Commencement Address 2016, Daniel Porterfield, president, Franklin and Marshall College (courtesy Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post)

“College feels timeless because the students are always young, the traditions are always old, and ideas are the coin of the realm. As a result, during the intensity of academic life, it’s easy to forget that the students are not only and always students. Commencement reminds us that one’s larger purposes in life are not, in fact, to be taught by us, but rather to love and lead, teach and serve, chase a dream, find a calling, make a family, know oneself. The ceremony celebrates the fact that a serious education will help students pursue these human aims, while also reminding us, realistically, that still more profound experiences await the young than those we’ve provided here. This recurring truth renews us as educators.”