World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn delivered the 53rd annual commencement address to about 1,150 seniors and graduate students in front of a crowded Gosman Sports and Convocation Center Sunday. His speech described a future rife with challenges but also with hope.After being introduced by University President Jehuda Reinharz-who bestowed upon him a doctorate of humane letters-Wolfensohn said he was honored to be speaking at a university that deals with social justice "at a time when our world cries out for it."

This year's exercises were the 10th presided over by Reinharz as president.

"Your president is 10 years older, with less hair, but I am proud to say, with the same weight," Reinharz quipped in his opening remarks to graduates.

The president conferred honorary degrees upon five other recipients. Biologist Elizabeth Blackburn, who was fired from President Bush's Council on Bioethics reportedly because of her support for stem cell research, received a spirited applause from the audience.

In an apparent break from commencement tradition, John Hose, the executive assistant to the president who read off a string of Blackburn's accomplishments, criticized the Bush administration for dismissing her, saying it showed the "danger" in allowing politics to shape science.

The other honorary degree recipients were Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP; Lester Crown, a Chicago philanthropist; Richard Goldstone, a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; and Bernard Osher, a San Francisco banker and philanthropist.

The acclaimed German artist Anslem Kiefer, whose epic-scale works address German cultural issues, was originally selected to receive an honorary degree. He was not present on Sunday.

Wolfensohn, a native Australian and the World Bank's ninth president, was billed by the University as leading attempts to improve communication with poorer nations and fostering debt reduction.

"This is a world where each one of you has a responsibility, where each one of you can make a difference," he said. "It is a world we are bequeathing and handing over to you that is not in the best possible shape."

He received an applause from the audience after saying that instead of spending $900 billion a year on military expenditures and $50 billion on development, the world would be better off if those sums were inverted.

In attendance, and seated with the graduating class, were members of the class of 1954. [See related story, p. 9]

According to the program, Rabbi Allan Lehmann, the Jewish chaplain, was to deliver the invocation, beginning commencement exercises. Just as he was launching into the benediction, however, the first notes from "America the Beautiful" began to play.

Lehmann seemed to be caught off-guard-former Dean of Admissions David Gould was slated to sing after the invocation, not before. After missing the first few notes, Lehmann broke into song. Gould soon added his booming voice to Lehmann's nasal but surprisingly powerful one.

"I see that this commencement will go on without the benefit of script," said Hose, who emceed the ceremony.

Of the senior class, 713 received bachelor's of arts degrees; 101 students were awarded bachelor's of science degrees. Graduate students comprised 336 of the total 1,150 degree recipients with 287 receiving master's degrees and 49 receiving doctorates.

In her address, Nicole Karlebach '04, the senior class speaker, praised the University's heritage of social activism, stressing the importance of participation. [See article p. 7]

"Do not leave this university content to think within the box," she said.

But Karlebach also warned of a Brandeis that could fall into a "business as usual" attitude, heading in the direction of a "conformist institution."


After Karlebach, graduate student speaker Ellen Maling, M.B.A '04 equated the journey from her native Alaska to Ernest Shakelton's treacherous expedition to the South Pole.

Though the World Bank has become synonymous with globalization, a contentious issue on most college campuses-including Brandeis- opposition to Wolfensohn's speech was limited.

As Wolfensohn left the podium, Aaron Cela '04 held a sign that read, "Wolfensohn doesn't speak for me." A few others next to Cela raised a banner demanding the World Bank expand its program of absolving third-world debt.

Protesters distributed pamphlets expressing disappointment with the University's selection of Wolfensohn as commencement speaker, though they recognized him as a "voice for reform within the World Bank."

-Benjamin Freed contributed to this report.