First lady Laura Bush and CIA Director George Tenet (SFS ’76) addressed graduates the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the School of Foreign Service, respectively, as Georgetown University celebrated commencement for the class of 2003 on May 17.
At the NHS commencement ceremony, Bush addressed the graduates inside Gaston Hall after receiving an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from University President John J. DeGioia. Bush, who said she was “thrilled” to receive the honorary degree, joked, “I just hope no one calls me Dr. Laura.”
In her first commencement speech as first lady, Bush largely refrained from politics and made few references to health care policy, instead offering mostly personal reflections and encouragement to the capacity crowd.
“Our country faces many challenges – nursing shortages, rising healthcare costs and evolving technology,” Bush said. “Throughout the world, patients wait for the comfort of your care, cures wait to be discovered and sound policy waits to be enacted. America will need one million nurses by the year 2010.”
Bush lauded the service accomplishments of the graduates. She also told them to be sure to take time for themselves. “You have committed yourselves to a demanding profession,” she said. “So take time for yourself. Look up at the sky and try to count all of the stars. Laugh out loud in the movie theater. Order a full-fat latte.”
Bush also congratulated the parents and family members in the audience, telling them how difficult it was for her to see her twin daughters graduate from high school and go to college. “They say parents often have to get out of the house when their kids leave because it gets lonely. Everyone deals with it in different ways,” she said. “But I told George I thought running for president was a little extreme.”
Bush’s relationship with Georgetown began in July 2001 when she convened a White House summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development at the university’s campus. The first lady had been invited to deliver a commencement address last June at the University of California at Los Angeles, but declined the invitation.
At a separate celebration under cloudy skies on Healy Lawn, DeGioia conferred an honorary degree on Tenet, who told graduates of the SFS that the United States would win the war on terrorism.
“Terrorists may be many things, but two things they are not – they are not right and they are not winning,” he said. “On one point there can be no doubt – we will prevail.”
The address came days after terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, allegedly al Qaeda sponsored, and one day after suicide bombings shook Morocco. “We will continue to win battles, and we may lose some as well,” he said. “But in the end, we and our allies around the world will triumph.”
Earlier that day, at the College’s commencement ceremony, DeGioia awarded the John Carroll Medal to the Rev. Joseph T. Durkin, S.J., professor emeritus in history, who was celebrating his 100th birthday. (See related story: https://www.thehoya.com/news/051603/news10.cfm)
“Today is Father Joseph T. Durkin’s 100th Birthday,” DeGioia said, prompting an extended standing ovation for Durkin, who was escorted to center stage in his wheelchair. “We are delighted to celebrate this extraordinary occasion in the midst of our commencement ceremony. For 60 years, he has shared his love of history with generations of students to earn their enduring affection.”
DeGioia addressed the graduates of the class of 2003. “This class is the last with a foot in two centuries. It was not your fate to attend college in a world of international stability and domestic prosperity,” he said, referring to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 while noting that the university provided a forum for debating related issues.
“At Georgetown, you have begun the educational journey that will continue throughout your lifetime,” he said. “You are men and women of great promise. We take pride in the role that we have played in your formation.”
Graduates agreed that the impact of graduation was not immediate. “I don’t think it really hits your for a while,” Alex Sanjenis (COL ’03) said. “But there’s a feeling of being content, proud and relieved.”
