"Hope is a verb. Hope is action." Karine Jean-Pierre's commencement speech at Rice скачать в хорошем качестве

"Hope is a verb. Hope is action." Karine Jean-Pierre's commencement speech at Rice

Reginald DesRoches — the first Black person and immigrant to be Rice’s president — introduced Jean-Pierre, a fellow Haitian immigrant and trailblazer in her field as the first Black woman, the first immigrant woman and the first openly gay woman to hold the post of White House press secretary. “Although every graduation is an achievement, your path has been steeper and more difficult than most,” Jean-Pierre said. “Your class was just wrapping up your freshman year when COVID emerged and changed our world in an instant. Some of you became ill and had to suspend your studies. Others had to tend to sick family members, or step in and take care of your younger siblings when child care was no longer an option. Some had to deal with the incredible pain of losing friends and family to the deadly pandemic. Classes went virtual, to the word ‘Zoom’ that became part of our shared lexicon. And social activity — a cornerstone of the collegiate experience — was brought to a grinding halt.” “You’ve seen the worst of us, but you’ve also seen the best of us. You lived through a moment in history where every day was unprecedented, and now you step into a world rife with new challenges and rich in new opportunities,” she said. “I want you to know that today is not only an achievement, but also a testament: a testament to your strength, to your grit and your perseverance. “You were determined to make it to the finish line. And guess what, Class of 2023? You did.” She quoted civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr., who told the world “‘we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.’ And through everything we have been thorough, your class, your generation, gives me hope: infinite hope. “Hope is one of the most powerful tools we have,” she continued. “Hope is more than an emotion, more than a feeling and certainly more than a vibe — I know you guys like to use that word,” she joked to her largely Gen Z audience. “Hope is a discipline and a practice. For me, hope is a verb. Hope is action. Because when we hope for a better world, we create a better world.” https://news.rice.edu/news/2023/rices...