Verizon Hall, the heart of the recently-completed Kimmel Center, hosted the School of Nursing's graduation for the first time on Monday.
Given the place, the person selected to deliver the commencement address couldn't have been better chosen.
Marjorie Rendell, has not only deep connections to Penn Nursing, but to the building itself.
Rendell, wife of Gov. Ed Rendell and first lady of Pennsylvania, was a 1969 graduate of the College of Women and was instrumental in bringing the Kimmel Center to Philadelphia. She currently serves as a circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and as the Chair of the Board of Overseers for the Nursing school. In addition, she has served as a board member of the Greater Visiting Nurses Association of Philadelphia, a board member at the University's Board of Trustees, and as a member of the Trustee's Council on Women.
Drawing on her career of public service, she urged the graduates to become involved in their communities.
"You have been called to a life of public service," she told the graduates. "We can content ourselves with our profession... but my question is, is it enough?"
She described the ways in which public service enriches those who serve, their communities, their patients and their profession.
"I have been fulfilled through service in so many ways," she said.
In addition to Rendell, graduates also listened to addresses from student speakers, including Sarah Kissel, the undergraduate speaker, Martin Camacho, a master's candidate, and Angela Frederick, a PhD candidate.
The recipients of several awards were also recognized during the ceremony. Among the recipients were LDI Senior Fellow and Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology Mary Naylor who was presented with the Claire Fagin Distinguished Research Award earlier this month.
