Good morning and welcome esteemed members of the faculty, the Board of Trustees,
staff, loved ones and friends, and a special welcome to the members of the class of 2016.
If one were to take a look at our university archives, our promotional videos, even our
twitter feed, the word community would pop up around every corner. It’s hard to go
through a day on this campus without someone commenting on this incredible
community that seems to thrive under the shadow of Louis D. Brandeis’ robes. The word
community seems to follow us: community advisors, community living, community
service… Over these last four years, we have been encompassed by this community...
perhaps so much so that we have been desensitized to its meaning and effect. So, let me
take a minute to remind you, members of the class of 2016 and our guests, what the word
community actually means here at Brandeis. According to the Merriam Webster
dictionary, the word community means three things; a) a group of people who live in the
same area, b) a group of people who have the same interests, religions, race, etc, and c) a
group of nations. In typical Brandeisian fashion, I would like to challenge this definition.
Today, I’d like to reflect on how we, as soon-to-be Brandeis alumni, define community in
our world within Loop road.
A group of people who live in the same area: Leaving for college, experiencing life on
one’s own, and moving in to a 4000 people neighborhood of new people is terrifying.
Brandeis is lucky – we have students who travel from far and wide to move to Waltham,
Massachusetts to learn at this university. Even so, moving to college is undeniably
frightening. Wilbur, from Charlotte’s web, describes this feeling perfectly: “I’m really
too young to go out into the world alone,” he thought to himself. I know I definitely felt
that way when I moved into Brandeis. Moving to a new place means learning how to
make oneself comfortable in a new setting, and learning how to do laundry and climb the
Rabb steps multiple times in one day. For some of us, that comfort came from an
Orientation program that was “out of this world” and for some others, that comfort came
in decorating our rooms with pictures of our friends and families from home or finding
the perfect study spot. Though the adjustment period may have been difficult, we as a
class have lived together for four years, creating the first arm of community. Whether
physically on campus or bound by the ties of homework, we have lived in this place for
four years. We succeeded in the first aspect of community without even trying – we
became a group of people who live in the same area when we decided to choose Brandeis
four years ago. In that one step, we began our community journey. However, contrary to
Webster’s definition, merely living in close proximity to one another does not define this
community, but finding a home within it does.
According to Merriam Webster’s definition, the second component of a community is: a
group of people who have the same interests, religions, race, et cetera. Again, I’m going
to have to argue with Merriam Webster on this one. In our case, I believe what makes the
Brandeis community a treasure is that it is a group of people who have incredibly diverse
interests, religions, and races. I believe our most common feature is: et cetera. Our et
cetera lies in our relationships with staff and faculty, our Brandeisian talent of holding a
door open for someone 15 feet away because we can see that their hands are full, and our
commitment to social service, free food, and a’capella. Though different in causes, at
Brandeis we include our professors in debates and fundraisers on campus because our et
cetera unites us in passion. At Brandeis, our backgrounds may differ but the strive to
understand those around us exemplifies our et cetera. Learning at Brandeis has not just
been studying a textbook; it has been a relationship with knowledge and its connoisseurs
because our teachers are all around us.
Finally, the last portion of community is: a group of nations. A group of nations could
mean a lot of different things, so, again, I think we need to amend this definition. Nations
could mean the myriad of countries and states we have represented in our class of 2016.
Nations could mean our club affiliations, our residence hall histories, our Einstein’s
bagels orders, or our caffeine-intake numbers… What does it really take to be a group of
nations? And what does a group of nations mean? Nations living side-by-side? Do they
interact? Is there overlap? As I started thinking about what began as a four-word phrase
of a definition, I realized that this definition is again flawed in order for it to be reflective
of the Brandeis community. At Brandeis, we have multiple nations, but our group of
nations strives because it is a united front. Our group of nations succeeds because we
bring all of our clubs together in dance shows, Relay For Life, and co-sponsored events.
The Brandeis community is not defined as a group of nations -- it is exemplified by its
intertwined nations. We may have hundreds of student groups and too many majors to
choose from, but we are a Brandeis community first and foremost. Whether in personal
relationships with friends or partners or in activism of all kinds blooming up all over
campus and around ever corner, we are thousands of nations working together at all
moments throughout the day. Whether we learned to stop by a club tabling in Usdan and
ask them about why they are so passionate about their nation’s cause or we marched
alongside our peers in a fight we questioned, researched, and aligned ourselves with, this
campus of nations gave us the means with which to learn about ourselves and those
around us both inside and outside of the classroom. A group of nations we are, but a web
of nations is what holds our community together. “What’s miraculous about a spider’s
web?” said Mrs. Arable. “I don’t see why you say a web is a miracle – it’s just a web.”
“Every try to spin one?” asked Dr. Dorian.
Our Brandeis community is a web of interconnected nations. William Blake, the
renowned English poet and artist, once wrote, “ Nations are destroyed or flourish in
proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.” Members of the
class of 2016, these last four years we have given life to each and many of our respective
nations through our passion and creativity. Whether our nation was the classroom where
we wrote interesting papers and designed collaborative group projects or our nation was
the world of theatre where we performed, explored, and created on a public stage, or our
nation was the combination of those two plus three more… our nations flourish here
because we put effort into their lives on campus. Our poetry were the coffeehouses we
held and attended, our paintings were the pictures we’ve accumulated over the last four
years from our scavenges around campus with our best friends, and our music was the
perpetual, diverse conversations we have been lucky enough to have been a part of over
our Brandeis careers. I think William Blake would be proud to know that here at
Brandeis, we take our poetry, painting, and music very seriously, as exemplified by our
nation’s vitality.
Though it may dominate the list of descriptive words from which to describe this campus,
community is the life of this university. This community thrives because of its creative
pursuits in efforts to support the many nations that drive its success. The dictionary may
be useful when we’re searching for definitions of complicated words we read in articles
or looking for etymologies when we’re trying to find common roots, but the dictionary
does not define our community at Brandeis. Together, we are a co-existing, collaborative,
creative initiative and that is what fuels this community.
Underclassmen, don’t let the dictionary define you. Our class defined community with
our experiences and our partnerships, but it is up to you to ensure that the Brandeis
community lives on by nourishing it after we leave campus. Like the flowers that have
finally sprung up all over campus, our community needs your help to continue to grow.
Take care of it for us, because our roots will soon grow deeper in the Brandeis tree, and
only new nations can keep the web spinning. Class of 2016, we became a group of people
who not only lived in the same place, not only bonded through et cetera after et cetera,
but we also became a community of nations that represents Brandeis University.
Congratulations class of 2016 – Our web is strong, so let’s keep spinning!
Thank you.