At commencement ceremonies it is the usual convention that the university president gives a charge to the graduates, conveying his advice and expectations. While your degrees have already been or will be formally awarded by the University of Maryland College Park later this month, you are among the first to be have these degrees granted jointly by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Both institutions will be listed on your diploma. I hope you are as proud of that as we are proud of you.
I am confident that with the Center prominently indicated on your diploma and in your CV, your degree will become even more valuable to you as you pursue your career. Your degree carries the reputation and prestige of having been trained at one of the world’s preeminent research centers focused on the land-ocean margin.
However, both you and the Center should not view this as the conclusion of our relationship, but the commencement of a new one. This new relationship depends on a mutualistic symbiosis in which both you and the UMCES faculty bear important responsibilities.
I charge the UMCES faculty to continue on its path of global eminence through excellence in research, fecundity in the production of superb graduates to succeed these graduates, and contribution to a sustainable future for our planet. In doing so, we commit to make your degrees ever more valuable over time.
I charge our graduates to do your part to add to our reputation through your outstanding accomplishments. After all, the long-term stature of an institution is affected as much if not more by the successes of its students as the discoveries and reputation of its faculty.
I also charge you to always uphold the standards that this Center and its faculty stand for. Conduct your professional activities with the highest level of integrity. Always keep an open mind for new ideas. Work together effectively and innovatively across disciplines. Always remember that our privilege to do science is based fundamentally on the service of that science to society. Change reality when your can, adapt to it when you cannot. Commit to resolving and solving the world’s problems. Yes, that’s right, we fully expect you to do nothing less than help save our planet!
On this great day, we are proud of you all. Set a course and head out in the world, but stand ready to change your course as surely you must. Solve the unsolvable and shape the future and you will continue to make your UMCES family of faculty, staff, students and alumni proud.