officers, by studying abroad, in conducting independent research, by writing theses, by sitting on the council of a Greek organization, by acting as tour guides, by serving on the executive board of our clubs, and by acting as mentors and friends to one another.

Fellow classmates, we have all left our mark on F&M and on each other while we were becoming visible. Throughout our time at F&M, we were never told, like my foreign gladiators in imperial Rome, that we were too visible in this community. Instead, we were always encouraged to embrace our own visibility and to make it more apparent.

One of my professors always asked us on our final papers, "So, what is at stake?"

So I will now turn that question on us all. Class of 2015, what is at stake if we do not make ourselves visible? What may be lost to our families, to our communities, to the world and to ourselves? Even though we are leaving the nurturing atmosphere of F&M, our drive to be recognized should not cease. It is important to use what we have learned in the microcosm here to achieve visibility out there in the macrocosm.

I am challenging myself and each of you to be visible in whatever way you can and never to let anyone make you feel invisible. And don't be afraid to encourage others to take initiative and support their efforts, either. Also, remember that visibility and social presence comes with great responsibility. Use your talents, your knowledge, your new expertise, and your drive, to make a positive difference in our world.

I would like to thank all the professors who have given me – and all of us - a chance to become visible in the classroom. Let me give a special and personal thank you to Professor Bastian and Professor Castor, who pushed me to strive for excellence in my writing and critical thinking. And to my family, thank you for your guidance. I would not be here today without your continous support. To all of my fellow classmates, thank you for making me feel a visible part of this wonderful community. We joined a college house when we came to F&M, but we are leaving feeling like we belong to a larger home and to a family in it. It is my hope that no matter where our lives' journeys may lead us, that the roads will always bring us back to F&M and the bonds that we have made here.

I would like to conclude by returning to the Bonchek picture that I mentioned earlier. While I stand up here and look out at all of you, I am reminded of how much has changed over these past four years, but how much has also stayed the same. Fellow classmates, I am going to take a picture of all of you because I want us all to remember this moment, and the fact that we are all visible members of this wonderful community.

And remember, in the words of Dean Stameshkin, "I want to be able to see everyone."

(Photo of the Class of 2015 Taken)

Thank you!!