EDITORIAL & OPINION: Pomp and circumstance

Congratulations to the Class of 1999, and our best wishes for success in all of your future endeavors. For many, Monday marks the end of formal education, the first steps into the ballyhooed real world. For others, Monday is but another in an ongoing series of milestones along the road to some higher degree. But each and every one of the students receiving degrees on Monday has our congratulations. After four years at Penn, this is your moment to soak up the applause, say goodbye to friends and take photos that will sit on your parents' mantlepiece for years to come. You were a diverse bunch when you arrived four years ago -- at least one student from each of 46 states. Your diversity still marks you, your accomplishments are varied and impressive. But four years later, you will graduate having lived as a community, the latest class to claim Penn as their alma mater. While today marks the end of your time at Penn, we hope it does not mark the end of your relationship with Penn. Perhaps you'll have the opportunity many years down the road to show your appreciation in financial form. Perhaps you'll sign on to conduct alumni interviews. And perhaps you'll return for Homecoming Weekend. But wherever life takes you in the years to come, look back fondly on your time here. The friends you have made at Penn, the bonds you have formed, the lessons you have learned, will all mark you for years to come. Some of those memories are sad: the deaths of Kathy Change and Vladimir Sled, the shooting of Patrick Leroy and the death of Anthony Davis outside the Palestra. But your time has also been marked by the advent of preceptorials and college houses. Sansom Common is here, the old Bookstore is gone. Vending trucks have receded and Gimbel has expanded. Crime is down and apartment prices are up. And there was that little controversy over alcohol a few months back. And after a four year hiatus, both the football and basketball teams delivered Ivy League Championships. So as you sit back today and enjoy the just fruits of your hard work, take pride in your alma mater, in your classmates and in yourself. Congratulations.