Rain soaks commencement ceremony

Ending a year in which the weather was always unpredictable, it seemed only fitting that the University's 238th commencement ceremony at Franklin Field was plagued with clouds and rain. But cold temperatures, dark clouds and a steady drizzle still did not stop the members of the Class of 1994 from becoming the University's newest alumni. Nearly 5,000 degrees were conferred at the ceremony, which took place last Thursday at 10:15 a.m. The morning began with a procession of graduates from Superblock to Franklin Field. Hundreds of students carried umbrellas and balloons as they marched, and several wore signs on their caps and gowns. The ceremony was highlighted by speeches from U.S. Housing and Urban Develop ment Secretary Henry Cisneros and Interim President Claire Fagin, each of whom was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Cisneros began his speech by announcing that he had discarded his original statement due to the inclement weather. The bulk of Cisneros' shortened speech dealt with problems that he has encountered as HUD secretary -- including homelessness, racial and class separation and poor public housing conditions -- and the challenge to find their solutions. "Our greatest challenge as a society, I believe, is to dismantle the structure of urban residential separation by race and income which University of Chicago sociologist Douglas Massy has called 'American apartheid,'" Cisneros said. Cisneros suggested that to solve the problems, the country needs to acknowledge that they are shared problems and be able discuss solutions. He said many of the problems plaguing the country today will still be problems past the year 2000, so the University's graduates will be responsible for finding many of the solutions. "Change begins with each of you who have the talents and the skills and the training and the energy and the future," he said. "Your country needs your skills and talents on the job -- wonderful things are possible but we need you engaged." Fagin, who spoke at her first and probably last commencement ceremony, talked about trying to solve the problems the University faced during her term in office. She stressed that people must first acknowledge their problems, and then work together to solve them in constructive steps. A total of six honorary degrees were awarded at the ceremony, including the ones given to Fagin and Cisneros. Fagin's Doctor of Laws degree was unannounced in the commencement program. Commission on Strengthening the Community Chairperson Gloria Twine Chisum also received a Doctor of Laws degree; Photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark and architect Denise Scott Brown, both University alumnae, received Doctor of Fine Arts degrees; and anthropologist Phillip Vallentine Tobias and Brandeis University President Samuel Thier received Doctor of Science degrees. The ceremony concluded with Fagin conferring the graduates' degrees according to their respective undergraduate and graduate schools.