Speakers urge Gonzaga’s class of 2020 to strive for resilience amidst ‘apocalyptic challenges’

In a virtual commencement ceremony Saturday, Gonzaga University speakers recognized the “apocalyptic” challenges their graduating students face amid a global pandemic.

Speakers told students not to give up, but to understand tragedy in the United States today as part of their generation’s destiny to address.

More than 800 master’s, law and doctoral students graduated from Gonzaga University Saturday and another 1,250 undergraduates will graduate Sunday.

To start the ceremony, the university acknowledged its place on Native people’s land.

“This land holds the cultural DNA and the spirit of the first people of this place, the people of the river,” Director of Tribal Relations Wendy Thompson said in the first few moments of the commencement.

Members of an a cappella choir recorded themselves singing the national anthem in their respective homes in a socially distanced rendition.

President Thayne McCulloh told students to remember they took on a “seemingly unsurmountable” challenge of the global pandemic with grace.

“It was nothing short of extraordinary to witness firsthand how tremendously courageous you all have been in the face of circumstances none of us have ever borne witness to before,” McCulloh said.

Fawn R. Sharp, president of the Quinault First Nation who earned her bachelor’s  degree from Gonzaga in 1991, spoke in her doctoral gown and traditional woven Quinault hat.

Sharp urged the class of 2020 to consider this moment in history, as graduating students stand up against “apocalyptic challenges” on many levels. But, Sharp said, climate change, social and racial injustice and the global pandemic are all “symptoms” of a “deeper imbalance” that the class of 2020 has a chance to correct.

Students’ grandparents and great-grandparents faced the Great Depression, world wars, racial injustice and many health care crises, Sharp said.

“We cannot forget that the strength, the resilience and the resolve that went through their veins,” she said, “is the same thing that runs through your veins. You inherited that legacy of strength, you inherited that legacy of resilience and you are called on at this time to face even greater challenges.”

She reminded students that they each have “a destiny, a perfect path and perfect timing.”

Kristen Miller, a student speaker earning her master’s in communication and leadership, congratulated fellow students not only for completing their respective programs, but for surviving the pandemic.

Miller said there were three points she wanted students to remember: “adversity is necessary,” “the world is your classroom” and “forever a Zag.”

Adversity took many forms for students this year, she said, pointing to international students who wrote scholarly work in a foreign language, parents who worked full time on top of school and students who battled chronic illness each day.

“Adversity is inevitable, but resilience is optional,” Miller said.

“Despite the hardship you face, you have exemplified resilience being here today.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Fawn R. Sharp earned her bachelor’s degree, not her law degree, from Gonzaga in 1991.