Student commencement speaker Justin Pierre-Louis '10 imparted heartfelt words of encouragement, respect and praise in his student commencement address to the Class of 2010.Reflecting upon his speech in an interview with the Justice, Pierre-Louis explained that he chose the accomplishments of his class as one of the focuses of his commencement address.

"We've already done so much," he said, "and we'll only do more going forward. We're all champions."

In his speech, Pierre-Louis enumerated the formative moments of his years at Brandeis, reminiscing on first-year debates about dining, sophomore course selection, the standardized tests of junior year and the sadness he felt when preparing to leave Brandeis. He categorized his fellow classmates as "champion" fighting for "progression growth, and the fulfillment of potential."

Pierre-Louis was nominated by his classmates to serve as the 2010 student commencement speaker. To select the student speaker, competing students first e-mailed their speeches to a committee comprised of Brandeis faculty, which selected 11 essays. The committee submitted those essays to the Class of 2010 for a vote.

Five finalists out of the 11 were chosen for a final vote, and Pierre-Louis was selected out of the five finalists by his peers to be the student commencement speaker.

A Posse scholar, Pierre-Louis graduated as an English major, with minors in both Legal Studies and African and Afro-American studies. On campus, he served on the Union Judiciary during his junior year, and recently participated in BTV projects and served as the public relations officer for VOCAL, a student organization that promotes poetic arts and activism.

Pierre-Louis explained in his address that he had sought advice from Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams when he began writing his speech. "I wanted him to be my living-breathing edition of How to Write Awe-Inspiring Speeches for Dummies," he said, going on to explain that Adams did not give him easy answers. "This was, of course, not the case, nor has it ever been at Brandeis," he noted.

"Answers have never been given to one on a silver platter here," Pierre-Louis said in his speech.

In an interview with the Justice, when asked why he had wanted to be student commencement speaker, Pierre-Louis replied, "I never want to forget Brandeis. I wanted to make this day unforgettable."

Pierre-Louis' speech ended with words of thanks to Brandeis faculty and the families of the Class of 2010. After a loud proclamation of congratulations to the class of 2010, applause followed the speech as Pierre-Louis returned to his seat.

Class of 2010 graduate Jeffrey Cornejo said in an interview with the Justice that he enjoyed Pierre-Louis' address. "He chose his words carefully while still making it meaningful and inspirational at the same time," he said.

"I'm so happy to see a Posse scholar up there," noted Lynda Bachman '10. "I think he was the perfect person to represent our class.