Photo: Caitlin Cunningham

"What gives us strength?"

乌克兰大使敦促不列颠哥伦比亚省2023届毕业生找到自己的内在力量,为一个公正和公平的世界采取行动

乌克兰驻美国大使奥克萨娜·马尔卡洛娃敦促电子游戏软件2023届毕业生找到自己内心的力量,就像乌克兰在与俄罗斯的斗争中所做的那样,为一个公正和公平的世界而战.

“Freedom is not a given. Opportunities are not a given. Democracy is not a given,玛卡洛娃在周一的毕业典礼上对校友体育场的观众说. “我们都有许多战役要打,有许多障碍要克服,有许多挑战要克服. Where will we get the strength? 我们有责任为我们所爱的事情采取行动.

“Choose to do that, and in that moment, you will become truly extraordinary,” said the ambassador, 她被授予荣誉法学博士学位,以表彰她对国家和人民“勇敢而坚定的奉献”.

Read the full text of her speech here.

毕业典礼结束后,4405名毕业生
2023人分别获得本科和电子游戏正规平台生学位
ceremonies held around campus.

从左至右:赫伯·斯坎内尔79年,珍妮·麦高恩修女.S.J., M.Ed. '90, Jerry York '67; seated: Katrina Shaw M.S.W. '98, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova. (Lee Pellegrini)

除马尔卡洛娃外,该大学还授予以下荣誉学位: Sister of Saint Joseph Jeanne McGowan M.Ed. ’90, president of La Salle Academy in Philadelphia; Herb Scannell ’79广播媒体的领导者和多元化倡导者; Katrina Shaw M.S.W. ’98, a nonprofit leader and force for social justice in Boston and beyond; and retired BC men’s hockey coach Jerry York ’67他是NCAA历史上最成功的教练之一. Read the honorary degree citations.

莫里西艺术与科学学院的学生Huel (Trey) Cox III被评为 this year's recipient of the Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Award,颁发给最能体现哈佛校训“永远追求卓越”的应届毕业生.” Mary Walsh, the Daniel E. 林奇教育与人类发展学院城市教育与创新领导力卡恩斯教授, received the Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J., Award, 表彰一位杰出的教职员工,他的贡献极大地推动了电子游戏软件的使命.

In his greeting, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., 她指出,毕业典礼不仅是向父母表达感激之情的场合, spouses, families, friends, faculty, staff, alumni, benefactors, 以及其他为学生的BC经历做出贡献的人-但要考虑我们对引人注目的问题和事件的反应, as individuals and as members of a global community.

“今天,我们特别关注乌克兰战争, 双方成千上万的士兵和平民在战争中丧生, 以及它给数百万人造成的破坏,” he said.

Freedom is not a given. Opportunities are not a given. Democracy is not a given. 我们都有许多战役要打,有许多障碍要克服,有许多挑战要克服. Where will we get the strength? 我们有责任为我们所爱的事情采取行动.
Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova

BC President William P. Leahy, S.J.莫里西文理学院的休尔(特雷)考克斯三世(Huel (Trey) Cox III)和爱德华. Finnegan, S.J.董事会主席约翰·菲什(John Fish)在一旁观看. (Lee Pellegrini)

马尔卡洛娃指出,星期一是俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的第452天, 哪些“全球许多专家”曾预测会在三天内下跌. 她谈到了最近的事态发展,包括解放赫尔松和乌克兰南部的其他城镇,以及在巴赫穆特镇对抗俄罗斯军队的“英勇立场”,以此来表明她的国家的坚定:“乌克兰仍然屹立不倒. We’re still fighting.”

玛卡洛娃说,她每天听到的问题是“是什么给了我们力量”?——这是乌克兰诗人莱西娅·乌克兰卡(Lesia Ukrainka)一个多世纪前写的一首诗的标题,当时用乌克兰语出版作品会被判入狱. Ukrainka的诗讲述了耶路撒冷一个贫穷的木匠被雇来为钉死三个罪犯建造十字架的故事, she said. After doing the job, the carpenter laments his lot in life, 直到他看到三个囚犯正试图把沉重的十字架搬到处决他们的地方. The carpenter comes to the aid of one, saying “I made this cross so heavy,” he says, “It’s my job to carry it.”

She continued, “He straightens his spine, his arms find their old strength, 当木匠背着耶稣的十字架去各各他时,他的眼睛里闪烁着坚定的光芒.”

是什么给了木匠这样的力量,马尔卡洛娃说,这和今天的乌克兰有什么关系呢? 她列举了她和她的人民的三个力量来源, the first of which is responsibility. Ukraine’s hard-won democracy “was, like that poorly crafted cross, still unwieldy, and rough in places. But it was ours. We could not bear losing it. 就像故事里的木匠站起来为他的手艺负责一样, 我们奋起反抗对我们民主的威胁.”

卡恩斯教授玛丽沃尔什收到圣罗伯特贝拉明,S.J., Award.

卡恩斯教授玛丽沃尔什收到圣罗伯特贝拉明,S.J., Award. (Caitlin Cunningham)

Another exponent of strength is taking action, Markarova said: Once the carpenter took action, he changed from victim to hero. Similarly, she said, in the first day of the Russian invasion, 成千上万的人涌向征兵处. 市民们开始收集捐款,为军队采购军事装备, 同时照顾那些逃离城市和村庄的人. Businesses relocated to safer areas. Software programmers wrote code in bomb shelters. 老师在地铁站和美食广场给学生上课.

“当你决定采取行动的那一刻,就是你不再是一个普通人,而变得真正与众不同的时候。,” she said. “You excel!”

Love, continued Markarova, 第三种力量的来源(不是“心与花”吗,” she added, “虽然作为一个幸福的已婚妇女,我可以告诉你这很有帮助, too”). 她列举了许多战争时期爱的例子:人们在一起避难的同时与邻居分享食物和水, or caring for others. Countries that took in Ukrainian refugees. 那些支持为伤者提供心理和身体援助的人.

“This is how we become strong. 通过帮助别人,这样当我们需要的时候,他们就会在我们身边. By showing love, giving love, by simply loving. 爱我们的家庭,爱我们的国家,彼此相爱.”

Sean Smith | University Communications | May 2023

照片由凯特琳·坎宁安,贾斯汀·奈特和李·佩莱格里尼提供