WILDCAT CROSSING
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Wildcat Crossing Recognition Ceremonies
Class of 2023
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2023 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2023](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image.img.jpg/1714598579992.jpg)
Class of 2022
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thank you grioland good afternoon everyone we outside now
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good afternoon everyone come on now this is a celebration
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those who are graduating those who can stop paying for those are graduating
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okay cool in the gang all right okay there we go all right we want to welcome on behalf of the
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wildcat crossing committee we would like to welcome you to the sixth annual wildcat crossing ceremony
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i'd like to welcome the president of villanova university dr father peter donohue
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you know if i keep messing these things up kathy burns vice president of student
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life absolutely
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father kevin deprinzio vice president of mission and ministry
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dr dean dr adele lindemeyer dean college of liberal arts and sciences
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dr andrea welker associate dean college of engineering
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dr donna haven's dean college of
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nursing dr joyce russell dean school of business dean the school
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of business dr christine palace
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the dean of college of professional studies
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and professor hezekiah lewis associate assistant professor communications and villanova grad
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and we would also like to thank all of our faculty and staff who've chosen to be here today
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welcome to the parents guardians friends family of our graduates
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to honor we honor you and we welcome you here at villanova university give yourselves a hand
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my name is kevin covington i'm the assistant director of retention and outreach at the center
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for access success and achievement better known as casa and it is my true honor to be here
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today
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eight years has been four plus kovic four years you've got to add in for wikovic it's it's been
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this has been really really great today we honor our graduating seniors
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the class of 2022 who have chosen to be at the ceremony which celebrates
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diversity in the villanova community and recognizes the determination and resilience
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they've demonstrated to be graduating this weekend once again congratulations to the class
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of 2022.
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now i'd ask that reverend naomi washington lee park please come forward to offer our opening prayer
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good afternoon everyone i want to thank the committee for this extraordinary opportunity to say a word
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of prayer at the beginning of this important celebration
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there's a story in christian tradition that goes like this
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one day jesus was traveling on his way to jerusalem
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and he was walking along a a border road a road between two
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cities and the road was between samaria which was considered
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undesirable territory and galilee
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and as he was walking he encountered 10 people 10 people who were living under
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quarantine living in isolation
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this isolation was imposed by the society society didn't want to catch
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what these ten had they saw these ten as ugly as
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too much as not enough as weird as deficient
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those ten undesirable said to jesus will you show us a little mercy
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and jesus said well go on and present yourselves to the priests just
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show them who you are and the text says as they went
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they were made whole and when i think about you
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you are about to be sent out it's like we're telling you go
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show yourselves off go show the world who you are
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no matter if the world sees you as undesirable or too much
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or not enough that as you walk
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as you get closer to the place you are called to be
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you will be made whole in the going and so i want to say a prayer for you
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that you would be made whole as you go not instantaneously
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but as you walk each day you wake up you will be a little bit more whole than
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the day before you will be healed you go
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this is a prayer for your new beginning let us pray
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god we begin by saying thank you thank you for keeping these
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our best our brightest
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our most precious gifts thank you
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for accompanying them to this day it hasn't been easy
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there have been tears and late nights there's been loneliness and
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internalized shame there's been anxiety and deadlines and
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missed opportunities but there's also been joy
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there's been friendship there's been light
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and so we ask you to accompany them as they continue to go as we send them out
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keep them whole so that when they get to where they're
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going and they show themselves off they can say
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i've been touched by the one who makes everything whole
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awaken their spirits today god to adventure
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help them as they take risks help them find home in the new rhythms
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they will dance help them find the work and the life that their souls must
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as they go god give them their hearts desire
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help them find joy and peace and pleasure stay with them god
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so that they know that they've been touched by the one who makes all things
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in the name of goodness and mercy and justice in jesus name i pray amen
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thank you reverend lee bart now i ask for villanova university president
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father peter donahue to come forward to give his opening address our
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father please welcome
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good afternoon and welcome to everyone thank you for joining us today for
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villanova's wildcat crossing ceremony these past years we have faced many
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challenges just considered what you've encountered as you started this journey
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we've been challenged by national and international events pandemic
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global lockdown surveillance testing mass vaccinations
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canceled events and life postponed the premature death of millions
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the power of a vote cries for racial justice struggle and tension
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to dismantle systems gun violence against family friends neighbors and strangers
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our capitol building attack and justice obtained that was thought out
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war in ukraine millions of people displaced from their home most recently
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a leaked document from the supreme a political system that seems more
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reactive than proact people are still looking for lasting solutions
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that have yet to be found there is much work to be accomplished
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this ceremony is dedicated to recognizing diversity in all its forms amongst our villanova student body
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and to honor our graduates for their contributions to our community this weekend celebrations are referred
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to as a commencement because they mark a new beginning a time when you take what you have
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learned and experienced and commence with a new life and our graduates certainly have a great
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deal to look forward but as we look forward to our future we also remember our past
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at villanova we boast a 180 year history that began
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in the most modest of ways in 1842 eight augustinians and ten
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students established a place where first generation americans like some of you in this room
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would receive and educate an education rooted in the augustinian principles of
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unitas veritas and they saw a bright future
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for all who walk through these doors as do for as we do for each of you
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from a small group of 18 we have swelled to a vast and diverse community
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a community that is not always perfect but a community that strives to be the
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best version of ourselves to achieve this community members must
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have an understanding and respect of difference we must acknowledge and embrace the
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diverse experiences backgrounds cultures orientations of each member of this
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community for 180 years villanova has been a place that has empowered people and we will continue to advance this
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mission we must promote the importance of a diverse community of race gender culture
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geography orientation and economic backgrounds we need to engage community members in
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meaningful and difficult dialogues we need to listen to each other with our thoughtful hearts and open minds
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and we must challenge one another to think about the issues that are difficult messy and have no easy answers
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we have an opportunity to make a difference to ignite change by opening doors and inviting
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conversation i believe we have made significant strides in creating the environment that
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we want but we need to do more much more it is so important that fostering a
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diverse equitable and inclusive community is a formal part of our strategic plan rooted
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we are committed to creating a villanova community that better reflects the world's diversity in all forms socioeconomic
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racial ethnic geographic and much more we also want to ensure that all the
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members of our community develop grow thrive and feel a deep sense of connection
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our different genders races cultures faith orientation strengthen our community
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and i am extremely grateful to the students faculty and staff who have recognized this and created
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ways to further improve diversity and inclusivity throughout our campus
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we have and will continue to build ways to support it together we will continue to forge a
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path in which villanova can be a model for others we are one mind and one heart intent
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upon god and confirm that everyone in our community contributes
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value thank you for being a part of this journey and for making our villanova
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community stronger saint augustine taught us that only in community can we achieve our true
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potential community begins to build relationships with one another
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by engaging in dialogue by revealing our pain and fears by celebrating our accomplishments by
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embracing our differences by challenging our preconceptions about one another
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it's not easy to build a community a very possibly sorry
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together we must try it requires time energy
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and commitment most importantly it takes a willingly willingness to look
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honestly at ourselves and see the times when our actions fall short of our loftiest goals and our best
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i know you're likely i know some of you likely had difficult and isolating moments during your time villanova
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if this has been your experience please allow me to say i'm sorry
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behalf of myself everyone might have pushed you away or excluded
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you in some way or another please accept that apology i promise that we can
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i firmly believe that villanova will be a place that embraces and elevates all members of our
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to our graduates of the class of 2022 you have all left an indelible mark on
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this university some of you more than others i hope you will look fondly on your time
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at villanova and on all the people you have met and the experiences you have had along the
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way thank you for being a part of our community you will always live in the
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heart of villanova and 800 lancaster avenue will always be one of your homes
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congratulations to all of you
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thank you father peter thank you now i'd like to invite mr chuck davis
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academic advisor and athletics to come forward to introduce this year's alumni speaker
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good afternoon everyone my name is chuck davis pleasure to be here to celebrate the class of 2022
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on behalf of the office of academic support for student athletes we just like to wish you all congratulations
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and i would like to wish you the best of luck on your journeys as you move toward the next chapter in your lives
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our alumni speaker today is a writer director producer professor and beloved villanova
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he first came to villanova as undergraduate studying communication during this time he co-founded and
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served as artistic director for the villanova television station along with directing numerous documentaries and
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short narratives all while maintaining a scholarship on the football team
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he was offered a presidential fellowship to pursue a master's degree in theater
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before his journey of learning and growth took him to ucla where he earned a
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masters of fine arts from the school of theater film and television
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as a filmmaker with a vision to provoke social change through film he aims to expose personal
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stories and controversial topics that will spark healthy and vibrant conversations
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among his many contributions to the villanova community since returning to villanova is teaching and producing
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through social through the social justice documentary program this course allows this course allows
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students to create their own production companies a documentary film exploring topics such as post-traumatic
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slave syndrome and its effects on the education systems non-profit organizations fighting to
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develop sustainable communities and gender inequality and economic
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instability and communities both domestic and abroad the content and quality of these films
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are only surpassed by the way our speaker has inspired and challenges his students to go out and do the same with
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their lives we are so honored to welcome to the stage today professor hezekiah lewis iii
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thank you [Applause]
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who's that guy that's crazy i appreciate y'all i was like i was kind
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of scared i think i was i had to talk to the dean i said did i get demoted y'all kept calling me an assistant professor i'm like i'm an associate now baby
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i'm an associate now baby but uh now i want to thank you all i mean for
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me it's it's uh it's been an emotional year um it's been an emotional journey
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um and when people ask me like you know are you let me take this
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i mean so you're good those that i don't know i i cut off my beard i used to be look like grizzly
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adams but my wife is very happy about that look father thank you father um you know for me it's been an emotional
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journey so when people ask me to speak and and you know do i have remarks prepared i'm gonna warn y'all right now
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um i'm sorry i don't um i kind of speak what's on my mind uh so you got to put
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on the music to turn me off or hit those drums over there actually played he actually paid at my wedding which is amazing um
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you know for me it's it's it's something that i really need to speak from the heart needing to speak from the soul because
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i have a lot to say i have a lot on my mind i have a lot of my spirit but this is not about me this is about you
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beautiful folks that are sitting right in front of me because this is why i do what i do um and when i thought about some remarks
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that i wanted to talk about my daughter actually was part of the first i'm going to say wildcat crossing
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and when i was getting dressed there i believe i'm not taking off my shirt i'm just showing y'all a shirt that i had to wear today
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i really really wanted to think about something that really inspires me and
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that is my daughter um and for me this is a shirt dad
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this is my little girl and this is my father and for me this is one of the pivotal
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moments that i want to talk about today is that sense of
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and i'm gonna you know probably get a little emotional because i i have really haven't had an opportunity
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and my father didn't get the opportunity to see my daughter walk across that stage his granddaughter
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and my father was somebody that i never wanted to be
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and i don't say that in a negative way it's just he recognized and reconciled that he had
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an experience that he never had in his life and that was he wanted to write a book about raising his children because he never
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raised any of his kids and for me that that really struck a core in my my soul and that's something
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that i'd never wanted to say to my child i always wanted to be in my children's life because of my father
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i miss those moments of seeing him smile because he's proud of
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what i've done i missed those moments of him teaching me how to tie i had to go to youtube to learn that i miss those
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moments of having someone tell you how proud they are but that became my mother
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my mother was my father my mother was my mentor my mother was my michael jordan lebron james or whatever
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athlete that you aspired to be my mother was my foundation
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and she was the reason why i do what i do the reason why i'm here today
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but my father had a big part of that foundation as well and that was that spirit that fight
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to stand up against any injustices that come in your way so taking this opportunity to really
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think about those moments these moments these snapshots in your life
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and being aware that these are fleeting moments at times and you have to take every advantage of all these
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opportunities because life is not promised to you tomorrow
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my father is not here today he didn't get to see my grandchild he
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didn't get to see my two little boys and that's the thing that hurts me the most my boys would never know who their
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grandfather is they never got that opportunity one of my biggest dreams is to take my
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father to the continent to africa to ghana to see the slave castles
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to be part of that experience because i learned so much about social justice from him
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but those opportunities are gone but that spirit of him lives in me
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forever and that's the flow that i give to my kids and everyone that i get involved with because that passion to do
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more than just be content with my life right now is not for me
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my students hate me when they're in my classes but they're gonna love me
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after tomorrow i promise you when you guys graduate why because i'm teaching you guys what
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you and i'm telling you what you need to hear not what you want to hear i think we do enough patent people on
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the back saying nice try i think we're too nice but i feel like when you're taking
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courses with me i tell you you're going to learn more about life then you are going to learn about filmmaking
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you're going to learn how to be accountable and passionate about whatever you get involved with
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and i say that because the opportunities that you have at this university believe me i know it wasn't
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easy i know we have exhausted you all on panels and how you invest
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in your emotional investment in racism and dealing with all these issues and you feel like nothing's being done
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when i say cherish every moment when i say cherish every opportunity when i say
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cherish every single bit of that pain and suffering that you had because i'ma
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promise you now it's not gonna go unheard it's not gonna go without any action
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it's not going to go without any sense of understanding of why we had to have those panels
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why did we have to have these discussions about injustices when i was 10 years old
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i was playing nintendo in my room they called it we all know what they call it now nintendo in my room and a black a white van pulled up
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and i heard a knock at the door when i got up somebody kicked in our door
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and it was all these police officers with a gun pointed to my head at 10 years old and said get the f down
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that image still is in my head today and it really made me understand this is
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a situation that i don't want my family to be a part of my house was raided my father was a
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big-time drug dealer my uncle was taking ak-47s and cocaine out of our attic and i sat
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there and watched like i was watching the film i was watching a movie
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and when i looked at this i said this is my life this is my my this is truly my real life this is an area san bernardino
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california where it was raining the rank the number one place not to raise your child at one point
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and any moment if i'm wearing a certain color i could have been shot
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if i walked to a park and i went too far into that park i could have been killed
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i couldn't even go to the mall without police officers stopping me and asked me to sit down or
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checking my hands make sure that we weren't fighting it was survival
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football help me when i say villanova saved my life i promise you it saved my life
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i was the first person in my family to step foot on a college campus being first generation is a lot of
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pressure but it's pressure that is needed in order for us to break
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the cycle call that generation of curses we need to break that cycle everyone
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sitting here is breaking that cycle because i'm sure we all have stories
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we all have pain we all have suffering we all have something to share
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we're all not the same my black story is different from every other black person in here
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we're all not the same it's not a monolith but villanova gave me the opportunity to
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not only exceed but also gave me the opportunity to express and it wasn't easy
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when i ran for sga president here somebody called my phone and said aren't allowed to be president of villanova university
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i could have got up and walked away right then that pain still hurts me today
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that was my junior year as a professor
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i've been harassed i've been questioned
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that pain lingers today because i know i belong here but those that know me know that i would
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never ever allow anyone to tell me and define who i am i define that
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i belong you belong we belong no as long as i'm breathing as long as
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i'm here knock on wood i'm gonna make sure that all that pain you guys went through
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is not going to be muted or silenced i promise you that
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i love you all even the ones i don't know i love you all because you all deserve to be loved
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you all deserve to be appreciated you all deserve to be recognized
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one thing i love about this this process is i get to meet new people like you and
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my old friends who are sitting over here i met my wife here
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when i came to this university they told me yeah you're going to meet your wife i said coach you crazy i'm not going to be
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over what are you serious i met my wife here i proposed to my wife on the 50-yard
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line at villanova because i met her as she was running track and i was at football practice like look at that girl right
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there but then she pursued me she claims i pursued her but that's another story for
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another day but when i say villanova is my family and i
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say villanova is my heart i just want to take the moment to thank people like father peter
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dr terry nance mcgowan kate is not here but there's a crazy story about him i took his class one time and and one of
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our assignments we had to write three papers okay one paper i wrote was about the invention of the
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plow another one was about spike lee and my last paper was about the age of the enlightenment
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in our final we had to incorporate all those papers into one
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i was a freshman it blew my mind but i had to figure out a creative way to do that but that's the stimulation that i
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needed to really kick-start me into understanding the importance of this education
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and having folks like dr keda like
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dr nance like father peter even came in when dr lucky was one of my
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professors i took every black professor i can find even if they was in engineering or
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nursing i didn't care because i needed to have that sense of connection but that's what this
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university does for you what i want y'all to understand is
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it might not seem like something's happening it might not seem like work is being done but when i hear people say
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villanova ain't doing nothing for me i'm gonna let y'all know that hurts my heart because i'm in a trenches with
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y'all every single day and i am villanova i am part of this community
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and i'm asking you all to pledge as you leave us don't leave us because i need you
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i need you all to give back i need y'all to come back i need y'all to invest your time efforts money whatever
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to really engage so that students that are sitting in those chairs don't feel like their voices are being unheard
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i heard a student in the law school said she feel like she was invisible
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sorry whoever you are you're not because i'm here and i promise you that
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none of you will ever be invisible again so i'm gonna leave you with us a few
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words that i always leave my students and this is a little story i call it a little story that's not my job
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this is a little story about four people name everybody somebody anybody and
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nobody there was an important job that needed to be done
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and everybody was sure that somebody would do it anybody could have done it but nobody did it
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somebody got angry because angry about that because it was everybody's job
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everybody thought that anybody could do it but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it
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it ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done
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that's what i live my life by that's my mantra if it's meant to be it's up to me
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100 is possible 100 of the time and i live my life like my life and the life of other that
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really depends on it so take full accountability and
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responsibility on anything that you all do and know that you don't have to go
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through this process alone because if you didn't hear it when i said it before
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i love you i appreciate you please
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please never forget where you came from but be open to where you're going god bless you all
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thank you professor lewis give me another round of applause please
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many of you don't know but professor lewis is actually working on bad boys four and he's casting me and father peter in that role so
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you don't see father peter next semester you know we're out in location shooting it's called bad boys for villanova nights it's
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coming we'd like to i'd like to ask uh reverend
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liebhard and the villanova gospel choir to now
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please give us a musical selection please welcome
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[Music]
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you guys take class don't be shy
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[Music]
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[Music]
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oh [Music]
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oh
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[Music]
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crazy [Music]
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me [Music]
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[Music]
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[Music] [Applause]
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me [Music]
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[Applause]
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me
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[Music]
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hallelujah [Music]
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[Music]
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lord your word
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[Music]
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[Music] [Applause]
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glory
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[Applause]
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ah almost over
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[Music] [Applause]
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well all right let the church say amen amen and one more amen
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beautiful it was beautiful this time i would like to introduce our student speaker for the
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year i'd like to welcome this to the podium
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our student speaker and
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you all know the students journey is filled with ups and downs and challenges and triumphs
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but like all of you the students persevered to make their villanova story one of success and hope
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so please join me in welcoming this year's student speaker kashay garland
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[Applause]
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a little nervous i'm not gonna lie man my name is cashe garland i'm a senior
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obviously double major in english and criminology just to get my credentials out there because i got to do it i mean
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i mean i worked four years for it i got to hype myself up a little bit um real quick i want to say shout out to my
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mom out in the audience my mom my mom got me through everything she's
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the reason why i'm standing here today especially with the passing of my father over this summer he was the one that
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helped me through it all so i just want to do a round of applause for my mother please
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when i came to villanova i thought i could handle it growing up in bensalem bucks county
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pennsylvania i really i really never saw color or sexuality everyone was the same
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and treated the same as far as i knew the classes were mixed with some people of color and some white students there
48:02
were people who were in the lgbtq community and none of these differences were a big deal
48:07
i thought that villanova would be the same but everyone kept warning me not to go here because it's a catholic university
48:14
and it's all white i was told i must hate myself for accepting this college i wanted to stay
48:20
optimistic though i wanted to give it a try and after my aap program through
48:26
casa i stopped believing everyone's opinion then my first month happened
48:31
microaggressions were everywhere from comments from other students to stairs to being the only person from an
48:37
underrepresented background in a classroom i remember seeing myself with tears running down my cheek i was on the phone
48:43
with my mom begging her to pick me up because i did not want to be on campus i could hear my voice saying mom i can't
48:50
do this mom the kids treat me differently during my first year of villanova i
48:56
struggled with finding my place i felt as a black lesbian student from middle to low income single mother
49:02
household and first generation i would never fit the villanova mold that other students did
49:08
i constantly felt other i didn't come from a fancy home or drive a fancy car i
49:13
couldn't go out every weekend and spend money i was relying on my summer job even a question of what you did what did
49:19
you do over the summer on the first day of classes immediately set me apart from my classmates because i didn't have a
49:24
summer backpack in the mountains or interning at a law firm i worked at burger king at the time and
49:30
not one person i met worked a regular job at all like literally none
49:36
i hated my first semester and i wanted to transfer so bad in my spring semester i wrote my frustrations in the
49:41
villanovan titled the land of the dream home of the nightmare with the intentions of not only showing
49:47
the villanova villanova community struggles i and other represented students face but also the intentions of
49:53
me leaving i told all my professors that they would not see me in the fall and if they did it would be my last semester
50:01
i was determined to leave and i have made my decision and so i had a conversation with my ancient professor dr betty pat
50:07
she told me this line if you leave nothing will change and
50:12
with that statement it might not seem that big of a deal but it stuck with me and it became my motto
50:18
i felt that no one was making the change i wanted to see and i felt other students needed i told myself and no one
50:24
else would do it than i will i will be the change for myself looking back that was a tough decision
50:30
to put on myself and a lot to take on at a young age with no guidance on how to do it but during
50:35
my sophomore year i said to myself be that change you always wanted to see and my life at villanova completely
50:41
changed i no longer had the attitude to just get my degree and leave i wanted to make an impact
50:46
my entire sophomore year focused on pushing for diversity equity inclusion everywhere i could i joined the student government
50:52
association and became director of diversity equity inclusion and transformed a department into what it is
50:57
currently but now a vice president of dni role in an unrepresented student caucus both to which i created
51:04
i became chair of vu pride and try to push for lgbtq resource center on campus
51:10
my junior year i became big on racial justice in the wake of george floyd's murder i promise you you cannot go along
51:16
without hearing my name being mentioned somewhere and that's not to be arrogant i worked on the black student demands
51:22
met with the board of trustees and honestly the list continues but i'm not going going to go into my work at
51:27
villanova for this is not about the praise but let's just say it was a lot more than anyone could think
51:33
a lot of it i did not get the credit i deserve especially in organizations i was a part of instead the credit was
51:38
given to the white students in the organization and they received the spotlight student government i'm looking at you
51:45
not to call it out i'm being honest i'm looking at you i won't forget
51:51
probably my sophomore year when an article was released and it said villanova student government women it
51:58
was all white women we had a black woman director she wasn't featured on that i won't forget that she deserved to be on
52:05
that cover as did i and a lot of other students of color but i digress but the reason i'm even giving a brief
52:11
mentioning of my work at villanova is because i had to put my life as a student second while making my life as a
52:16
black lesbian woman first a thing that other students had the privilege of never doing i took on this role for
52:22
change not because i wanted to because i felt i had to or else i would have been miserable here
52:27
most underrepresented students at villanova have to engage themselves in something that uplifts their identity but also it puts the work on those
52:34
students we do not have a normal villanova experience and i wish that i did i wish
52:39
that we all did i wish i could have relaxed and really just enjoyed my life as a college student without worrying about my race
52:45
constantly or my sexuality i wish i could have gone to frat parties and not have been scared i would have been kicked out because i was black oh wait
52:51
that happened or pretend that i could go to a frat house called plantation and shorten it
52:56
to taste because it has nothing to do with my ancestors or go to social events and not be afraid every time a song with the n-word came
53:02
on and i had to look around to see who said it oh i do that all the time in all seriousness though these are many
53:08
privileges that the students here don't even realize exist in my four years academically i thrived
53:14
socially i suffered and in part was not because of the students but the work i did my schedule was full of meetings and
53:20
discussions i had the weight of underrepresented students on my back for four years
53:25
imagine how exhausting that is but i did it without ever complaining because who else was going to do it
53:31
however the hardships i faced maybe the strong woman i am today and when i'm asked how did i have the confidence to
53:36
do all this my answer to that is this is my life i live this every single day and i never
53:43
was taught to be this way i had no choice but to do now as a graduating senior i look at the
53:49
back at the freshman who came from ben salem scared about this community she was being thrown into i wave her tears
53:54
away and i tell her that everything will be okay and these tears will become a symbol of strength i am proud of myself for staying and i'm
54:01
proud to be a villanova student because i made villanova what i needed to be so
54:06
for the students who look like me here today and can resonate with me be proud of yourself for how far you have come
54:12
and i mean the students who look like me although we may have had our harshest at villanova i know there were good times
54:18
that would stay with us we came together as a community and got each other through it we did it we made it and we
54:24
overcame things we did not think we could for my black students we had a crazy four years dealing with racial
54:30
justice issues and the fears of the election as some other students of color dealt with too i'm so proud of the work we did together
54:37
it was amazing to have worked with some of you because the work we did summer 2020 changed the trajectory of villanova
54:42
forever to everyone we're leaving villanova stronger than we came in and no one can
54:47
stop us from achieving anything we put our mind to we as underrepresented students truly
54:52
embodied the villanova motto of veritas unitas thank you
55:19
thank you cassie graduates you're about to receive the wildcat
55:25
crossing stole from the dean of rep or representative of your college which you will wear at
55:31
the commencement ceremony the stole is a symbol of a story of the story that brought you here
55:38
today and the diverse stories which have moved and shaped villanova
55:44
at this time i'd like to ask dr adele lindemayer to please come to the podium college of liberal arts and science dean
55:51
of the college of liberal arts and science
56:05
good afternoon everyone i i kind of want to thank
56:12
uh kevin covington noreen walker cameron
56:18
the other organizers of this beautiful ceremony for including me however please in the
56:24
future don't put me after professor lewis and cashe garland
56:31
and expect me to make remarks that will have any resonance whatsoever
56:38
so i'm looking at my carefully prepared remarks and wondering if there's anything salvageable here for
56:45
me to say to you you all other than my heartfelt congratulations
56:53
you are leaving the university a better place you are not invisible
57:00
professor lewis is an associate professor
57:06
and we will miss you very much we are really grateful that you came
57:11
here that you gave us your heart your soul your minds
57:17
your grit and you truly have contributed much to especially to us these past four years
57:24
which will constitute i know in that future history of villanova its own special chapter
57:30
so thank you all very much and let's get on with the show
57:39
graduates please remember to bring your cards with you bring the cards with you with your name on it
57:52
students in the college of liberal arts and sciences please stand
58:06
caitlyn nicole quijano
58:14
kevin alexander
58:20
krusty nicole juliana garcia
58:34
jared ryan gabriel
58:41
ivanitza leals galco
58:48
jai
58:55
victoria lynn hamilton
59:02
isabella victoria wu
59:11
asia keana gray edwards
59:18
morgan renee hill
59:25
anthony huerta aponko
59:34
destiny s humphrey
59:42
natalie chioma wanaku
59:51
jaden soraya aristeld
59:57
margaret elaine mangle
1:00:04
sophia raquel bottini colangelo
1:00:13
casey smith
1:00:19
brooke amber zigmond
1:00:25
danielle rose mortensen
1:00:32
peter joseph webb
1:00:38
david gao
1:00:51
natalia gabriela and tunas
1:00:58
kristen leanne may
1:01:04
emily rose sanchez
1:01:09
zara zimmer
1:01:16
julia nemma
1:01:22
janil samantha deans
1:01:28
alexander ho bin wang
1:01:34
daniel christian estrada
1:01:40
kaylee s giles
1:01:46
alexandria elizabeth johnson
1:01:53
jonathan
1:01:58
chris stella colleen mubunan kiko
1:02:06
camara danita staples
1:02:12
kevin bryan mopocita silezar [Music]
1:02:18
david gabada
1:02:24
ashley bernard cabrera
1:02:32
atira galana mead [Music]
1:02:39
edutube barry
1:02:45
mia michelle arrington
1:02:54
jacob andrew solomon
1:03:02
astrid medina
1:03:10
nathan reyes
1:03:17
ajani martin abbas [Applause]
1:03:24
valerie eliana rodriguez
1:03:31
janelle o'malayo judianne ellis
1:03:38
teresa
1:03:44
ivan lee [Music]
1:03:51
anjani kumar patel
1:03:58
m daniels
1:04:04
katie tran
1:04:10
shania farika piert
1:04:17
cashey garland [Applause]
1:04:31
once again for the class 2022 college of liberal arts and sciences
1:04:44
thank you dr linda meyer and dr lucky with the assist our associate dean of undergraduate programs please give her a
1:04:50
hand
1:04:58
now i'd ask that dr donna havens please come to the podium dr donna havens our dean of college of nursing
1:05:05
please welcome her to the stage
1:05:18
good afternoon esteemed fellow villanovans i feel privileged to be with you today
1:05:25
and to bring greetings and good wishes from the patrick college of nursing
1:05:31
to our nursing graduates i am proud to be your deed and to witness your joy as you transform
1:05:39
into the nurses that you always wanted to be and nurses that the world desperately
1:05:46
needs you have flourished in a rigorous curriculum and you have written your
1:05:51
history with an even larger historic context you have prevailed through a pandemic to
1:05:59
accomplish your goal the healthcare workforce is lucky to have you join them and i can't wait to
1:06:06
see your impact guard those in your care take care of yourselves also
1:06:12
and always speak up to share your insights with leaders better yet
1:06:18
you be the leaders driving care as only you can
1:06:24
and for those graduating from our other esteemed colleges at villanova
1:06:29
some of you will be our future colleagues in healthcare and in other important fields whether you're in
1:06:36
business communication the science is engineering or a host of others you too
1:06:41
may be part of the healthcare landscape working together and honoring multiple
1:06:47
perspectives is a big part of what this is about today and you have an important
1:06:52
important voice to use please use it and speak up
1:06:57
you will promote betterment in life thank you for choosing villanova and for
1:07:03
sharing these four years with all of us your presence has made villanova
1:07:08
an even better place to be you've been a gift and now it's time for
1:07:13
you to share that gift with the world we in the fitzpatrick college of nursing
1:07:18
celebrate you soon to be our newest alumni all of you we wish you
1:07:24
fulfillment and great success in your future will the students of the college of
1:07:30
nursing please stand and come forward
1:07:56
michelle samantha idrovo
1:08:03
daryl angela del mendoza
1:08:10
now julia s constant
1:08:18
micaiah danaya black
1:08:26
lucia magdalena grill
1:08:33
quinn gabrielle rose wilson
1:08:41
tony lynn s turner
1:08:48
ogochuku shelby oppala
1:09:02
antoinette cruz
1:09:09
dakota aquila reed
1:09:16
melissa lucia rodriguez [Applause]
1:09:24
kayla emily cavuli [Music]
1:09:31
nicole marie kane
1:09:42
thank you dr havens and thank you to our graduates and congratulations to
1:09:48
those in the college of nursing
1:09:57
i'd like to call dr joyce russell dean of villanova school of business please come to the podium
1:10:16
well i think we've all had to scrap our scripts um with the beautiful talks that were given
1:10:22
and i also would like to thank the organizers because every year this gets better and better and i'm so glad that
1:10:29
so many of you and your families are here it's fantastic
1:10:36
so i'm really honored to celebrate with you here today congratulations on this accomplishment
1:10:41
as i was thinking about my remarks for today i was drawn to a quote from saint augustine that could be the influence of
1:10:48
father kevin over there who is always helping out the villainous school business where he says keep on walking
1:10:54
keep on progressing do not delay on the road do not go back
1:11:00
do not deviate and we certainly heard that from our student speaker and from all of
1:11:06
you i mean you have all shown incredible strength resilience
1:11:13
and courage to walk down this road and we all have said and we all know
1:11:20
that the road has not been easy not just the pandemic if that wasn't enough
1:11:25
but you've had many other trials to deal with and you shared many of them with us
1:11:31
and you have worked with us as we've tried to make it a smoother road for future students and i know in
1:11:38
the school of business for future business students so you have just shown incredible and
1:11:44
impressive dedication and commitment that you have followed what saint
1:11:49
augustine said you have kept walking you have kept progressing
1:11:55
and in the villanova school business we talk about we are trying to build business leaders for a better world
1:12:01
and all of my vsp colleagues that are here and there are many that are here to support you
1:12:07
truly believe that you are really the ones that have helped
1:12:13
to help us really create a better world you have had such a positive impact with every
1:12:19
day that you have been here at csb and at villanova we are counting on you to continue that
1:12:26
in your journey forward i know that i certainly am and i know that myself and many of my colleagues
1:12:32
have tremendous faith in you you are those business leaders that have
1:12:38
really made a difference for us so class of 2022
1:12:43
congratulations on all of your accomplishments and we look forward to hearing about
1:12:49
your future successes and maybe coming back and being a professor someday please stay in contact with myself with
1:12:56
our team we will really miss you you have really made a difference
1:13:01
so thank you so students from the villanova school of
1:13:08
business if you could please stand and come forward
1:13:16
please remember to bring your cards
1:13:31
oladipo julia g girardini
1:13:42
best day bielen
1:13:49
[Music]
1:13:55
alicia marie langen
1:14:02
sophia jane villam
1:14:08
andrea angelic robles
1:14:14
esteva islam
1:14:20
tanaya gray
1:14:26
emily camille noni duperville
1:14:33
mia celeste bryant
1:14:42
franklin peeker v esquire [Music]
1:14:49
kevin jerome white
1:14:55
deanna amari beckwith
1:15:02
anthony wade newsome jr [Applause]
1:15:09
thiago miguel martens
1:15:15
austin j glass
1:15:23
gabriella sarmiento
1:15:30
gonzalo l felgarroso
1:15:37
colette marie turmat
1:15:43
maria zaneda espinoza
1:15:51
caitlyn tsai
1:15:57
arushi bhatia
1:16:04
jeff allen wong
1:16:10
dia sharma
1:16:15
caroline huang [Music]
1:16:21
stephen angelo guacachelka
1:16:27
andres sebastian padilla
1:16:33
matthew ryan parolo
1:16:49
thank you dr russell congratulations to the graduates of the villanova school of business
1:17:01
now i'd like to ask dr andrew welker associate dean for academic affairs in
1:17:06
the college of engineering please tell me
1:17:24
on behalf of dean marcolongo and the entire college of engineering i want to let you know how incredibly proud of you
1:17:30
we all are the past few years have brought incredible challenges on top of an
1:17:35
already challenging curriculum but you got through it it's a tremendous honor and a privilege
1:17:42
to share in that with you and i am just so grateful that i get to be here and be part of that journey for you
1:17:49
the other thing i want you to remember is that sometimes you change things just by being there so
1:17:54
go on and do great things but sometimes just not leaving the room makes a huge
1:18:00
difference and staying at the table can make a huge difference so thank you for allowing us to share in
1:18:06
your journey and congratulations
1:18:14
students of the college of engineering please stand and come forward to receive your stall and remember to bring your card with you
1:18:42
angelica tiffany c garcia
1:18:49
marion anne marzello
1:18:58
kim nguyen
1:19:04
joseph anthony madera
1:19:16
aaron riley hanlon
1:19:28
marco antonio vasquez
1:19:34
isaac oren paredes de leon [Music]
1:19:41
charles u
1:19:47
peter tran
1:19:52
herbaline a august
1:20:00
collins kwame owes [Applause]
1:20:08
abigail marie thompson
1:20:14
danielle torres
1:20:20
caesar augusto nunez rodriguez
1:20:27
joseph mendez
1:20:33
maya j brown
1:20:44
thank you dr welker and congratulations to the graduates of the college of engineering
1:20:55
and i'd like to ask dr christine k house dean of the college of professional
1:21:00
studies please come to this
1:21:12
thank you so much um first off on behalf of my fellow faculty and staff in the college of professional studies i just
1:21:19
want to say congratulations to each and every one of the graduates here today it's an honor to be with you and thank
1:21:24
you for the gift of each of you to our community to my college of professional studies
1:21:30
students you are last but certainly not least you are a small group but you are a mighty group
1:21:36
and each of you have a very unique beautiful story you are an inspiration for every single
1:21:43
one of us here today your passionate pursuit of lifelong learning
1:21:49
of dreams that were 5 10 15 20 years in the making
1:21:55
but you are here today we celebrate you we are inspired by you and we know that
1:22:01
this is just the beginning congratulations [Applause]
1:22:08
will our students from the college of professional studies please stand and come forward to receive your stole
1:22:40
madison de wispaler
1:22:48
robert mandato
1:23:07
rebecca vandal
1:23:12
giovanna and mitchell
1:23:24
robert walter brickhouse
1:23:38
thank you dr pals and to the graduates of the college of professional studies
1:24:02
let us take a moment to recognize the 2022
1:24:07
wildcat crossing graduate
1:24:49
we've got a little left to go so we got a little left to go right now we're going to have the reading of the pledge
1:24:54
so i'd ask dr terry nance vice president of diversity equity and inclusion and professor of communications and
1:25:00
graduating seniors
1:25:06
it's like introducing beyonce here i do i do indeed and we have two
1:25:13
graduating seniors who will be reading that pledge as well destiny humphrey
1:25:23
let me try to say this without crying and maria espinosa
1:25:32
as destiny and maria are making their way to the stand i know noreen's going crazy because this is not scripted
1:25:37
students may ask you to stand and look at somebody over here whether they're a parent whether they're a faculty person
1:25:44
where they're a staff person and give them a round of applause and say thank you
1:25:49
we would not have made this journey if it were not for you
1:25:57
thank you so much you may be you may be seated and the last thing i'll say that's not scripted
1:26:03
is you may hear people say to choose the path that's less traveled but i'm going to tell you that
1:26:09
wherever you go will be the path that others will follow because you are that
1:26:15
special congratulations
1:26:24
noreen i'm getting back to the script now we are gathered here this afternoon
1:26:31
to pledge ourselves to the future we ask you therefore as members of the villanova family to commit yourselves to
1:26:38
one another and to the world with the response i will
1:26:44
will you as villanovans seek integrity and truth in whatever work or service
1:26:49
you render in the days and years to come
1:26:55
community is the essence of villanova it is not passive my hope is that you discover that the
1:27:01
community is not something that you just find but rather something we create with the relationships that we reform every day
1:27:08
will you pledge yourselves to do the work of creating community by recognizing the humanity in all
1:27:14
individuals and committing yourself to a life marked by a willingness to work for fairness and justice
1:27:23
will you accept your responsibility of being informed engaged and involved in
1:27:29
important civic issues and working for the good of the communities in which you live
1:27:37
through your academic work at villanova you have experienced the challenge and
1:27:42
growth that comes from studying hard and learning new skills you also learned that there is always
1:27:49
more to learn will you pledge yourself to the hard work of lifelong learning will you
1:27:56
search for knowledge and truth through continued study and will you leave your zone of comfort to experience all that
1:28:03
the world has to offer villanova university is committed to the
1:28:10
faith development and spiritual growth of all its members will you pledge yourself to be open to the ongoing
1:28:17
development of your spiritual lives and will you participate in the search for meaning and fulfillment in your own life
1:28:24
and in the lives of those around you at villanova you have the opportunity to
1:28:32
participate in service oriented projects in programming that helps you learn firsthand the need to become personally
1:28:39
involved in the work of equity and authentic inclusion you are also witness to the pain of
1:28:45
poverty and the indignities of discrimination as you leave this campus will you pledge
1:28:51
yourself to participate in the search for equity and authentic inclusion where you will treat all persons with dignity
1:28:57
and respect saint thomas villanova is the patron
1:29:02
saint of the university he was one who served the poor and worked to establish a just society
1:29:09
villanova university seeks to follow in this tradition by asking you to use your
1:29:15
gifts in the service of others both on campus and in the larger community will you pledge yourselves to continue
1:29:22
this work as you leave villanova and in the years to come [Music]
1:29:28
you have agreed once again to be a central part of the legacy which we have come to know as villanova
1:29:34
may all of us be moved by your gifts and enriched by the identity which you have added and will add to the history of
1:29:40
this great university graduation is not only the ending it is
1:29:46
the beginning as we leave the safety and comfort of the villanova community let us promise
1:29:52
together please join us by repeating the promises after us
1:29:59
we promise to stay connected to one another
1:30:06
we promise to foster a sense of friendship beyond our years at villanova
1:30:16
it's a long one y'all all right we promise to participate actively in alumni activities for the
1:30:23
underrepresented and first generation villanovans
1:30:33
and first generation villanovans great effort
1:30:40
we promise to diversify our community through knowledge and through lived experiences
1:30:55
all right last one we promise to be inclusive and respectful to all people regardless of
1:31:00
origin
1:31:11
thank you
1:31:23
that wasn't that hard was it no response little response come on you just got through finals
1:31:33
all right just got a couple more things and then we'll do the housekeeping stuff
1:31:38
pictures and everything else class of 2022. so
1:31:46
i'm going to stick the script here so i don't go way way way off crying and what
1:31:54
today we celebrate all of you have successfully completed your respective degree requirement
1:31:59
today is a celebration of the diversity that this campus has to offer and that we all value
1:32:05
commitment a commencement ceremony marks the end of a process or program in which one has
1:32:11
started and seen to its conclusion or its end commencement marks the end of one
1:32:17
chapter and the beginning of another for each of you throughout the last week or more you may
1:32:22
have thought this is the last this is your last time here the end of long nights
1:32:28
and questionable food choices yeah pizza and red bull at 4 a.m
1:32:36
you'd only do that in your 20s tell me let me tell you but what i hope for each of you
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is that this day marks another type of ending an end to self-doubt and questioning
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whether you belong in spaces where there are a few of you if any people who look like you
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an end to your being held back by fear but instead taking a chance on yourself
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for following your dreams and into thinking that asking for help will make you feel less or unable i
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sincerely hope that your time at villanova has taught you that you are enough that you belong in this and many other
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spaces that you have value substance and that you're a person of high character ready to make an impact
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on this world congratulations class of 2022
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is something could i ask that the wildcat crossing committee please come
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up and the student committee
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so parents while we're waiting you can you know kind of get that iphone ready you know i know it takes a while for iphones to get ready android life you
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know we could just go like that okay this is a happy celebration let's
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not do this i can go to registrars and make sure you get two more classes you have to be added on
1:34:11
just this is a labor of love and it cannot just happen so the people before you
1:34:17
have worked tirelessly to make this day a success for you and they do it all for you can we please
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give them a round of applause
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and selfishly don't know stay right there selfishly i'd like to publicly thank the director of the center for access
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success and achievement linda [Applause]
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coleman the work that casa does in assisting students often is the difference between students choosing to
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stay or leave the university casa is a special place for many students and i wanted to publicly thank
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her for her leadership as well as the entire casa team
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all right little housekeeping notes here we go
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we're going to have a closing prayer and selection from what wait my director's always directing
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oh did she rule well somewhere you know what wait a minute wait a minute we
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miss davis give it up miss davis give it up miss davis
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who's spearheaded like this
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miss nicole davis associate director of casa
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some of you may know it as miss davis and some of you may know is miss davis
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no we thank you we thank you so very much what
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all right so we're going to have a closing prayer then a selection from the gospel choir
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and then our graduates are going to process out towards alumni hall and then return here
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to the core arch you're going to take pictures with father peter the deans of your respective colleges
1:36:36
mom dad pookie shot shot and all them we just asked as they process out
1:36:43
family if you could just kind of stay in your area i'm not gonna say stay seated because this is your day too so i'm just say
1:36:50
stay in your area until they process out and it'll be ample opportunities to take pictures and then everyone is welcome to
1:36:55
the reception which is on the other side of this building on the riley ellipse right on that field there it's already
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set up it's magnificent it is beautiful all right we're all in we're all in the
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court everybody everyone so thank you val closing prayer
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nice word griot land give it up a grill and please
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they're going to process us out i know commencement i said is a
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beginning with this young lady who's going to give us a call
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oh
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i've got two boys and i said god gave me daughters through my work
1:37:57
maria espinosa please closing prayer
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as we enter the closing pair i just ask that you you bow your heads
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gracious and loving god we give you thanks for having the graduates staff
1:38:38
faculty and families gathered here today may we always strive towards service
1:38:46
excellence and humility and all we do and continue to share our light with
1:38:51
others as we embark on this new chapter of our lives may we give thanks for all the blessings
1:38:59
that have filled our lives throughout these four years as well as the obstacles and challenges
1:39:05
that have made us ever more stronger may we find joy in our future endeavors
1:39:11
and wisdom in all our decisions may we use our talents and gifts to
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serve others and take all that we have learned in our time at villanova to
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empower each other and the new community that awaits us
1:39:26
as we prepare for our future careers may we work towards unitas veritas and
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caritas unity truth and love always
1:39:39
thank you god for allowing villanova to be our beacon of light
1:39:45
and may we have the courage and inspiration to go forth and set the world on fire
1:39:52
from this day onward we pray in the name of jesus amen
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this is
1:41:16
we belong together
1:41:23
[Music] why do you play with my heart or why do
1:41:29
you play with [Music]
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forever [Music]
1:41:57
girl each time i try
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pain in my head
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[Music]
1:42:14
[Music]
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it's unnatural you belong to me
1:42:32
[Music]
1:42:55
you just don't realize you've never been there before it's only
1:43:04
your first time maybe i'll forgive you
1:43:13
maybe
1:43:29
[Music] this time i want you to love me much
1:43:35
more this time instead just come to my bed
1:43:48
[Music]
1:43:59
you belong to me i belong to you
1:44:07
[Applause] [Music]
1:44:17
you belong to me [Music]
1:44:38
don't let me go
1:44:44
[Music]
1:44:55
you belong to me i belong to you
1:45:06
[Music]
1:45:14
you belong to me [Music]
1:45:26
thank you everybody [Music]
1:45:35
[Music]
1:45:47
[Music]
1:45:53
[Music] you
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2022 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2022](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image_copy.img.jpg/1714598583118.jpg)
Class of 2021
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[Music]
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so [Music]
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so [Music]
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[Applause] so
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[Applause] [Music]
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so
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let's give the graduates a hand clap
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please be seated
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before we begin we're going to do an opening exercise all right you with me all right
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so i need you all to close your eyes close your eyes you're not gonna miss anything it's being recorded
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okay i need you to go to the place where you didn't think you would make it
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i know this is going to be hard for some of you right now i need you to go to the place where you
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didn't know what was next i need you to go to the place where you
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said i quit and it's time to go home because i can't feel this way anymore
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now i need you to open your eyes look around you made it congratulations
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somebody said she making us cry this early that's right we're not finished all
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right good morning welcome graduates to the fifth annual wildcat crossing ceremonies
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i would like to welcome father peter president of villanova university dr patrick magety university provost
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kathy burns vice president of student life father kevin d prin prinzio
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vice president of mission and ministry dr adele lindemeyer dean of college of liberal arts and
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sciences dr andrea welker of the associate dean of academic affairs the college of engineering
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dr james vines of the college of nursing dr joyce russell dean of the school of business
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and dr christine paulus dean of the college of professional studies our alumni guest dr george james and
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with gratitude all of our parents friends and family who are watching this ceremony
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today we honor you our graduating seniors whose stories are under representative
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in the narrative of our community we will be led in prayer by marquis colts at the center for access success
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and achievement marquis [Applause]
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can we borrow our heads heavenly father we thank you for this day lord god we thank you for these
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precious students lord god who thought in that robbery to continue on their education and pursue their paths lord god with
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excellence we thank you lord god for all those who have helped them along the journey lord god
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their wonderful families lord god their friends as well as their teachers and professors
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we also thank lord god those who have advised them lord god as they have moved throughout this university year
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after year we know it wasn't easy particularly this year in unprecedented times where
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so much was going on but yet they stood tall and they continued to fight and we thank
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you for the precious promises that you have over their lives we ask that you bless this ceremony this
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graduation the rest of this year bless them as they take on jobs and internships
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bless them as they go out into the world to become who they were called to be in your eyes we thank you for our
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president of this university we thank you for the staff the faculty and all those who put their hands to the plow to make this university the
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excellent place that it is we thank you for our departments we thank you for our department chairs
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we thank you for everyone who has had some way or some knowledge of what to do in this
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particular time so god we ask you to bless this ceremony bless those who are here and once again lord god we thank you for
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allowing them to cross this path this prestigious occasion called graduation
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in your name we pray amen
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now we will hear from father peter donahue president of villanova university who will come to the stage for a
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welcoming address please give him a [Applause]
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handclap thank you charisma and welcome everyone as
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you had that opening exercise i closed my eyes and you said uh when did you want to quit
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and i said about halfway through this year and then you said open your eyes we made it yes we made it so congratulations to
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all of you
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thank you for joining us today for this villanova wildcat crossing recognition ceremony
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the ceremony is dedicated to recognizing diversity in all its forms among the villanova student body and
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honoring our graduates for their contributions to our community this weekend's celebrations are referred
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to as commencement because they mark a new beginning a time when we take what we have learned and
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experienced and commence on a new life and our graduates certainly have a great deal to look
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forward to but as we look forward to the future we must also remember our past at villanova we boast
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a nearly 180 year history that began in the most modest of ways
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in 1842 eight augustinian friars and ten students established a place
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where first generation americans like some of you in this room would receive an education rooted in the
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augustinian principles of unitas veritas and caritas they saw a bright future for all who
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walk through their doors as we do for each one of you today from a small group of 18
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we have swelled to a vast and diverse community a community that is not always perfect
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as we read in the instagram account this summer on hashtag black at villanova but that
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constant but it is a community that constantly strives to be the best version of
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ourselves to achieve this community members must be an understanding group and respect
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differences we must acknowledge and embrace the diverse experiences backgrounds and cultures
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each member brings to our community for nearly 180 years villanova has been
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a place that has empowered people and will continue to advance this mission
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we must promote the importance of a diverse community of race gender culture orientation
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geography and economic backgrounds we need to engage community members in
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meaningful and difficult dialogue we need to listen to each other with thoughtful hearts
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and open minds and we must challenge one another to think about issues that are difficult
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messy and have no easy answers we have an opportunity to make a
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difference to ignite change by opening doors and inviting conversations
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i believe we have made significant strides in creating the environment that we want
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but we still have a lot of work to do saint augustine taught us that only in
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community can we achieve our true potential community
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begins by building relationships with one another by engaging in dialogue by really
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by revealing our pain and fears by celebrating our accomplishments by
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embracing our differences and by challenging our preconceptions about other people
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it is not easy to build a community of veritas unitas and caritas but together
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we must continue to try it requires time energy and commitment more importantly
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it takes a willingness to look honestly at ourselves and see the times when our actions fall
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short of our loftiest goals and best intentions
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i know there have been difficult times when villanova has not fully understood
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the difficult and isolating practices some members of our community have felt
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if this has been your experience and it may be coming a little too late
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i am sorry and i promise you we will do better i firmly believe that
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villanova will be a place that embraces and elevates all members of our community
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it is important that fostering a diverse equitable and inclusive community is a formal part
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of our next strategic plan we are committed to creating a villanova community that must
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better reflect the world's diversity in all its forms socioeconomic racial ethnic orientation
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geographic and more we also want to ensure that all members of our
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community develop grow thrive and feel a deep sense
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of connection are different genders races cultures faiths and orientations
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they strengthen our community and i am extremely grateful to the students faculty and staff
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in this room who have recognized this and created ways to further improve diversity and inclusivity
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throughout our campus we have and will continue to build
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ways to support one another together we will continue to create ways to
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empower villanova to be a model for others that we are one mind one heart intent upon our god
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and to confirm that everyone in our community contributes to this value thank you
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for being a part of the journey and for making our community a stronger place
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to our graduates of the class of 2021 you have all left an indelible mark on
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this university i hope you will look fondly on your time at villanova
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and all the people you have met and the experiences you have created along the way thank you for being a part
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of the villanova community you will always be in the heart of this university
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congratulations to each and every one of you for everything that you've
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accomplished thank you father peter
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before i introduce the next person i call him my villanova big older brother remember the older
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part because i'm younger than them and so before there was facebook with
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mark zuckerberg villanova had a facebook it was called the view book
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and if anyone's here and they're shaking their head you know who's old in this audience um and so what would happen is you would
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get this view book the first week of school and then you would meet people and so one of those people i met was dr
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george james he came he knocked on my door with mr devon jackson and he introduced himself to me
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and he said welcome to the villanova community and george james asked me to join the gospel choir
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now listen i'm not father peter i'm not dr lucky those two individuals can sing i don't
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mean saying i mean they can sing i'm more like um sarah jones you know
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her you heard of her yeah i haven't either and so
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i just can't do it anyway george told me that it doesn't matter if you can sing
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or not it's just an invitation to come hang out with a group of people that will be here for you during your
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time at nova he said having a familiar face around campus is comforting and i don't need to be a father peter or
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dr lucky in the world i just need to be the best me who knew back then
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that dr james was already walking in his gift what's that gift you asked well let me
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introduce you to him dr george james is the chief innovation officer senior staff therapist and a a mft
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approved supervisor at council for relations he is an assistant professor for couple
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and family therapy program at thomas jefferson university dr james is president and ceo of george talks
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llc a communication and consulting company he works extensively with professional
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athletes entertainment adult men and women executives couples and young
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adult men on various issues including adulting career anxiety work-life balance love life
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leadership parenting depression and communication george has taught presented spoken and
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consulted with multiple businesses media production companies organizations universities and places of
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faith dr james attended villanova university as a presidential scholar where he met his wife candice they are
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parents to their creative daughter nylana and cheerful son alexander
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dr james is a nationally recognized speaker and we are proud to have him here today and claim him
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as our own dr george james [Applause]
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oh charisma bring it back the memories oh hello everybody hello uh all right so
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i'm a fair warning i come from a church where people like go back and forth and i just kept that in part of my life so i
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say hello you need to say hello back to me hello everybody all right get some energy in here
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i am grateful to be here thankful for by the way this doesn't count as part of my time this is just me saying hi to
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everybody i just want to be able to say congratulations to the class of 2021
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and there's a lot that i want to share today but before i get started since charisma throughout this welcome
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to the gospel choir this that was my opportunity to really just try to pull people in
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to connect with people which is what i think casa office and so many other offices
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here on campus try to do and i got evidence right i got evidence
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of you and others on the choir so look you didn't know i was going to call you out all right i'm grateful to be here
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and there are four things that have been of impact for me in my life that i want to share today that's to be
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a self-starter remember who you are get a mentor or two
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or three and don't limit yourself now i could just sit back down but i'm
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not going to do that because i just told you what i was going to say but i want to explain why i picked those
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four things so to be a self-starter if you were to look that up maybe you would see that
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someone would say it's about starting an adventure or a business or even an education
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on your own by yourself some of you might say it's a line from hamilton if you know the song right yeah it is
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but how i define that when i think about being a self-starter i think about it's not about doing it on
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your own because we live in community no one who is successful no one who gets to any place in life
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does it on their own we need other people but being a self-starter means that
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you're willing to try it to do it to believe it to go after it
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and it has to start with you it has to start within you you have to be the self-starter where
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you think about you know what i can do this how many of you here are only children or the oldest in your
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family just raise their hands right that's what i thought that's how i grew up i grew up as an only child slash
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oldest and that's a whole nother story for another day
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and so when i was 16 my mother uh took me to disney world she was in her
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early 50s and we went with one of a church member who was also in her early 50s and her
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grandson who was five or seven i am 16 i am at disney world
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with these four people right and and not not to mention earlier that summer or earlier that year
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i was at the place where i had a little bit of fear of roller coasters no judgment okay leave me alone it took me a little bit
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to get on the roller coaster thing and me and my friends we went to six flags and we were able to just
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just go after everything in the park we won every roller coaster so now i'm at disney world i'm excited
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i feel this energy i'm ready to go i'm ready to tackle the whole park but i have nobody right my 50 something
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year old mother her friend and this five or seven year old they are not going to space mountain with me they're not
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doing tower terror with me i had to be willing to do it on my own if i wanted the memories
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if i wanted the experience i had to say to myself i'm willing to do it and i was i went
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and i got proof right i'm not just saying it i was there i got the proof right i'm the only one
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right there in the back i went to the tower of terror i'm scared out my mind and i am there
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doing it right and i'll show you when you come up if you want to see it i got evidence i'm not lying to you i'm
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telling you the truth i'm saying that because that's the same motivation and ambition
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that allowed me to come here as a press scholar not knowing anybody not knowing what that would mean that's the same thing that allowed me to
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go to grad school not sure if i picked the right thing or right profession that it had to start within me that's
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what i want for you all to be the self-starter whatever that is whatever you're thinking about whatever you're hoping for whatever you've been
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envisioning in your life it starts in you and within you to go after it second
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thing no i still got more time no i got more time my time's not up yet second thing remember who you are
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and for me that also means to remember who god has made me to be that means to remember all my gifts my
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talents my abilities all those things that are part of who i am it can be easy to forget that
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i work with so many people with what they say to themselves what do they say within their minds and what they say to
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themselves is not really who they are we tell ourselves stories we create narratives that are false that
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aren't our true selves we have to remember that you are talented and gifted creative able to do
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so many things as charisma shared earlier part of that
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was me remembering that i've been in front of people i've been a performer
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i've been someone who was creative i diminished that part i just thought of
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i have to be smart i have to get good grades and i belittled the creative part of me
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and it was in my senior year here that i took an acting class and i was like no i know i love this stuff and then
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when i went to grad school while i was studying to be a therapist i was actively taking acting classes and
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i was going on auditions in philadelphia and in new york i was a part of a acting group within my church i was doing this
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thing because i realized it's a part of me it's who i am and yeah you know as students here on campus
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you know they talk about college being those years where you have to figure out who you are and you're like you go to a class and you're like ah that's not me that's not the
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major i want to be or maybe for some of you you hooked up with that person and you're like no that's not me i shouldn't have hooked up
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with that person that's not who i want to be right yeah i see y'all laughing because y'all know y'all been there
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right you had to creep walk right oh yeah it's okay it's all right no shame no judgment but to remember who you are
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that you are special that you are talented no matter what you went through no matter what obstacles
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no matter what was there you are good creative smart
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to remember those things because if you don't you can create a different story of who
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you are you can create a different narrative that says you can't that you should quit
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that you should give up but you don't get to this point without being able to push without being
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able to know that you can do it third thing get a mentor
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or two or three after i left villanova i would come back
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every year and i would connect with people who have just been so
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significant in my life some of them are here dr nance dr lucky dr kata who i don't you know i
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haven't seen in a while since the pandemic but he's someone that i would talk to dr lafferty and over the years father
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peter and i have grown a relationship i would come back to villanova and spark up conversations
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that's how i've gotten to stay connected with charisma and opened up opportunities for me i've had supervisors who have been
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important in my life and when i graduated from finishing my master's program
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i particularly was looking for a black male therapist to be my mentor i couldn't find one that
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for multiple reasons they were either too busy or not around and the person who was
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willing to be my mentor or willing to just help me and speak to me was a older man still his name is dr steven
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tree and for the past 19 years we've had conversations we've talked about things he's opened up
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opportunities my first media opportunity as a professional came because of him my
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first consultant opportunity came because of him so don't put your mentor into a box
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that person can come in any type of person identity even someone that you're not thinking
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about but it is important that you have that mentor someone that can say to you you're doing
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something that you shouldn't be doing someone that can encourage you someone that could uplift you someone that could
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challenge you and i've had that but i've had that in multiple areas i've had that professionally
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i've had that in my spiritual life i've had that in just business ventures when my father passed
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i didn't go to my professional mentor i went to my spiritual mentor someone who could give me
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some perspective and so i want you to think about who do you want to go after who do you
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want to have as a mentor and i want you to go after that person to to pursue them i've seen too many people
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who think that the mentor should come to you that's not how it works a really good mentor
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you go after them you email them you you try and call them you dm them you do
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whatever you need to do to get in contact with them and they might not get back to you right away that doesn't mean that they don't want
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to stay connected to you that just means they're busy that just means they have other things going on and stay
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consistent and and reach out to them fourth thing don't limit yourself
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there's so many ways as i've been saying that we can limit ourselves we can say oh i my gpa is horrible
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i should have done better in school or or it's easy to say that why didn't i go after this or try that
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there are ways that we can limit ourselves and when we do limit ourselves it impacts what we're able to do it's
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important that you tell yourself that i can do anything we've been dealing with covid
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for the past year plus and i've worked with people who have experienced huge amounts of
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depression anxiety and just being overwhelmed and yes covet is horrible and some of you have
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had it probably some of you in this room right i know it because i know the race here that have happened here at nova
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and it's not that it's an easy thing it's hard when we think about difficulties and challenges like covet
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but that shouldn't limit you just because you didn't get the class that you wanted or have the experience that
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you wanted that shouldn't limit you and what you want to do in the future i want you to also to think about we've
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seen in the past year plus more people acknowledge racism and
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justice microaggressions it's not that it's just started we know that it's been here for forever
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but more people are acknowledging and some people need to acknowledge it even more and yes that could be a barrier for you
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your identity or the multiple identities that you have could be a barrier for you
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if you let it as a black man i have had microaggressions racism other things
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try to stop me from moving forward situations where people might say i might not be a good fit or times where
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people ask me to answer all the questions for for my race examples of things that
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have been hard and difficult but my push to you is don't let those things limit you
27:42
don't let what other people say to you or what other people say about you or other people say about your identity
27:47
or multiple identity identities limit you i grew up not having a lot of
27:52
money my parents didn't have education my mother didn't pass
27:58
high school my father couldn't read but yet i ended up here at villanova i ended up at a place
28:06
thank you i didn't receive those things from my
28:12
parents but i received so many other things from them how to love how to care how to listen
28:18
how to pray those things i received from them but i also learned
28:23
not to limit myself despite of the situation whether covid whether your identity
28:28
whether what other people say to you don't limit yourself be a self-starter
28:35
remember who you are and some of you that might mean remember who god has made you to be
28:41
find a mentor or two or three and don't limit yourself those are the
28:47
four things i want you to hold on to as you move forward as you accomplish more and more things congratulations
28:54
class of 2021 thank you for the opportunity
29:07
thank you dr james for operating your gifts it's good to see you back home again the next person is the person that
29:14
i just talked about dr lucky and she has so many gifts
29:19
but her one and i really do hope that she acts up today um is thinking so let's give dr lucky
29:27
who is an associate professor and dean of bachelorette studies in the college of liberal arts
29:32
and sciences a handclay first thing i want to say
29:38
congratulations to class of 2021 i am so proud of all of you when
29:44
destiny humphrey contacted me and then noreen cameron followed up asking me to sing
29:52
i um was thinking of uh what i wanted to sing and noreen
29:57
specifically asked me to sing something that would be uplifting to encourage you
30:03
to keep going and a song an uh a sort of an old uh church song came to my mind i don't feel
30:11
no ways tired but then i thought of um a sort of updated version that mary mary did
30:18
and so i want to try i'm used to i'm very spoiled many of you know that my son plays for
30:23
me most of the time and because we were outside i told them i would sing acapella so please forgive me i was you
30:32
know mary mary threw some words in that i wasn't used to so thank god for cell phones there
30:39
will be mountains that you will have to climb
30:46
and there will be battles that you will have to fight
30:55
victory or defeat it's up to you to decide
31:04
but how can you expect to win if you never try
31:12
cl snap your fingers like this for me you just can't give up
31:20
now you come too far from where
31:27
you started from
31:33
nobody told you the road would be easy
31:40
i don't believe he brought us this far to leave you
31:48
never said there wouldn't be trials never said you wouldn't fall
31:56
never say that everything would go the way you want it to go
32:04
but when your back is against the wall and you feel all hope is gone
32:13
just lift your head up to the sky say help me to be strong
32:24
i just can't give up now
32:33
we come too far from where we started from
32:41
nobody told me the road would be easy i
32:49
don't believe he brought me this far to leave me
32:56
come on sing it with me you just can't give
33:02
up now you come too far from where you
33:10
started from nobody told you the road would be
33:20
easy say this i don't believe he brought me this far it's easy i don't
33:27
believe he brought me this far sing i don't believe he brought me this
33:33
far i don't believe he brought me this far i don't believe he brought you this far
33:42
to leave you
33:58
and she did not disappoint i told y'all that that was sunday's best we got some
34:04
clergy in this audience we'll have church real quick and we will be collecting an offering
34:09
okay all right thank you dr lucky our next speaker who will be coming to
34:16
share her story with us is karen mayor almaguer
34:22
please welcome karen
34:37
okay good morning class of 2021.
34:48
as a neuroscience major one of the first things i learned was that our brain works in a series of
34:55
networks and connections every day we form new networks and new connections and you're probably making
35:01
some right now after learning about this for the last four years i realized that this is also
35:08
how life works as people we're constantly forming connections with each other
35:14
and our surroundings and these connections are what get us through life and they are
35:20
what have gotten me through my last four years here at villanova one of the first connections i made was
35:26
the summer before my freshman year i remember miss coleman telling my aap class that being a part of aap
35:34
tremendously changed her college career and at the time i didn't really understand what she meant
35:40
because really who wants to be living on the fifth floor of stanford for six weeks the summer before college
35:47
and it wasn't until recently that i fully realized the incredible impact the
35:52
program had on me and my college experience not only was i entering villanova with
35:57
stronger academic skills but i had also formed a close group of friends or should i say
36:03
a network that have turned into family and shout out to my ap family if you're out there
36:11
these were the students that understood what it was like to be underrepresented at villanova
36:18
and it wasn't until a few years later that i realized the importance of having that support system and that network
36:25
and this was what allowed me to truly understand what miss coleman was referring to
36:31
in the upcoming years i was faced with various challenges in my academic life and my personal life
36:38
and i realized that it was not going to be easy to study and graduate from villanova
36:44
but because of the community and connections that i had from aap and organizations like casa and
36:52
the office of intercultural affairs i'm standing here in front of you today
36:57
and i know that i'm not the only one that has been faced with tremendous challenges over the last four years
37:04
which is why today is not just a celebration of graduating from villanova
37:09
but it's also a celebration of having the courage strength and perseverance to keep going
37:16
even when all the odds are stacked against us you're all here today because you were
37:23
willing to keep going and keep working hard towards your goals and dreams even when you had to work
37:28
twice as hard as a student sitting next to you even during a global pandemic that
37:34
drastically changed our lives an election that determined many of our futures a race war that
37:42
still demands our work you had the courage strength and perseverance to keep going and for
37:50
that i commend all of you and as you go out into the world i urge
37:56
you to remember these values and all of the networks and connections that you've made
38:02
throughout the last four years because they make us who we are and it is a testament to all that we can
38:08
accomplish despite our identities and despite where we come from
38:14
i am incredibly lucky to know many of you and being a part of this community has
38:20
truly been a blessing i cannot wait to see all of the incredible things that each and
38:25
every one of you will accomplish congratulations class of 2021
38:39
thank you karen for sharing your story with us our next brave student would be miss dana
38:44
wattsworth please come forward [Applause]
38:55
karen that was a tough act to follow oh my goodness sorry good morning everybody um i can't tell if it's the chills in
39:02
here you know i've been fine about graduating all week but tears i don't know if it's because i'm
39:08
cold or not um wow sorry um when i graduated from high
39:13
school my mom gave me this journal with the inscription and now i feel like it may even be a
39:19
little too common and so the adventure begins when we went shopping for college she
39:25
found a pillow that said the same and so the adventure begins each year
39:30
a new adventure being a part of the planning committee for the past few wildcat crossing ceremonies
39:37
has been a new adventure which brought with it a number of challenges successes and a whole lot of celebration
39:45
watching seniors who faced insurmountable struggles during their time here get what is
39:50
theirs has been one of the most fulfilling journeys today this week and the coming months
39:58
mark yet another new adventure this adventure is about getting what is
40:04
mine about us getting what is ours but it's not really just ours is it
40:12
we hear about appreciating the journey and not just the destination but a lot of work went into getting to
40:18
this particular destination sure we cross the rivers and climb the mountains or rather the stairs
40:24
of tolentine we stayed up all night we got up extra early
40:30
we wrote the papers did the lab research and made the group presentations we did it all but when we struggled
40:38
either in our faith in ourselves or with work in general when life got to be too much we had some
40:44
help we take this last step on this adventure
40:49
and our first step into our new one for ourselves and for those that helped us get here
40:56
this is for our moms and dads whether they called us each day or they watched over us from above
41:07
this
41:15
this is for our grandparents this is for our aunts and our uncles this is for our brothers and our sisters
41:23
this is for our cousins and this is for our classmates our friends
41:29
the families we've made here at villanova this is for the staff in the casa office
41:35
who every fall welcome a new class full of potential and every spring watch the class they've
41:42
supported leave and start anew it may not be these people's names that are on our diplomas
41:50
and it may not be their necks that stoles are being placed upon
41:55
but they each had a role in helping us along our journey our adventure as we count down these
42:02
last couple of days as classmates as students and not quite yet alumni i urge us all
42:08
to appreciate the past few years appreciate the highs and the lows but i
42:13
urge us not to hold on too tightly i urge us to keep moving be agile and
42:19
remain flexible i urge us all to take that next step
42:24
this is bye for now and not goodbye class of 2021 our next adventure begins
42:31
[Applause]
42:42
thank you dana for those words i'm supposed to be the one that's making you cry but you up here
42:49
i didn't bring any tissues so y'all not gonna see nothing running today um the wildcat crosston stole is a
42:56
symbol of our story all of us who are here this morning we celebrate each of you
43:01
and all of us who have shared life at villanova the dean of your college will share her thoughts and you can call
43:08
and call your name when your name is called please stand with your stole ready when all the
43:13
students in your college are standing the dean will ask you to turn towards the camera behind you
43:19
and put on your stole so family and friends who are live streaming can see you
43:24
and so the first dean that i would like to announce is also the dean of the college that i graduated from and
43:32
my boss and so i would like to say that when father peter said close your eyes
43:38
and you wanted to quit there were days this year with just everything going on
43:43
and what i appreciated most is that she always sent that email i was like ah is my computer booked because
43:50
did she just hear me and the team's talking like uh that's it i can't these kids my husband the
43:56
students i just need to and i would hear my five-year-old coming and say mom i think you need a timeout and i was
44:02
like phoebe nobody asks you and stop stop air hustling and so dean
44:08
lindenmeier would always send an email and say how's everything going remember to take a break no one's
44:14
bleeding out and i was just like okay now that's my ball said that
44:19
so dr lucky did you hear what she said she told me to breathe and to take a break um and so
44:26
i would like to thank dean lyndon meyer and associate dean lucky and susan jacobs
44:32
for really supporting all of us during this time to be able to support you and so it's my
44:38
honor to introduce dr del lyndon meyer the dean of the college of liberty and sciences
44:49
thank you miss charisma the hardest working person in the whole college of liberal arts and
44:54
sciences
45:00
nobody matches her dedication to our students and especially to you cherished
45:06
graduates of the class of 2021 and before i convey my
45:11
congratulations i want to take this opportunity to thank the people who planned this
45:18
extraordinary ceremony now its fifth year i
45:23
i thought it was just like the second one so thank you all noreen
45:30
charisma everyone the student planning committee for putting together such a meaningful
45:37
ceremony and thank god we are able to be here in person
45:42
it is really it's it's exhilarating
45:47
[Applause] uh cherish graduates
45:52
please take to heart the example of the people here who've spoken to you
46:00
who themselves are alumni of villanova university who struggled and overcome
46:09
and who have made this institution a much much better place starting with father peter graduate
46:17
of class of 75 first generation college student
46:24
dr james such an inspiration
46:30
and our beloved miss charisma all of them and many many more are devoted to the
46:37
success of students and graduates and as soon to be alumni
46:43
please help us make villanova a better place so now i believe
46:50
all of you are supposed to stand up or one at a time miss charisma
46:56
one at a time all right i'm going to read your name and when your name is called please stand up
47:02
and remain standing kyle
47:08
abbott [Applause]
47:23
gia beaton chloe benson
47:29
mary alice bingaman crystal bro lillian
47:35
bowie betsy carroll michelle charles
47:42
elise chen keanna kosir ulisa cruz caroline dimmick
47:53
maria jaghova yome [Applause]
47:59
anna uh rakau excuse me anna amira guy
48:08
andrea hammond jasmine jung tyler kemp
48:15
daphne lebrun powell alice amira martin keith matthews
48:23
michelle mendes castro karen mir almaguer
48:30
maria gabriela molina alyssa no wheel
48:36
madeleine achiabil caitlin o'donnell tyler okada pieta akonya
48:45
michelle philippi joy polk andreen powell ariana
48:53
ramos claire rickell jonathan rodriguez enrique rosado
49:03
jessica sardina taya sharif kiana smith destiny
49:11
stanton [Applause]
49:24
joseph torres eliana uriona matthew waller
49:31
aaron warren samantha williams janine wilson grace wittenberg
49:39
caleb wu telena zamorano gonzalez
49:45
and julia zaziki students in the college of liberal arts
49:51
and sciences soon to be graduates please turn toward the camera
49:57
camera very good and put on your stove please
50:05
if you have not already done so may this stole remind you that you are
50:11
resilient that you stand in solidarity with each other today
50:16
and in the future with the members of villanova's 2021 graduating class
50:23
please be seated
50:33
congratulations our next our next um
50:40
person who will be coming to the stage he's new to our community but like his name suggests dr james vines
50:46
his vines are just spreading all over and so we would love for him to come to the
50:51
stage and to announce our graduates in the college of nursing please give them a hand class
51:00
all right are there some future nurses out there where you at nurse all right good morning everyone
51:09
i bring you greetings on behalf of dean havens and the rest of the faculty and staff in
51:14
the m louise fitzpatrick college of nursing and today we are here to honor our
51:19
graduates before i honor them i'd just like to take a moment to remind everyone
51:25
that in this past year a many careers that could be zoomed frontline workers is not one of
51:32
them so always remember that nurses
51:43
and before calling on them i would just like to give a little word a wisdom for you and this is taken from
51:50
the late robin williams in his work patch adams in it he says each person has an impact
51:58
on another you can treat a disease you may win you may lose but if you
52:05
treat the person no matter the outcome you will win i guarantee you and i want you to
52:12
remember that nurses all right
52:19
and now let's have everyone stand as i call your name please stand stephanie einor
52:33
jose cervatis
52:38
isabella quan kyra parnell
52:47
tiffany pearson
52:53
tonya sandon emily sowell
53:02
and dylan nguyen
53:08
graduates of the college of nursing please turn and face the camera
53:14
graduates please put on your stole
53:21
all right
53:28
graduates may this stole remind you that you are resilient and that you stand in solidarity today
53:35
and in the future with the members of the villanova graduating class of 2021 on behalf of the m louise
53:43
fitzpatrick college of nursing i congratulate you congratulations
53:56
thank you dr vines
54:02
the next person who i'm going to introduce is dr joyce russell who is the dean of the villanova school
54:07
of business now i have to tell you something really briefly i happen to be on a committee with dr russell and
54:14
she was just talking about you know breaking glass ceilings and i just sat back and i
54:19
was like wow this is good so when you get out there in your careers and you hit that ceiling and you want to
54:25
know how to break it i say email dr joyce russell and she's going to show you how to smash it
54:38
thank you charisma um well first i just want to say on behalf of villanova school of business congratulations to all of you
54:46
you really make our graduates from the business school so much better working with all of you
54:52
from all the other schools and colleges so thank you for all being part of this fantastic community
54:58
really appreciate it and we also just really appreciate this um the planning committee that did this
55:05
this continues to become an even better and better ceremony every single year
55:10
um so can i like start hiring you dr lucky for my gosh for the singing that was fantastic
55:17
so for the villanova school of business graduates if you could stand as i call
55:24
your name um and i would like to just say that for all of us the faculty and staff i know they would
55:30
all want to be here and it is fantastic to be here in person i know i've gotten to meet many of you
55:35
and we are really going to miss you you have had a huge impact on the villanova school of
55:42
business trying to help us to do better as it relates to diversity equity and inclusion
55:48
and as father peter said earlier we all still have much more work to do but we are committed to that work so
55:55
thank you graduates and all of you for helping us we're going to continue on that journey
56:01
every step of the way so as i call your name if you could stand
56:08
bankalay oli kiwama
56:18
i forgot my glasses up here so if i say your name's a little bit off sorry about that chi chi chi okay
56:29
emily sue museski
56:35
emily coomer gregory thomas
56:48
lauren lee dominguez
56:55
nassir dalling
57:00
javion gayenton
57:06
eric henry milan kanye
57:16
sarah kim elizabeth litka
57:25
arlene nyles
57:32
manuel patel nikki wren
57:39
grace smith gabrielle tarson
57:49
dana wadsworth miles williams
57:58
students of the villanova school of business please turn toward the camera behind you
58:04
[Music] students put on your stoles
58:09
and may this stole remind you that you are resilient that you stand in solidarity today
58:16
and in the future with the members of villanova's 2021 graduating class who've chosen to
58:23
be here today congratulations and please be seated
58:34
congratulations thank you dr russell oh my goodness i can't believe you guys are graduating i remember when you were
58:40
freshmen um my next person that i would love to introduce this is a person who
58:46
i think it there may be a problem because i speak engineer we talk about academic processes all the
58:54
time and when i speak to her she's like yeah let's just make it one button and so it
59:01
is my pleasure to introduce dr andrea walker the associate dean of the college of engineering
59:14
well thank you so much for having me here today thank you so much charisma you're always such a pleasure to work with i wanted to share a story
59:21
with you today about a student who struggled persevered and graduated last year
59:27
like me hector was a first generation college student and he was from south jersey so we definitely had that in common
59:34
unfortunately he started to tell that narrative to himself that we heard about earlier that wasn't true
59:41
um and he felt that he was an imposter right so he let imposter syndrome really
59:46
take over all of his thoughts and really cause a lot of self-doubt
59:51
it got to the point where he was failing in every way socially academically and he and i met did a lot of soul
59:59
searching and he decided that the best for it for him would be to take a medical leave this was
1:00:05
terrifying for him to think of calling his parents and telling them that he wanted to take
1:00:10
a year off from school we did a lot of role playing where i pretended to be his parents i
1:00:16
came up with a whole series of scenarios where i would answer and every time he went through it his
1:00:21
voice shook a little less and his whole reasoning became more
1:00:26
crystalline fast forward to him taking the medical leave and he really starts thinking about what it was about engineering that
1:00:33
he liked in the first place and it was 3d printing he would create designs on his computer he would email
1:00:40
them to me i'd send them to our 3d printer guy our expert george would then print out those designs and
1:00:46
mail them back to him this went on the entire time of his medical leave
1:00:51
it kept him connected to villanova which was fantastic when he got back to
1:00:56
villanova he was a new person he asked for help when he needed it
1:01:02
he didn't let that narrative get in the way of what he was doing he realized that in fact he did belong here and he
1:01:08
was enough he went on to lead a senior design group and in fact
1:01:13
ran all of the 3d print jobs and created all the prototypes for that group
1:01:19
so in july after he graduated hector emailed me to tell me thank you
1:01:25
for saving his career but what i want hector and all of you to know is that you're
1:01:32
the reason why i come to work every day so i want to thank you
1:01:37
and i just couldn't be more proud of being here with you today
1:01:48
students please stand when your name is called and remain standing until all the students in the college of engineering
1:01:53
are standing christopher bondock
1:02:02
armani civola annette chichi riga
1:02:11
salman durrani giselle espinoza
1:02:20
camry jewett
1:02:26
hamana colin andre lim
1:02:34
alex luna karen mcguire
1:02:42
tiffany navares
1:02:47
eldo purini reynos gaffidi
1:02:59
students in the college of engineering please turn toward the camera behind you
1:03:07
students put on your stall may this stole remind you that you are
1:03:13
resilient and that you stand in solidarity today and in the future with the members of
1:03:18
villanova's 2021 graduating class who have chosen to be here today
1:03:24
please be seated
1:03:32
thank you dr welker last but certainly not least is dr christine paulus of the college of
1:03:38
professional studies i love talking to dr paulus because when we talk about the the different story and the
1:03:45
alternative path she's a great ally and to hear her talk about how what she's doing for her students
1:03:52
and to see her staff dedicated i thank you for everything and i invite you to the podium
1:04:04
thank you so much charisma first off to all of you who are here on behalf of all of our faculty and staff in the college
1:04:11
of professional studies congratulations and thank you for the gift of your presence to the villanova community
1:04:18
it's been an honor to walk with you all on your journeys and we look forward to seeing you go out into the world and making it a
1:04:24
much better place so thank you and congratulations and to our cps students who are here a very very
1:04:31
special congratulations to all of you uh it's been a long journey for many of you
1:04:37
with many stops and starts and stops and starts but most importantly have been those
1:04:44
starts when you came back and you kept your eyes on where you wanted to go all while you were
1:04:49
having babies raising babies taking care of elderly parents
1:04:55
getting new jobs taking care of this villanova community in many ways but again that degree was always the one
1:05:02
that you're working towards so i congratulate you we are so proud of you we have been honored honored to walk
1:05:09
with you on this journey and we look forward to seeing you continue to grow and learn and
1:05:15
and just be the wonderful gift to the world that you are so thank you and congratulations again
1:05:27
cps students please stand when your name is called joyce harden
1:05:41
erica howard and brittany jones
1:05:52
students in the college of professional studies please turn toward the camera behind you
1:05:59
and please put on your stole
1:06:08
may this stole remind you that you are resilient and that you stand in solidarity today
1:06:14
and in the future with the members of villanova's 2021 graduating class who have chosen to be here today please
1:06:21
be seated congratulations
1:06:27
thank you dr paulus joyce i got you dr kate is my next door neighbor so i'm
1:06:32
just going to knock on the door and tell him that you're going to spend the afternoon with father peter celebrating all right
1:06:49
i want to thank the deans and dr vines for graduating for congratulating our
1:06:55
graduates my my next speakers i have to tell you a short story so if you all have your
1:07:01
phones there's an email address that you need to have in your email that you cannot
1:07:06
lose ready it's teresa.nance
1:07:12
at villanova.com don't lose it here's the reason
1:07:19
even in your careers you're going to reach the point where you're going to walk out
1:07:24
where you're going to want to quit and you're going to need someone to tell you no you are needed
1:07:31
although you are not going to want to hear it at the time you know i feel like my kid sometimes
1:07:37
when i'm like i can't do it or i'm not doing it and she's like if not you then who i don't like you
1:07:44
right now right and she says well you know that's okay come back when you do so later i knock on her door
1:07:51
and she's in her office with her spirituals playing right and it's just hard to like
1:07:56
really come at somebody when they have like the spirituals on and then she says have you
1:08:03
realized why you're there have you realized that everything that is happening to you
1:08:11
is happening for you now get up and go and so
1:08:17
i would like to introduce you to dr terry nance who's the vice president for diversity equity and inclusion
1:08:22
and associate professor of communications and graduate and graduating senior and i'm sorry
1:08:28
chief diversity officer and graduating senior dana wadsworth who will now enter the pledge with you
1:08:47
[Music] hi again everyone
1:08:54
uh greg thomas was supposed to be here this morning but as studious as he is he's still working on a paper so
1:09:00
you know we're all sending love to him as he finishes that up it's either studious or
1:09:07
can we talk we're going to go with sudius for this morning
1:09:14
first of all let me just say thank you to miss charisma because i will say that i remember
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i don't know if you remember i remember her first day on campus in aap with you sitting on the radiator
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and not wanting to sit in your chair while we were beginning class just saying just saying but what i
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also learned from charisma is to have a vision and a dream and a work and to work
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tirelessly to make those dreams come true and so i am delighted to be here and especially
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delighted to share the stage with you we are gathered here this afternoon to
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pledge ourselves to the future and to the future of our world we ask
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you therefore as members of the villanova family to commit yourselves to one another and
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the world with the response i will can you practice that for me
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very good get a little bit more diction you know for the camera you got the masks on
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so let's write one more i will very oh camera they are good
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will you as villanovans seek integrity and truth in whatever work or service
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you render in the days and years to come
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community is the essence of villanova it is not passive my hope is that you discover that the
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community is not something that you just find but rather something we create with the relationships we form each day
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will you pledge yourselves to do the work of creating community by recognizing the humanity in all
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individuals and committing yourself to a life marked by a willingness to work for fairness
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and justice will you accept your responsibility of
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being informed engaged and involved in important civic issues and working for the good of the
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communities in which you live through your academic work at villanova
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you have experienced the challenge and growth that comes from studying hard and learning new skills you also learned
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that there is always more to learn will you pledge yourself to the hard work of lifelong learning
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will you search for knowledge and truth through continued study will you leave your zone of comfort to
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experience all that the world has to offer
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villanova university is committed to the faith development and spiritual growth of all its members will you pledge
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yourself to be open to the ongoing development of your spiritual lives and will you participate in the search
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for meaning and fulfillment in your own life and in the lives of those around you
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at villanova you have the opportunity to participate in service oriented projects and programming that help you learn
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first hand the need to become personally involved in the work of equity and authentic
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inclusion you are also witness to the pain of poverty and the indignities of discrimination
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as you leave this campus will you pledge yourself to participate in the search for equity and authentic
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inclusion where you will treat all persons with dignity and respect
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saint thomas of villanova is the patron saint of the university he was one who served the poor and
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worked to establish a just society villanova university seeks to follow
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in this tradition by asking you to use your gifts in the service of others both on campus and in the larger
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community will you pledge yourselves to continue this work as you leave villanova
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and in the years to come you have agreed and once again to be a
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central part of the legacy which we have come to know as villanova
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may all of us be moved by your gifts and i can say that i am and enriched by
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the identity by which you have added and will add to the history
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of this great university graduation is not only the ending it is
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the beginning as we leave the safety and comfort of the villanova community let us pray together let us pray to stay
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connected to one another to foster a sense of friendship beyond our years at villanova
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to participate actively in alumni activities that are catered towards underrepresented
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and first generation villanovans let us pray to diversify our community
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not only through our knowledge but also through our lived experiences let us pray that we will be inclusive
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and respectful to all people regardless of origin thank you
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[Applause] thank you
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so we will have some closing remarks by your student
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and minowan yamir so i need to tell you a little bit about this student
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we um campus ministry had a breakthrough with casa and we decided to be chaperones and so
1:14:52
as we're leaving and we're in the car and i'm getting dropped off my seven-year-old whitman he thinks he's
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a professor and he's my father he begins to tell me do i think that good parenting allows you to leave your children
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for the week to help other people and so i was feeling bad but when i got out the car
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phoebe passed out on the lawn and phoebe is so dramatic my father
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would say just like her mother right but we don't pay my dad any mind and so i i get
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on the plane and i'm just like i don't want to talk to anyone because i'm just just feeling bad and i sit next to this
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student and she looks like a talker so i turn this way like let me act like i'm sleep and then she
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turned around says miss charisma i i wanted to meet you i want to sit down and talk to you and i was like
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so i had to like get my spirit together and i was like okay and i said what's your name and she says
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you can call me amen. and right then and there i was like thank you god for the peace
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because i know that it's going to be all right so thank you
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so we gather today in celebration and to give thanks let us pray heavenly father we want to
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thank you for this day and for the wisdom to recognize our gifts and serve you with gratitude
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help us apply what we have learned at villanova as we pursue our dreams in unexpected
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ways provide us with the courage to move beyond fear and doubt to find strength in our capacity to care
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for others and to respect the diversity of humankind help us to be mindful that true success
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stems from meaningful relationships and a community that embraces truth unity and love
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through your gracious spirit we ask that you bless us with patience as we explore new horizons bless us with
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humility in the face of success and abundance bless us with compassion for those who
1:16:51
are impoverished sick or suffering bless us with generosity in the midst of the challenges to come
1:16:59
and bless us all family friends faculty mentors and supporters
1:17:04
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2021 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2021](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image_203724075_copy_994699366.img.jpg/1714598571919.jpg)
Class of 2020
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you may write me down in history with
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your bitter twisted lies you may tread
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me in the very dirt but still like dust
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all rise does my sassiness upset you
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why are you beset with glue cuz I walk
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like I've got oil wells pumping in my
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living room just like moons and like
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Suns with the certainty of tides just
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like hopes springing high still I'll
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rise did you want to see me broken bout
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ahead and lowered eyes shoulders falling
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down like teardrops weakened by my
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soulful cries does my heart eNOS offend
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you don't you take it awful hard cuz I
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laugh like I've got gold mines digging
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in my own backyard you may shoot me with
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your words you may cut me with your eyes
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you may kill me with your hatefulness
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but still like air I'll rise does my
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sexiness upset you does it come as a
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surprise that I dance like I've got
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diamonds at the meeting of my thighs out
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of the huts of history's shame I rise up
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from a past that's rooted in pain I rise
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I'm a black ocean leaping and wide
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Welling and swelling I bear in the tide
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leaving behind nights of terror and fear
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I rise into a daybreak that's
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wondrously clear I rise bringing the
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gifts that my ancestors gave I am the
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dream and the hope of the slave I rise I
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rise I rise
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[Laughter]
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courage is what makes us courage is what
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divides us courage is what drives us
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courage is what stops us courage creates
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news courage demands more courage
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creates blame courage brings shame
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courage shows in school courage
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determines the cool courage divides the
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weak courage pours out like a leak
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courage puts us on a knee courage makes
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us free courage makes us plea courage
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helps us flee
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there is nothing beautiful about the
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wreckage of a human being there is
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nothing pretty about damage about pain
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about heartache what is beautiful is
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their strength their resilience their
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fortitude as they display an ocean of
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courage when they pick through the
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wreckage of their life to build
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something beautiful brand-new against
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every odd that is stacked against them a
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few years ago I would have said
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resilience is getting it done at any
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cost
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but resilience is getting it done while
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prioritizing your mental and physical
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health taking care of yourself so you
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can keep getting more done and keep
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making a difference never give up and
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keep trying keep trying your best to
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become the best that you can be
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continuing to move forward despite any
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obstacles you may face overcoming the
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challenges you face learning from them
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and coming back stronger than you were
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before
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surpassing what you believe you can do
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in the face of adversity moving forward
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even if the journey ahead is rough in
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order to do that just stay positive and
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takes it one day at a time to push
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through the good in bed no matter what
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to achieve your goals and aspirations no
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matter the circumstances it's always
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persevere and fight no matter what its
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defined the odds
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no matter the obstacle while staying
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firm in your faith and beliefs defining
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what greatness
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means for you think of somebody who you
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think is great did they stop once they
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achieved that status probably not
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resilience is knowing who you are
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resilience is knowing that no matter
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what you are gonna make this happen
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because you've come too far resiliency
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to me is pushing through something even
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when you can't see the finish line you
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just do it because you have to
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resilience is knowing and understanding
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that the challenge is coming so that you
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know how to endure resilience to me
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means not taking no for an answer
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it means moving forward regardless of
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the barriers in front of you even if you
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fail you are resilient you grow in
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resilience is necessary and it requires
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a commitment to yourself it knows no
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race no age no gender but it's your own
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internal strength and faith and knowing
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that absolute greatness is on the other
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side of it because you're built for it
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resistant me is when the able to bounce
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back from any negative situation but not
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taking no for an answer
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there's a million feelings we gotta
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break through there's a million doors
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that we not only got a crack open but
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break down and it's not taking no for an
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answer and really putting in the work to
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make the real change resilience is all
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about the the obstacle that's in your
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way and you changing your your path your
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plans your journey to overcome that
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obstacle if it's just one of those
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things where you continue to push
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through you continue to stay on track
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continue to stick to the script even
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when things are mounted against you even
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though
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things may not go as we expected knowing
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that you were worthy and deserving of
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the goal you're working towards an
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understanding that adversity is just
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part of the process it is ultimately
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what will make us stronger and more
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capable to my Annan and family what is
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resilience to me resilience to me is you
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watching you every day every semester of
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these four years you showed me what true
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grit is and staying focused driven and
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committed in the face of any kind of
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adversity not giving someone the power
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to define you or yours and believing
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that another day will be a better day
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even when that's hard to imagine
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maintaining the motivation needed push
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through any and all obstacles that come
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your way
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resilience means returning back to
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Villanova after two years to finish my
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degree resilience is knowing that my
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dreams are my truth and I'm not going to
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let anything get in my way already
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you've got it
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resilience grit perseverance you members
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of the class of 2020 epitomize
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resiliency and Industry to persevere
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through numerous challenges be able to
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face life's inevitable adversities and
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to come back a store or even stronger
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than before resilience means not to give
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up no matter what you experience what
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you go through or what you tell yourself
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in your mind celebrating how far you've
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come and working harder diligent to
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achieve other goals that you have in
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your life your accomplishments your
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legacy and every step that you took
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forth is what resilience means
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being able to work hard to overcome
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difficulties while also recognizing when
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it's time to reach out to others for
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help being able to understand that life
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is full of a lot of inevitable hardships
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and challenges and you're able to adapt
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to the change it be flexible understand
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your own potential capability and
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ability to achieve and cope resilience
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doesn't have to be big and flashy it can
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be just sticking around long enough that
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other people begin to accept that you
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belong there Lord you don't have to move
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my mountains just give me the strength
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to climb and if you can't give me the
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strength to climb Lord just leave me all
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around
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[Music]
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Brazilians to me means taking something
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negative and talking to you and using it
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to advocate for policies that will
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prevent that from happening for future
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students to come having the tenacity and
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determination to accomplish your goals
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when the going gets tough and in the
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face of defeat the ability to achieve
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ones goals despite the number of
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curveballs you're thrown responding and
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faith hope and love to situations in
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realities often beyond our control
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staying strong a challenge seeing the
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power in short-term goals to reach your
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long-term dreams learning to be a
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relentless optimist who looks for the
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beauty in each and every day
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you're able to adapt with the changes
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and make it a positive as opposed to
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negative what resilience means to me is
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a pin one cell faith in a higher power
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if that's your tradition and bateman
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others being curious and creative and
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critical use all that to bring some good
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to the world resilience to me news
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strengths in these getting a million
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knows to get to that yet and falling a
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thousand times and getting right back
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what resilience means to me is being
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flexible enough to handle whatever life
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throws at you
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Congrats class of 2020 go cats
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[Music]
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we now turn our attention to the future
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you will create for yourself and for the
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world in which we live as members of
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Villanova University we ask you to
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affirm a commitment to yourself to one
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another to the University and to the
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world with the promise I will will you
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as Villanova's see integrity and truth
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in whatever work or service you render
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in the days and years to come I will
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Villanova strives to be a hospitable
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community respect for each individual is
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affirmed so that human potential can
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flourish will you pledge yourself to
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create an atmosphere of mutual love and
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respect wherever your path may take you
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and in so doing use your gifts and
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talents to enrich the lives of all those
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you call community
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I love please drive further the
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character and integrity of the nation in
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which you're a citizen
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I will Villanova University is a
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Catholic on the stinging community
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dedicated to the exploration of diverse
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religious spiritual intellectual and
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cultural traditions will you pledge
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yourself to be open to the ongoing
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exploration and development of the
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religious intellectual spiritual or
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cultural tradition and will you
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participate in the search for meaning
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and fulfillment in your life and in the
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lives of those around you I will I will
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you had the opportunity to participate
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in the search for justice through your
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academic programs and through student
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active
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you learned about a need for a more just
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world in which all human beings Cooper
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will you pledge yourself to act justly
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treating all persons with dignity and
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respect regardless of race creed
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religion sexual orientation gender or
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physical condition and to create a
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community for bigotry and discrimination
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are not tolerated
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I will patron saint of the University
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st. Thomas at Villanova's house was
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always open to the poor will you follow
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this tradition by using your gifts and
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service others I will you have committed
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yourself once again to be an essential
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part of the legacy that we know now may
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all of its be moved by your gifts and
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enrich for the identity that you have
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added and will add to the history of
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this great University graduation is not
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only an ending it is a beginning as we
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leave the safety and comfort of
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Villanova please say the words of
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commitment stay connected and support I
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will maintain friendships with one
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another beyond our years on campus I
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will participate actively in alumni
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events especially those created for
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multicultural underrepresented
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first-generation and marginalized groups
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I will exemplified the fires of truth
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unity and community wherever we go and
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in whatever weekend I will I will I will
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I will I will I will I will I will I
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will I will I will I will I will I will
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I will I will I will I will be
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courageous in times of change and
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remember that sometimes the most
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courageous act is to stop
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and listen to others
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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you
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2020 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2020](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image_203724075_copy.img.jpg/1714598577470.jpg)
Class of 2019
Class of 2018
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2018 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2018](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image_203724075_copy_683866675.img.jpg/1714598578664.jpg)
Class of 2017
![wildcat-crossing-graduates-2017 Wildcat Crossing Class of 2017](/content/university/academic-enterprise/student-support/casa/wcc/_jcr_content/pagecontent/image_203724075_copy_889609486.img.jpg/1714598578342.jpg)