commencement – sunday may 16

But the big deal for the weekend was Sunday’s Commencement.  And the big deal about GWU’s commencement is that it is held on the National Mall.

As such, we had to get there early to be able to get a decent parking spot. 

Two blocks from the commencement but in the view of the Capitol Building so we’ll take it.

Because of the presence of Mrs. Obama as the commencement speaker, the graduates (and only the graduates) had to go through “extensive” security.
 
There was list checking, ID checking against the list, bag searching, and metal detector-ing.  And they didn’t even check the tickets that were supposedly required to attend commencement for guests.

Amazingly they did manage to get all of the graduates through security before the “processional” began.
 
Even with the Capitol in background, I still look like a dork.
Secret Service, SWAT police and a fellow graduate expressing what the majority of us felt.

The “processional” was ridiculous and uncouth.  On the National Mall, one would expect an amount of pomp and circumstance if you will excuse the pun.  The “processional” consisted of a half hour of the camera men panning the crowd and getting the reactions.  I do wonder though if it had something to do with security because the First Lady was there.

Eventually the program began.  There was all the usual stuff that I’ll skip because it’s boring.

The first honorary doctorate was given to Dave Brubeck, a big deal jazz musician.  Will was super dorkily excited about getting to see him.  Surprisingly, he gave a short speech after accepting his honorary degree.

This clip, I believe, includes the whole process so you’ll have to go a few minutes in to hear his remarks.

Next up, the owner of Clark Construction, R. J. Clark, was given an honorary doctorate in engineering – something you don’t see all that often I don’t think.
 
There’s that orange that I wore proudly for my undergraduate commencement.  Typical for an engineer, he said maybe a sentence.

And finally we were at the point everyone was there for – I mean, really, it wasn’t about the graduates for a lot of people. 

It was time for Mrs. Obama.  She was awarded an honorary doctorate in Public Service.  Clearly a nod to the challenge she’d set forth for the student body.

In a slight departure from the usual format, she did not immediately begin her commencement address.  First President Knapp began by announcing the results of the challenge – 163,180 hours!  Pretty amazing.

This was followed up with a compilation video of moments throughout the year –

The video was actually rather moving and set the stage for the First Lady’s speech perfectly.

It’s a little on the long-ish side but she was very inspirational.  Encouraging the students to make a lifelong commitment to service and to be global citizens – well, that part I didn’t quite get because when she put forth the challenge, she seemed to want the focus to be on local service.  But it was still a great message.

You can read a transcript of her speech here.

Then there was a little thing wherein President Knapp conferred all the degrees upon the graduates – our real purpose for the day.  And then it seemed rather unceremoniously over.

I waited on the wall of the National Museum of the Native American for my people. 

Time for pictures when they finally arrived, of course.

 
Liz had come out to see me graduate – it had nothing to do with the choice of commencement speaker.  Proud parentals. 

Will’s just glad that we don’t have to worry about GW for any reason ever again.

So then it was time for my graduation lunch.  I chose Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown – it was close enough to the Mall, Liz had just been there and liked it, and Mom loves Dim Sum.

First we almost gave the host a heart attack when Dad asked how we were going to fit 5 people at a 4 person table – he didn’t realize that sadly Liz wasn’t staying for lunch and would leave when Will got back from parking the car.  Then I think we annoyed our waitress by refusing to order for the longest time because we were waiting for Will to get back.

Once we did order, the food came fast and furious – dim sum at Ping Pong is kind of like Chinese tapas.  As a result, there’s no pictures of the food.  It was superb though.  We had some really tasty dishes – actually there wasn’t a single one that we didn’t enjoy.

Will and I want to go back and sit at the bar and watch them plate the dishes.  The only problems we had were that our waitress was subpar and all of their water glasses taste salty because they use the same glasses for their margaritas.

It was a great end to a fun-filled weekend.