A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

Engaged and Inspired
The Class of 2011
PHOTOS: Gil Talbot
After a water-logged spring, sunshine burst forth for Colby-Sawyer’s 173rd
Commencement exercises held Saturday, May 7, on the college’s front lawn.
Assistant Professor of Social Sciences and Education Eric
Boyer, winner of the Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in
Teaching, delivered a clever Commencement address, “The
Unexamined Life: An Examination,” which urged the 194
graduates to balance a Socratic rigor of examination with a
zombie’s laid-back contentment.
“While Socrates found that his quest
for answers led only to the certainty of
his own ignorance, the zombie knows
very little, but finds contentment in
the fact that it has all of the answers it
needs,” said Professor Boyer. “If you are
looking for a life in which work and play
are fused into an organic whole, look no
further than the zombie…It is important
that you find peace in a world that is
unfinished, and with experiences that
are precarious and unstable. Know when
to slow down to a shuffle, release a few
low grumbles, and relax.”
In his address, President Galligan
congratulated the seniors and reminded
them that “a great liberal arts education
prepares you to excel in your chosen
field and to teach yourself for the rest
of your days—whatever you choose to
learn.” After highlighting the achieve-
42 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Jeanne Clark, an Environmental Science graduate,
was selected as the student speaker for the Class of
2011 Commencement Ceremony.
by Kate Dunlop Seamans
ments of specific individuals, he reminded the Class of 2011
that “a great liberal arts education prepares you not only to
learn but to teach—however and wherever you choose to
do that teaching. You have merged the ability to think critically,
to communicate orally and in writing, to act ethically, to
appreciate multiple disciplines and diversity,
and to know yourselves even better.
As a result of all that merging I hope you
have become better, more engaged, more
responsible citizens.”
Jeanne Clark’s senior address, titled
“Come Alive,” drew on her field study
experiences in Kenya and Tanzania.
“When I was in East Africa, I was
more alive and more inspired than I
have ever felt. Working with the local
community in a developing country
made me come alive, and this is something
I will carry with me for the rest of
my life,” she told her classmates. “As we
close this ceremony, receive our degrees
and move forward, ask yourself: What
makes you come alive? Because the world
needs a lot of things, but if it could be
full of people who are passionate and
follow what inspires them, then I believe
those things will become possible.”