Convocation 2023: “A Place Apart”
Good afternoon and welcome to Convocation. I want to thank Preyas for his eloquent and funny remarks, and congratulate again each of you who were recognized with awards. Your efforts and achievements stand as symbols for the potential, promise, and goodness that resides in each and every student here this afternoon. Let me begin with a definition. Jeremiad: after the Biblical prophet Jeremiah and derived from the Book of Jeremiah: a lamentation, usually in prose, denouncing the present state of society and contrasting it with an idealized past. Jeremiads are usually delivered by someone old and cranky, and they often turn on a denunciation of the failings of a younger generation. I do not plan on making that mistake. I have unbounded faith in you—and your generation— but I will admit: There is a bit of the jeremiad in what I wish to say to you today.