 Christine, family, it is clear to those of us that have worked closely with Earl and spent any time with him that he loved you and all of you so much. Those of us that have gathered here today and Earl's friends from around the world want to tell you and the family that we are so very sorry for your loss and want to thank you and the extended family for sharing Earl's life with us. It is fitting that we are gathered in this space which many see as the house that Earl built. Since Tuesday we have received messages and remembrances from around the world, highlighting the profound impact that Earl had on our campus, our community and our world. But also in those messages were reflections on how Earl impacted people, how he changed how they thought of themselves as educators, leaders and community members, seeking a common ground and working for a purpose greater than their own. On the back of your program is a message from Ethan Wittrock, an alum and author of Verses Left to Right, a poem that was commissioned for Earl's inauguration as president of St. Cloud State University in 2008. In his message he talks about Earl's personal impact on him. He reminds us that Earl's leadership was about service to country, service to students and service to each other. It is that simple idea that changed his and our understanding of what leadership means. Like many others in this room, the example that Earl has set is something that we will carry on for the rest of our lives. There are many memories of all that you will be able to see upstairs if you haven't already. If you have a moment, please do so and you will get a sense of the impact that he had through the eyes of his friends and colleagues, including his fellow presidents. In their letter, they reminded us about the following. And I quote, Earl was a genuine and truly caring and compassionate educator and a leader in higher education. He challenged all of us to think deeper and broader about the issues important to our students and our communities. He was a true champion of higher education and believed that it was an equalizer for many who have seen and continue to be underserved. He was a statesman and he was the president of presidents. In the spirit of Earl's inauguration, which focused on finding common ground and working towards the common goal that we all share, we are pleased that members of our faith community are here to share with us blessings for our president and the Potter family. I'm a pastor here at St. Claude State University. I lead a ministry called Catholic Christian Fellowship and I also serve as a volunteer police chaplain. I wanted to thank the family for your sacrifice, the time that your dad put into us and the school and the world. The world. He was a dear man and I appreciated him a lot. I would say I loved him. He was a, I think he wrote a Christian too. He didn't know anyone that wasn't family and that's what it really felt like. I sat across from his desk a month ago and he was leaving the next day to come see you in Boston and meet his grandbaby and it was super funny because I was like what are you, what are you going to do this summer and I could hardly see him. He had like piles of paper everywhere in his entire, and it was like I could just barely see him across his desk and I was like what are you up to this summer and he's like well, so he got out of a lot of work. But I thought of him as a creative leader. I think he had vision that was far beyond a lot of what we could understand. He always thought so far in the future and he was a dreamer but most of all I was thankful for his friendship and I will miss him dearly. So to assist in my healing I'm going to drink Starbucks medium lattes with extra froth. Every time I went to meet him I brought him a coffee and it didn't matter the time of day, week, the matter, late in the day, whatever, he was good to go. But thank you again for your sacrifice as a family. It didn't go, it'll live on for future generations. So I've been asked to do a blessing, Jesus' name. I stand with friends and family, friends that are close in this community, in this state, a world that we're touched by this president. Lord we know that you bind up the brokenhearted and you comfort those in need. Lord would you draw near to us in our grief, in the days and weeks and months and years to come and every anniversary of flag day and especially in two days and tomorrow, on Father's Day and in the funeral tomorrow. Lord bless us as we mourn. Lord we take great confidence in words that come from Solomon. And he writes to us in Ecclesiastes 12, 7, as the dust returns to the earth as it was. The spirit returns to God who gave it. God you put a spirit in us. In our mother's womb and it returns to you at the end of our days. And we know our beloved president is with you. I pray a blessing on this campus and these family members in the name of the Father and Son. Exalted, compassionate God, grant perfect peace in your sheltering presence among the holy and the pure who shine with the splendor of the firmament to the soul of our dear Earl Potter who has gone to his eternal home. Master of mercy, remember all his worthy deeds in the land of the living. May his soul be bound up in the bond of life. May his memory always inspire us to attain dignity and holiness in life. May he rest in peace and let us say amen. Birth is a beginning and death a destination and life is a journey. From childhood to maturity and youth to age. From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing. From foolishness to desecration and then perhaps to wisdom. From weakness to strength or from strength to weakness and often back again. From health to sickness and we pray to health again. From offense to forgiveness, from loneliness to love, from joy to gratitude, from pain to compassion, from grief to understanding, from fear to faith. From defeat to defeat to defeat until looking backwards or ahead, we see that victory lies not at some high point along the way, but in having made the journey step by step, a sacred pilgrimage. Birth is a beginning and death a destination and life is a journey, a sacred journey to life everlasting. Bonjour. My condolences to Christine and your family. I would like to introduce a Ojibwe Dakota elder to do a prayer skan and he has asked if the immediate family could rise. Potter oyate. Potter tywai. O'taq, o'tekia, o'shikilapu omakia yawt. O'shtey, dakhota, o'dumaa. Wakhantaka. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful, the Merciful. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the bad deeds of our deeds. Whosoever unites Allah, does not harm Allah, and whosoever unites Allah, does not harm Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah. I send him with the guidance and the religion of truth to show him that he is the child of all religions, whether it is the disbelievers or the polytheists. And ma'baid, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi ta'ala barakatuh. Inna li-Llahi wa inna ilayhi rajon. We pray in the name of Allah, Lord of the Worlds, owner of the Day of Judgement. He alone do we worship, and He alone do we ask for help. I pray in the name of Allah to forgive Dr. Potter, to reward him with heaven, to reward him with Jannah, to forgive all his sins, to forgive all his sins, sins that he was aware of, and sins that he was not aware of. We ask Allah, this is the month of Ramadan, we ask for forgiveness. In our prayers, in our sleep, in whatever we're doing, my name is Mohamed Suma and I'm a graduate student from St. Cloud State University. If you don't know what to say, just say, Allahumma akfir lah wa arham wa afihe wa fa'annu. Allahumma akfir lah wa arham wa afihe wa fa'annu. Wa akram nuzlata wa wasii mudakala. Wa aqselhu bil ma'id salj wal baraj. Wa nakih minad qata'ya. Kama nakihit wa sawzir abyad minad danis. Wa abdelhu darul khair minad dar. Wa ahla khair minad ahlih. Wa sawzir khair minad zawjah. Wa dikhilhu jannah. Wa dikhilhu jannah. Wa dikhilhu jannah, ya Rabb al-Alamin. Wa dikhilhu jannah, ya Rabb al-Alamin. Wa aizuhu min adab al-Qabq. Wa adab al-Nar, ya Rabb al-Alamin. Subhan Rabbik Rabbil Ezz amma yasifun. Wa as-salamu ala al-mursaleen. My name is Lalita Subramanian and I will be offering a Hindu invocation in Sanskrit. This is a verse from the Hindu text, the Bhagavad-Kita. Chapter 2, verse 20. In which Lord Krishna imparts His divine knowledge on the nature of the soul to the despondent Arjuna who is grieving the thought of the passing of His loved ones. Lord Krishna says, The soul is neither born nor does it ever die. Nor, having once existed, does it ever cease to be. The soul is without birth, eternal, immortal, ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. Lord Krishna establishes the eternal nature of the soul. It is ever existing beyond birth and death, devoid of all transformations. These are transformations of the body, not the self. What we call death is merely the destruction of the body. The immortal self remains unaffected. Let us reflect and pray for strength, forbearance, deep understanding and peace. Let us seek to be led from ignorance to truth, from darkness unto light and from death to a timeless state of being. I am honored to invite Earl Harvey, part of the fourth, to share some brief remarks on behalf of the family. Stories I've heard this afternoon would be easy to go off script and just talk about that and the experiences you've shared with my father over these last nine years, but I'm not going to do that. Good afternoon. My name is Earl Harvey, part of the fourth, but known as Binks by Friends and Family. First off, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of my family. My dad was a New Englander who grew up sailing and deeply connected to the water in his family's sea-going history. So I was surprised when he told me that he was moving to Minnesota. However, I quickly grew to understand why and just how excited and happy to be here, my dad was. He deeply believed in this community, the students, the faculty and staff and community who support it, as well as the community as a whole. Coming here, he believed he could make a positive impact and he loved the students in the school. In fact, I know he was not ready to go. He was excited about his years to come here and the work you were all doing together. My dad was passionate about this place and cared deeply about its people. We as a family have been overwhelmed by the support, love and assistance you have shown us. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart and from my family. It has been incredibly touching and I know my dad would have been humbled. Thank you. As we conclude the program, please join us with the university choir in singing the university hymn.