LehighNow Volume 02, Issue 17

              LEHIGHNOW
June 5, 2002
Volume 2, Issue 17
Christie Whitman addresses
Lehigh graduates
IN BRIEF
HONORS/AWARDS
Prof. Menon
wins top
national award
Rajan Menon, an expert
on Russia, Asia and
international and Eurasian
security, has received a
prestigious one-year
fellowship from the
Carnegie Corporation of
New York to study the
political manifestations of
Islam in Russia.
Menon, the Monroe J.
Rathbone Professor of
international relations at
Lehigh, is one of 11
"scholars of vision" in the
U.S. to receive the grant,
which is given through the
Carnegie Scholars
Program. The award
offers Menon $100,000 in
financial support, which
he will use while on
sabbatical next year to
travel to Russia, conduct
interviews and do
research.
The title of Menon's
project is "Islam and the
Politics, Foreign Policy,
and National Security of
the Russian Federation."
He will focus on the
republics of Ingushetia,
Chechnya and Dagestan in
Russia's south Caucasus
region, and on the
republics of Bashkortostan
and Tatarstan in Russia's
interior. All contain
significant Muslim
populations.
Christie Whitman, EPA
administrator, told the
1,200 graduates of Lehigh
University's Class of 2002
on Sunday, June 2, that she
faced challenges at her
graduation in June 1968
similar to those faced by
this spring's graduates.
Speaking at Lehigh's
134th commencment,
Whitman noted that her
graduation from Wheaton
College took place right
after the assassination of
Martin Luther King and
right before the assassination of Robert Kennedy,
when campus unrest, urban
riots and an unpopular war
rocked the nation. As then,
today's students have
responded.
The former governor of
New Jersey said the "9/11"
generation's response
demonstrated the strength
of the nation, as college
students across the country
came together to support
each other, and showed
that they can and will make
a difference in the world.
"As I have traveled the
nation, I have seen the
dawn of a new generation
that is committed to a new
standard of service to
others," said Whitman,
noting that Lehigh students
have already demonstrated
that commitment, logging
26,000 hours of community
service this past academic
year.
As they serve others,
Whitman cautioned
graduates to carve out time
for family as well.
"I have had had some
impressive titles—
governor, cabinet member,
Lehigh commencement
speaker— but the most
important titles in my life
have been that of mother and
wife. Your parents know
this. Family is what truly
gives meaning to your life."
Whitman also noted her
pleasure at being at Lehigh,
since attendance at the then
all-male school was not an
option for her when she was
a high school student.
"I'm delighted (Lehigh) is
now celebrating 30 years of
women in these hallowed
halls," said Whitman.
That historical development was also cited by
Lehigh President Gregory C.
Farrington, who highlighted
some of the accomplishments
of female students in his
address.
"Just think, it was only 30
years ago that Lehigh
decided trying to solve 100
percent of the world's
problems with only 50
percent of its brains didn't
make sense," he added.
During the ceremony at
Lehigh's Murray H.
Goodman Stadium, attended
by 5,000 family members
and friends, Whitman
received an honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters degree.
The university conferred
1,164 degrees on undergraduates and graduate
students from across the
United States and 18
countries. They included 45
doctoral, 199 master's and
920 bachelor's degrees.
Lehigh
awards
honorary
degrees
Lehigh University awarded
honorary degrees to four
individuals in recognition of
their lifetime achievements at
the university's 134th
commencement exercises held
on Sunday, June 2.
Lehigh President Gregory
C. Farrington conferred an
honorary Doctor of Humane
Letters degree upon Christie
Todd Whitman, administrator of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, who
delivered the commencement
address; an honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters upon
Diana L. Eck, professor of
comparative religion and
Indian studies at Harvard
University, who delivered the
baccalaureate address; and
honorary Doctor of Laws
degrees upon Samuel
McCullough, Pennsylvania
Secretary of Community and
Economic Development and
Edward N. Cahn, counsel at
the law firm of Blank Rome
Comisky & McCauley LLP.
Also recognized at the
June ceremony were those
who will receive honorary
degrees in October at Lehigh's
annual Founder's Day
ceremony: Pierre-Gilles de
Gennes, director, ESPCI
(Ecole Superieure Physique
Chime Industrielles), who will
receive an honorary Doctor of
Science; and Denise Scott
Brown, of Venturi, Scott
Brown & Associates, who will
receive an honorary Doctor of
Humane Letters degree.