The class of 2020 was not so lucky.
Graduates, you’ve experienced a bittersweet ending to your college careers. You all deserved a more rewarding finale, but the resilience that Chandler Rankin so articulately described will enable you to accomplish great things. Following the tragic death of George Floyd, we are all called to repair the social fabric that knits us together. You have the talent and ability to take up the challenge of leading us in a new direction toward mutual respect and understanding. On behalf of the class of 1970, you have our support and prayers. Congratulations and Godspeed.
We will be more grateful because of the amazing individuals on the front lines of this crisis, sacrificing their health every day to care for the most vulnerable. When I see UC medical and nursing students rising to the occasion responding to the needs of our public health system, this is clear to me.
And we will be more united because of our collective fight in getting through this time of pain. When a professor told my class that no student would be expected to attend every course session in the midst of a global pandemic, this was undoubtedly reassured to me.
We have shown that when we need each other the most, we are willing to give our very best. This is what has bent the outcome in our favor time and again. This feat is no different.
As we alter our lifestyles and shift our mindsets to cope with our new versions of reality, on the other side of this crisis is our victory — one that in my mind, we have already won.