Our Shared Responsibility
Student speaker Sam Vaghar addresses his fellow 2008 graduates.
The following remarks were delivered by student speaker Sam Vaghar of the Class of 2008.
Good morning.
Sixty years ago, our university began amidst injustice. The status quo told us that Jews couldn’t have equal access in higher education. So what did the founders of our university do? They changed the rules. Brandeis became higher education, became a university open to all.
As the Class of 2008, we benefit from that rich history — ahistory of activism rooted in this university’s founding. And that history has helped shape our time on campus.
In four years, we’ve come a long way. I remember walking onto this campus when we were all first-years, wandering around knowing hardly anyone. I’m graduating today with some lifelong friends. I entered Brandeis unsure of my class schedule, let alone my future. I’m graduating today determined to succeed, no matter what the future holds.
I know, for most of us, that time has been split between homework, midterms, sports, theater, activism, parties and late-night drives to IHOP — or White Castle, if you’re feeling really lucky!
We’ve had fun, and we’ve learned, as well. In our time here, we’ve heard from two former presidents of the United States; we’ve joined together on crises, from the genocide in Darfur to climate change, to global poverty; we’ve volunteered locally; and, more recently, some students and faculty have formed a partnership with Prospect Hill, a community right here in Waltham.
We’ve learned a great deal in the classroom. For the first time, many of our assumptions were challenged. If you were in the social sciences, you learned about the problems communities are facing, and you created plans to respond. And in the natural sciences — especially the premed program — well, you just worked really, really hard for four years.
To everyone here who did lab after lab, preparing for the MCATs and wondering where you might be able to attend medical school — to work even harder — congratulations on this special day!
But the truth is, I think that in many ways we’ve learned more over these four years from each other. I remember when a friend took the time to listen, just listen to me when I was upset. I didn’t need advice; I just needed an open mind. And I know we’ve all had those unique moments here. It’s what convinced us to start college at Brandeis, and to graduate here together today. The friendships and relationships we’ve built are important and lasting, and they have prepared us to enter the real world.
Today, as we join together to celebrate as a community as the Class of 2008 — the faculty, staff, administrators, families, alumni, trustees, National Women’s Committee — there are grave injustices that we must proactively address. One billion people are living on less than one dollar a day, lacking access to health care and education — not higher education — but primary-school education.
We have a genocide that continues in Darfur, and crises including climate change and a lack of meritocracy in a world that we now inherit. These problems, at home and abroad, need more attention than they’ve been given. These are our problems, and we have the power — and now the responsibility — to impact them.
The apparent challenge we face is that it seems like you have to make a choice today — right now! Either you go into the “saving-the-world” career path, or you focus on yourself. You work for the public, or you work in the private sector and amass your personal fortune. This perceived divide between helping yourself or helping others is inherently false. Pursuing social justice is not a career. It is a lifelong commitment and a way of life. It is the Brandeis way of doing things, it is our way of doing things. We need to keep that commitment as a driving force in all that we do.
As Brandeis graduates, we’ve had an education that most people on this planet never had access to. But our gift, and the opportunity of our education, is that we can share what we’ve learned with others. We have potential, we have talent and we have the power to make a difference. It’s now up to us to share with others the investment we all have within us.
We better stay in touch, share in each others’ happiness — in future weddings and celebrations, in our personal and professional successes. But let us realize that this is not the end of our Brandeis experience. It’s just the beginning. What we do until our next reunion is critical, and whatever our goals are, we need to support each other.
For years, our friends, our guardians and family and our communities have given us support. Now, it’s our turn to start giving back to them. The best way we can do that is to recognize our unique opportunity, being here today as young women and men ready to change the world.
And in whatever we do, let us move in the spirit of those founders who stood up for justice 60 years ago, so that now, as graduates, we can stand up for justice. This is truly our shared responsibility.
Thank you. Congratulations to the Class of 2008, and let’s make it happen.
