May 18, 2024
President Robert W. Iuliano
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
As Delivered.
Greetings and Opening Address
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our 189th Commencement Ceremony at Gettysburg College.
A special welcome to our Gettysburg parents, families, and friends here with us today and, most importantly, to this remarkable group of students—soon-to-be graduates of the Class of 2024!
I’ve had the chance to talk with many of you, the members of this extraordinary class, over the past several months and I recognize the sea of emotions that must be coursing through you right now—joy, nostalgia, perhaps even a sense of relief.
Yes, your grades are in. This is happening. You really are graduating today!
I hope you likewise feel a true sense of pride in what you’ve accomplished. We ask a lot of our students. You have not only met but surpassed our highest expectations. And by doing so, you are leaving behind an indelible set of footprints on this campus for generations to follow.
On behalf of our entire Gettysburg College community, I want to thank you for how you have shaped this College over the past four years.
Families and friends, will you please join me in extending to our graduates a hearty congratulations on reaching this important milestone in their lives.
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and to thank the many Gettysburgians who have helped you to arrive at this point—those who have fostered your growth as a student and as a person.
I am, of course, speaking about our dedicated faculty and staff.
From the classrooms to the laboratories to the playing fields and performance stages, these committed individuals have reconceived the contours of your Gettysburg experience. They breathe life into our mission—and they see in our students what our students often cannot see in themselves.
We all need people in our lives like them. People who believe in us.
At this time, I’d ask that you please join me in thanking our devoted faculty and staff for all they contribute to this remarkable community. Thank you.
At the risk of starting off on the wrong foot with many in the audience, I will admit that I am a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan.
The Red Sox—and I say this with the objectivity of any loyal sports fan—are the most storied franchise in all of sports, founded way back in 1901.
For a team that’s been in steady existence for more than 120 years, it’s very hard for something novel to occur. And yet, something novel did occur just one month ago.
Let me tell you the story of Cameron Booser.
Cam Booser is a pitcher. From an early age, baseball scouts were enamored by his seemingly limitless potential. But Booser experienced more than his fair share of bad breaks.
Injury after injury in high school.
He blows out his arm after just 11 innings of D-1 baseball.
He then transfers to a community college, only to ride the bench as he recovers from multiple surgeries.
Still, talent is talent, and the Minnesota Twins take a chance on Booser. They sign him to a minor league deal, hoping to tap into his potential.
“Finally, my big break!” Booser thought.
Well, things didn’t go much better for him as a pro, in part because of some bad choices on his part—as he readily admits.
Booser was suspended.
He underwent yet more surgeries.
The guy was even got hit by a car!
After five arduous years in the minors, bouncing from team to team, Booser finally calls it quits and gives up a sport he loved more than it loved him back.
He went home, became a carpenter, began coaching youth baseball.
It’s a good life, to be sure. Just not the one he dreamed of when he was a little boy playing catch in the backyard. And certainly not the one he dreamed of when he was a college student like you.
Class of 2024, my question for you today is this: What will you do when your dream pushes back?
At the urging of a friend, and after several years away from the game, Booser decides to give baseball another try.
This time, he comes at it with a different frame of mind, focusing less on getting to the majors and more on the opportunity to do what he loves.
He spends four more season in the minors—and then, just a few weeks ago, something unexpected happened. Something that had never happened in the modern era of baseball for the Boston Red Sox.
At 31 years old, Booser was called up to the majors and appeared in a game.
The oldest true rookie to pitch for the Red Sox since 1947.
“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.”
These aren’t my words. They’re the words of Prince Renaldi of Genovia from the movie The Princess Diaries—a film produced by our esteemed Commencement speaker, Debra Martin Chase.
While I do not know if Cam Booser is familiar with the quote or if he’s ever seen the movie, what I do know is that he has lived these words to the fullest.
He could have decided—as he did for a time—to let the many obstacles in his life define him, to take the easier path.
He didn’t.
He dared to endure. To sacrifice. To overcome. To live.
And the reward, I believe, will be found not in his pitching performance—which is but a fleeting moment in time—but instead in what it represents and why it matters.
Again, “[t]he brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.”
That, too, is true for our Commencement speaker.
Throughout her distinguished career, Ms. Chase had plenty of opportunities to give up or give in—as she entered an industry where there were very few people who looked like her in front of the camera, let alone anyone who looked like her behind the camera.
And yet, what did she do when her dream pushed back?
She dared to endure. To sacrifice. To overcome. To live.
And as a result, Ms. Chase changed the entertainment industry—forever.
I am honored that you will hear from Ms. Chase today about her inspiring story.
At Gettysburg College, we know something about what it means to live a consequential life.
A few miles from where we’re gathered, President Lincoln memorialized ground that witnessed thousands of young soldiers give their “last full measure of devotion” in service to something greater than themselves.
It is a lesson that continues to resonate on this campus—one that informs our most basic values as Gettysburgians.
Graduates, perhaps you remember your First-Year Walk, even if it happened a year later.
Together, you followed the footsteps of Gettysburg students who came before you, those who walked alongside President Lincoln in 1863 to hear his iconic Address.
At the National Cemetery, Professor Rim Baltaduonis reflected on what Lincoln’s words meant to him, growing up in Lithuania behind the Iron Curtain. Still to this day, Rim offered a perspective that added such rich texture to Lincoln’s Address and its significance to all people, from all nations.
On the heels of a pandemic that had thrown our world upside down—including by canceling or greatly disrupting your own high school graduation—and faced with the deep fissures of a changing nation, Rim observed, and I quote, “You may ask yourself, ‘What can be done here? Can we even begin to tackle these daunting issues from a small town in south central Pennsylvania?’ And the answer is yes. It is as timely as ever to dedicate ourselves on this great battlefield to the great task remaining before us.”
Class of 2024, today, you will walk across this stage and out into the world as Gettysburg College graduates.
The challenges confronting our nation are immense.
Indeed, Lincoln’s dream of a better world continues to elude us.
Our work remains unfinished.
May you choose to dedicate yourself to the Great Task remaining before us.
May you dare to endure. To sacrifice. To overcome. To live in service to something far greater than yourself.
I know you will. You are ready.
I cannot wait to see all that you will accomplish. I wish you the very best in this next great chapter in your lives. Congratulations!
The Charge
It is now my honor to deliver the charge to the Class of 2024.
As is true for every generation, you are graduating into a world filled with challenges and opportunities.
You have spent the most formative years of your life not just at any college, but a college whose history and location compels us to honor the sacrifices of those who came before us, with an unwavering resolve to find our voice and lead with courage and conscience.
In the spirit of Debra Martin Chase’s inspiring words today, my charge to you is simply this: Be brave and know that you are worthy.
You are worthy of this moment, every cheer and tear from those who love you.
You are worthy of your education and the profound responsibility now entrusted to you to use it wisely and compassionately.
You are worthy of being counted on to rise to the great and unfinished work of our time.
And lastly, you are worthy of living a consequential life in service to a world that needs you.
We know you will.
Class of 2024, we believe in you.
At this time, if you are able, I would ask that all graduates please rise.
On behalf of our entire community, I want to thank our families, friends, and distinguished guests for joining us for our Commencement ceremony today.
As President, it is now my privilege to present our Gettysburg College graduates of the Class of 2024!
Congratulations and Do Great Work!