Sarah DiGiulio stood in front of more than 4,000 students in the Carrier Dome on Sunday, reflecting on the past four years they had spent on the hill.

“There is a fervor inside this campus that has nothing to do with sun and snow – but a passion for learning,” she said.

DiGiulio spoke as one of 12 University Scholars on the day of the Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry commencement. The ceremony began at 9:30 a.m. and ended around noon.

The ceremony began with the students proceeding into the Dome with their individual school or college, and included speeches and greetings from administrators and guest speakers, including keynote speaker Jamie Dimon. Honorary, masters, doctoral and baccalaureate degrees were also presented. Speakers reminded of their beginnings at the university in 2006, what they have accomplished since and what the future may hold in store for them.

Newly retired faculty members, members of the Chancellor’s cabinet, the Board of Trustees and other administrators were seated on stage at commencement. Nancy Sharp, a professor of newspaper journalism and Tiffany Steinwert, dean of Hendricks Chapel, gave remarks before senior vocal performance major Leila Gheitu sang the national anthem.

When DiGiulio took the stage next, she did more than just remind her classmates of what troubles and challenges lay in the world beyond Syracuse. She reminded her peers of everything they had collectively accomplished over the past four years – from designing and constructing energy-efficient houses on the West Side to gaining new cultural and worldly experiences abroad.

And as one collective thank you from all of the graduates, she told students to “remember the people who helped us grow out of our freshman shoes into caps and gowns.”

“Thank you for helping us find what makes us tick, and the confidence we needed to go after it,” she said. “Now it’s time to take our passions and our energies off the hill. Today’s problems aren’t the one’s our parents and grandparents faced.”

Chancellor Nancy Cantor reminded students of what has changed and what has remained the same since she stood before them in the Dome at their freshman convocation in 2006.

She stressed the importance of engaging today’s challenges and not standing on the sidelines and letting others deal with them. She encouraged the graduates to do something about the disparities in education and global climate change. She also applauded them for their work in Say Yes to Education and participating in Syracuse Responds, a program seeking donations to help students affected by the financial crisis stay in school.

“The Class of 2010 knows how to respond and, most importantly, you know that you must respond,” she said.

ESF President Cornelius Murphy drew inspiration from H.G. Wells 1939 book, “The Fate of Man,” in his speech, challenging the graduates to think in global terms and do what needs to be done for civilization to survive. He reminded ESF graduates to never stop striving to create a more sustainable world.

“On a score card, we have not done very well over the last 70 years,” he said, in reference to The Fate of Man’s publishing date. “It is up to you to advance this roadmap to survival.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon took the stage after DiGiulio to deliver the keynote address – one Dimon said had seen some controversy. But despite the protests leading up to the ceremony, all remained calm during Dimon’s speech. Aside from a few students taking off their robes while he spoke, the graduates were attentive to Dimon’s words, stopping him multiple times with applause.

Students may have been the most attentive they were all morning during Dimon’s speech.

Throughout the ceremony, students continually threw around beach balls and blow-up toys, often quickly taken away by the ceremony’s marshals. One student screamed, “I love you, Lindsay!” during a quiet moment.

Six guests were granted honorary degrees by Cantor and Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina: Elizabeth Catlett, Doctor of Fine Arts; Jamie Dimon and Gerald B. Cramer, Doctors of Laws; Claire Mintzer Fagin, Ronald Meyer and George Allen Weiss, Doctors of Humane Letters.

The undergraduate students received their diplomas from their home colleges on Saturday, and Sunday marked one of the only times the members of the class of 2010 had been gathered together since the freshman convocation Cantor spoke of in 2006.

It also marked the last time they would all be together.

“The world needs passion,” DiGiulio told her classmates. “In the next few weeks, we’ll pack boxes and load up our cars. We’ll drive in every direction as we follow our passions.”

Published on May 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm