{"id":24039,"date":"2015-04-27T17:03:22","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T21:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=24039"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:51:13","slug":"author-and-washington-post-columnist-ej-dionne-urges-emus-class-of-2015-to-never-stop-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/author-and-washington-post-columnist-ej-dionne-urges-emus-class-of-2015-to-never-stop-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Author and Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne urges EMU&#8217;s Class of 2015 to &#8216;never stop learning&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">In an address to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s graduating class of 2015 Sunday, commencement speaker E.J. Dionne Jr. pulled inspiration from a rather unlikely source: former comedy talk show host Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cColbert said precisely what I think about cynicism nine years ago,\u201d Dionne, a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, told the crowd. \u201cCynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it\u2019s the farthest thing from it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cCynics always say \u2018no,\u2019 but saying \u2018yes\u2019 begins things. Saying \u2018yes\u2019 is how things grow,\u201d he continued. \u201cCynicism isn\u2019t realism, because realism accepts people as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Hundreds of students and thousands of family members and friends crowded into Yoder Arena at EMU to watch the university\u2019s 97th annual commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">A total of 486 degrees and certificates were handed out. Of those 486, 370 were undergraduate degrees \u2014 including 139 adult degrees \u2014 106 were graduate degrees and 10 were certificates in pastoral ministry studies. <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/04\/nobel-laureate-gbowee-helps-emu-graduates-to-appreciate-taking-action-and-dancing-in-the-present\/\">Last year\u2019s commencement awarded 467 degrees<\/a>. A total of <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/04\/mark-shriver-on-being-a-pencil-in-gods-hand\/\">497 degrees were awarded in 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24058\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24058\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/04\/Commencement_2015_Styer1_web.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24058 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/04\/Commencement_2015_Styer1_web-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"EMU\u00a0students proceed into University Commons for commencement.\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/04\/Commencement_2015_Styer1_web-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/04\/Commencement_2015_Styer1_web.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24058\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">EMU\u00a0students proceed into University Commons for commencement. (Photo by Jon Styer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">EMU also awarded a posthumous honorary degree on behalf of Ruth C. Jones of Verona, who died in June at the age of 40 while enrolled in the adult degree completion program.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Jones was finishing a bachelor\u2019s of science in nursing and was employed at Augusta Health, where she had worked for 15 years. Her husband, Nicholas, received her diploma on her behalf.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Throngs of people filled the 3,600-capacity arena, packing the bleachers and seats on the floor, the track circling above the arena and a theater that showed a live broadcast of the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Dionne, 63, who also is a professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, titled his address \u201cCynicism Isn\u2019t Realism: Letting Joy Surprise You.\u201d In it, he highlighted what he said is the importance of finding the good in everything and everyone, staying humble and continuing to learn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Remember, Dionne told members of the graduating class, you can always learn something from everyone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cThe smartest people on this Earth are never, ever the know-it-alls,\u201d he said. \u201cThe truly ingenious people \u2026\u00a0 are constantly amazed by how little they know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">He also took time to acknowledge the sacrifice and help from parents in guiding their children to graduation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cI always disliked the phrase \u2018self-made,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cNone of us is self-made. It\u2019s a biological and spiritual absurdity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Other speakers included Najla El Mangoush, a master\u2019s graduate from Benghazi, Libya, in the university\u2019s conflict transformation program; Kimberly Groff, a graduate from Ephrata, Pa., in the adult degree completion program; and undergraduate students Emily Shenk, of Goshen, Ind., and Jordan Luther, of Martinsville.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Speaking to the class, Luther compared the new graduates to a box of crayons.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cSome of us came from five minutes away down the road while others grew up 5,000 miles away,\u201d he said. \u201cOur identities are like a 64-box of crayons, filled with subtlety, diversity and compassion; colors to create portraits of peace and transcendence in your community and in your world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Dionne graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In addition to writing columns for The Washington Post and serving as a professor at Georgetown University, he is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He lives in Bethesda, Md., with his wife and three kids.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Before concluding his speech, Dionne said to the roomful of graduates: \u201cCommencement is the beginning and not an end. Never stop learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>Courtesy of the Daily News Record, April 27, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>More from commencement weekend:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/live-video\/commencement-2015\/\">97th annual commencement ceremony (video)<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/photos\/commencement-2015\/\">Commencement photo galleries<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/2015\/04\/25\/cords-of-distinction-ceremony-2015\/\">Cords of Distinction ceremony\u00a0(podcast)<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/2015\/04\/25\/2015-seminary-commencement\/\">Seminary commencement ceremony\u00a0(podcast)<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/2015\/04\/25\/2015-nurses-pinning\/\">Nurses\u2019 pinning ceremony\u00a0(podcast)<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/podcast\/2015\/04\/24\/2015-seminary-baccalaureate\/\">Seminary Baccalaureate\u00a0(podcast)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an address to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s graduating class of 2015 Sunday, commencement speaker E.J. Dionne Jr. pulled inspiration from a rather unlikely source: former comedy talk show host Stephen <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/author-and-washington-post-columnist-ej-dionne-urges-emus-class-of-2015-to-never-stop-learning\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Author and Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne urges EMU&#8217;s Class of 2015 to &#8216;never stop learning&#8217;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":24059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,5583,14184,14715,16077,5642,264,4513,5730],"tags":[5854,16639,15378,16311,14933,16644,7812],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-24039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-campus-guests","category-campus-life","category-commencement-alumni","category-faculty-and-staff","category-graduate-programs","category-student-life","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-commencement","tag-ej-dionne","tag-emily-shenk","tag-harvard","tag-jordan-luther","tag-najla-el-mangoush","tag-washington-post"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Author and Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne urges EMU&#039;s Class of 2015 to &#039;never stop learning&#039; - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/author-and-washington-post-columnist-ej-dionne-urges-emus-class-of-2015-to-never-stop-learning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Author and Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne urges EMU&#039;s Class of 2015 to &#039;never stop learning&#039; - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an address to Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s graduating class of 2015 Sunday, commencement speaker E.J. 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