By Thomas E. Hoaglin '71, B.A., M.B.A.

Members of the Class of 2013, parents, family members, Trustees, faculty, and honored guests, on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Denison University, I am delighted to welcome you to Denison’s 172nd Annual Commencement exercises concluding the 182nd year of the college.

Today is a special day in the life of our college. Class of 2013, this is the day you become alumni, joining the ranks of over 40,000 distinguished men and women who have gone before you as graduates of this institution of higher learning. The Trustees, faculty, and staff congratulate you on your accomplishments, and we look forward, as we know you do, with great expectations for what you will accomplish in the years ahead. Equipped by your education to be autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents, and active citizens of a democratic society, we trust that you will serve your communities, your nation, and your world with distinction. This is the mark of a Denisonian: The capacity and drive to achieve and a desire to make the world a better place.

Today’s ceremony is made particularly special by the fact that you will celebrate your graduation as President Dale Knobel presides over his last Denison Commencement. Dr. Knobel has served long and well, completing 15 years as Denison’s 19th president, and today, a grateful college will express its appreciation and esteem by awarding him an honorary Doctor of Letters. As is our custom with honorary degree recipients, he will bring the Commencement address, reflecting in a way he is uniquely positioned to do the academic mission of this great institution.

Graduates, today we mark the conclusion of your academic enterprise over the past four years, but we do much more than that. Today we look with anticipation into the future you and others of your generation will create. You will be professionals, parents, artists, activists, citizens, and friends. You will occupy roles that none of us can even imagine right now. Who knows? Perhaps a future Trustee or college president sits among you. We do know this: Wherever life takes you, you will represent your Alma Mater admirably.

On behalf of all alumni who have served as Trustees through the years, I thank you, Class of 2013, for joining the Denison family. You have allowed Denison to become a part of you, and you have given the college and its community much in return. Congratulations, and welcome to the Society of the Alumni!