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Honorary degrees were conferred upon Deborah Bial, founder and president of the Posse Foundation; Gregory Farrington, president of Lehigh University; John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University; and Mulgrew Miller, internationally acclaimed jazz pianist and resident of Easton, at the 171st Commencement May 20.
The candidates were introduced by Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the board of trustees. The citations were read and degrees awarded by President Dan Weiss.
DEBORAH BIAL
Through your visionary leadership, the Posse Scholars program has grown from an intriguing concept to a powerful catalyst. The premise is simple. The results have been transformative. As the headline for an op-ed piece about Posse in the New York Times nine years ago summarized succinctly: You are “Launching Leaders.”
The truest measure of your program’s success is that its impact extends well beyond the achievements of individual Posse students and the benefits that accrue to their colleges and universities. By advancing diversity as a core value, Posse has become a compelling force for change in American higher education – and thus in our nation and in our world.
While it is our privilege on this occasion to pay tribute to the program you founded and head, we are equally honored to recognize the personal qualities that have made you such a compassionate and effective leader. Lafayette Posse senior Jocelyn Vargas has spoken of you as “a genuine, dedicated individual” from whom “we can all learn a lot.” We are grateful for your instructive and inspiring example.
THEREFORE, by the authority granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Trustees of Lafayette College and by them delegated to me, I award you the degree of DOCTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE, honoris causa, with all the rights, honors, and privileges thereto appertaining, in token whereof I present you with this diploma and direct that you be vested in the hood emblematic of the degree
May twentieth
Two thousand and sixDaniel H. Weiss, President
GREGORY C. FARRINGTON
Your undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemistry attest to your expertise in molecules and matter. Your success as an educator, however, is based on even more basic principles. “Learning is fundamentally about people,” you have said; “Faculty who inspire – change – believe – draw from students their best – demand from them only excellence – that is what we are in the business of doing.”
At Lehigh University you have championed academic innovation and risk-taking without ever losing your focus on the traditional values of individual responsibility and mutual respect. You have been a devoted steward of the University’s resources and mission and have fostered an especially productive partnership between Lehigh and South Bethlehem.
For close to a century and a half, the proximity of our two schools has fostered considerably more collegiality than competition, far more friendship than partisanship. On this occasion we celebrate the personal support and encouragement you have provided to Lafayette and its leaders over the past eight years. We applaud, as well, the broader role you have played in advancing the Lehigh Valley and its educational institutions.
THEREFORE, by the authority granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Trustees of Lafayette College and by them delegated to me, I award you the degree of DOCTOR OF LETTERS, honoris causa, with all the rights, honors, and privileges thereto appertaining, in token whereof I present you with this diploma and direct that you be vested in the hood emblematic of the degree
May twentieth
Two thousand and sixDaniel H. Weiss, President
JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN
You dedicate your autobiography, Mirror to America, “To all my students, from whom I have learned more than they will ever know.” That is an extraordinarily moving and generous tribute from such an accomplished scholar to the thousands of students you have known and mentored during your exemplary 70-year teaching career.
Even those who have not been inspired by you in a seminar or prepared a thesis under your direction have learned invaluable lessons from your many books, interviews, and public appearances. You have engaged us in essential ongoing conversations about history, humanity, and race; shown us the dangers of complacency and arrogance; challenged us to move beyond stereotypes and suspicion; and reminded us to cherish the transcendent blessings of family and home.
You have distinguished yourself as a teacher, scholar, and author not only by closely examining the narratives of history but also by illuminating and enlarging those narratives through the lens of your own life. “Whether one is 40 or 80,” you said at your 80th-birthday celebration, “the magic is in the transforming power to see and understand, to give evidence of mature thought and reflection which, in turn, flows from emotional, psychological, and intellectual maturity.”
Dr. Franklin, what you have given us is the rare aggregate of maturity, reflection, and magic. It is wisdom.
THEREFORE, by the authority granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Trustees of Lafayette College and by them delegated to me, I award you the degree of DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS, honoris causa, with all the rights, honors, and privileges thereto appertaining, in token whereof I present you with this diploma and direct that you be vested in the hood emblematic of the degree
May twentieth
Two thousand and sixDaniel H. Weiss, President
MULGREW MILLER
You have played the piano since you were six. But after what you refer to as the “life-changing” experience of hearing a recording by Oscar Peterson when you were in your teens, you focused your attention on one musical style: jazz. Impressed by Peterson’s “virtuosity” and “integrity” as a jazz pianist, you began an extraordinary musical journey that continues to excite and delight.
The skill with which you invent, interpret, and improvise at the keyboard is evidence of your exceptional musicianship. You are equally renowned for your versatility, captivating listeners whether you are performing as a soloist, collaborator, sideman, or bandleader. Even those unfamiliar with the conventions of jazz sense that something remarkable is happening as you erase the boundary between structure and surprise.
On countless occasions you have brought audiences to their feet on our Williams Center for the Arts and in venues around the world. This afternoon, however, we applaud you not at the end of a scintillating set but in gratitude for the passion and generosity with which you have shared your great gifts throughout your career. We are proud to honor you as an internationally known artist and musical ambassador – and as our Easton neighbor and friend.
THEREFORE, by the authority granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the Trustees of Lafayette College and by them delegated to me, I award you the degree of DOCTOR OF THE PERFORMING ARTS, honoris causa, with all the rights, honors, and privileges thereto appertaining, in token whereof I present you with this diploma and direct that you be vested in the hood emblematic of the degree
May twentieth
Two thousand and sixDaniel H. Weiss, President