This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Anuhya Bobba.
Raymond Oglethorpe, former president of America Online, asked the the aspiring teachers graduating Saturday from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development to reject mediocrity and “make a dent in the universe.”
After graduates walked the stage, they will enter a teaching workforce where one-half of the 3.2 million school teachers will retire in the next decade – opening a gap for a new generation of teachers to shape the profession and close the education divide, he said.
“In four years, an effective teacher can narrow the gap between rich and poor and with the racial divide,” Oglethorp said.
Dean Michael Feuer described the graduate education school experience as an “adventure,” in his speech to the students of the Class of 2013.
He said that he found optimism for the future of the country by the “cultural and ethnic mosaic” that he saw today.
“For some of you, you are the first in the family to get this far education-wise,” he said. “This is continuing evidence that demography is not destiny.”
He reminded students to keep three ideals in mind as they move forward in their lives: wit, wisdom and will.
Student speaker Daniel Miller, who has been a part of the GW community for 10 years and received his master’s degree in school counseling, asked graduates to focus on what fascinates them and to become empowered through that.
“We graduate today as we develop a stronger identity as teachers, policy makers and counselors,” he said. “Become no less than what we see ourselves as today.”
