 Today we're gathered in formal convocation to celebrate the 240th commencement exercises at Purdue University. Please rise and join in singing our national anthem and then remain standing for the invocation offered today by Father Patrick Bacowskis, Pastor and Director of Campus Ministry, St. Thomas Aquinas. There was a woman who died not so very long ago who has inspired millions of people by her life's example and her encouragement for all of us to be attentive to a higher, more purposeful calling. In the places where Mother Teresa of Calcutta lived and worked, she would have these words placed on the walls. And as you go forth today from Purdue, may this reflection she had in front of her every day inspire you as well. People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you have got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God. It was never between you and them, anyway. This is the moment, this is the time, and make some sense at last, this is the day. I never expected this. To be addressing you with me in an empty hall and you far away. Wherever you're watching this virtual ceremony, I hope you're surrounded by people you love, people who helped you reach this moment of achievement. As is my practice, I wrote a commencement speech over last Christmas at a time when COVID-19 had only recently gotten its name. I chose a theme without any clue what was coming. In a different year, I might have felt obliged to start over. But as things have unfolded, the events of recent months have in some ways made my chosen topic seem at least as relevant as the day I wrote it. So here goes. Welcome graduates and friends to this day of celebration. Those of you in the caps and gowns are gathered to celebrate the great accomplishment that is a degree from Purdue University. Meanwhile, your parents are, I know, quietly celebrating the clearing of the final tuition check. Congratulations to you all. Purdue celebrated its own landmark this year, our 150th anniversary. Since it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by our most famous alum, Neil Armstrong's stories were abundant. My favorite claims that later in life, Commander Armstrong took to telling corny, lame jokes about the moon. And when nobody laughed, he'd say, well, I guess you had to be there. A year or so ago, a major national journalist visited our campus and later wrote a gracious complimentary article about what he saw here. While I enjoyed his accounts of the progress and successful results he thought he'd witnessed, my favorite part of the column was a single phrase, basically a throwaway line. He described Purdue as a happy place. It got me wondering how many college campuses these days would strike a visitor quite that way. I hope it's been that kind of place for you. We know you've worked hard and fought through a lot of pressure. You'll probably remember that. Just wait for those scary dreams where you haven't studied for the test or can't find the exam room. But I hope that among your memories of these years, I was happy there, is prominent among them. I've reflected on that more and more during your last couple years with us. Your parents love you and are proud of you. But from time to time, they also must worry about you. That's what we parents do. I hope it's OK if I worry about you and your futures a little also. I've sometimes used these commencements to fret out loud about trends that trouble me in that big wide world you're about to enter. In recent years, I've spoken about the tribalism that now divides Americans. I've talked about the seeming shortage of emotional resilience and grit in your peer group. Twice, I've found myself urging graduates to guard against the so-called big sort, the tendency for young people of your quality and educational attainment to cluster together professionally and socially and to drift apart from those of different backgrounds. But one thing I never expected to worry about, but now do a little, is you being lonely. I have known you and met thousands of you personally in an environment that, despite our size, does a pretty good job of getting people together, creating bonds among them. A thousand clubs, dozens of faith-based organizations, our Greek system and maybe our best examples of true communities are co-op residential houses where students not only live but cook, clean and do repairs together. And most recently, the learning communities where thousands of boiler makers live in mutual support with others who are studying the same subject matter. Elsewhere, the academic journals and lay periodicals are now filled with research about the, quote, epidemic of loneliness, quote, in our society. Surveys report record numbers of Americans living alone and suffering from strong feelings of isolation. Many view it as a new public health crisis linked to rising rates of depression, anxiety, even suicide. A lack of strong social relationships has been found to raise the risk of premature death by as much as 50%. It's as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It's not just an American phenomenon. The government of Britain has appointed a minister for loneliness. And all this was before anyone heard of COVID-19. Most startling and alarming are studies finding that the worst loneliness today is not among adults or the elderly, but in your age group. Astonishing percentages of today's young people say they have few, if any, close friends. Dating and other traditional forms of youthful interaction have declined sharply. The University of Southern California recently named a director of belonging. And while the title may be unique, I'm sure the idea is not. We humans are social creatures or, as sometimes said, relational beings. The ability to communicate, interact, and collaborate is what defines us and what assured our evolution as the dominant, civilizing species on this planet. We thrive on contact with others. We suffer severely from its absence. The worst punishment we impose on a heinous criminal is solitary confinement. Much of our literature and religious tradition thinks of hell as a state of total permanent aloneness. So an outbreak of loneliness is worth worrying about, especially where those with the longest to live are a big part of it. In the case of your elders, sociologists can identify some obvious causes. Plummeting birth rates play a role. Having fewer children and fewer siblings limits the opportunity for caring contact. In a short two decades, the percentage of retirement age citizens living within 10 miles of their children in the same neighborhood with any relative or having a good friend living nearby dropped by double digits. It's easy to see how that leads to greater loneliness. But particularly in the case of your age cohort, there is no doubt that the sudden eruption and dominance of what we call social media, I often think anti-social media would be a better term, has played a huge role. Some scholars put all the blame there. One major article was titled, Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? It wasn't supposed to be this way. The original promise of all the Facebooks and Twitters was that they would connect us in wonderful new ways. But connection over a text message or what is often a glamorized presentation of one's daily life just isn't the same as in-person contact. In fact, it often turns out to separate and alienate its users more than it brings them together. I remain concerned that as members of the new knowledge aristocracy, absent a little special effort, you will rarely make friends different from yourselves. Now, studying the growing evidence about isolation, I'm concerned that you, the first age group raised entirely in the iPhone era, won't make many friends at all. In my own college days, a briefly famous Harvard professor offered probably the worst advice ever given to a younger generation. Encouraging both drug use and a non-productive lifestyle, Dr. Timothy Leary suggested, quote, turn on, tune in, drop out. Lately, I've been thinking the best advice one could give you, tomorrow's leaders, might be the exact opposite. Turn off, tune out, drop in. As in, turn off the phone more often, tune out the video screen, drop in personally, on friends old and new. For most of human history, personal contact was hard to avoid. Suddenly, our digital age can mean it requires extra effort. Confession being good for the soul, it's only right that I make one here. I am not a good role model for the advice I'm foisting on you. I have not devoted the time I should have to deepen acquaintances into true friendships or to stay in closer touch with the old friends I do have. I've let the call of work get in the way. I've told myself that jobs of broad responsibility mean that one can't get too close to coworkers and colleagues. I've procrastinated and rationalized and skipped too many chances to spend meaningful time with people I admire and even love. I regret it and I'm the worst for it. You can do better. The same research that is documenting the loneliness epidemic reveals ways to immunize oneself against it. Geographic rootedness makes a difference. People who live in the same community for extended periods are far less likely to be lonely. The great CS Lewis wrote, friendship is the greatest of worldly goods, the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young person about where to live, I would say sacrifice almost everything to live near your friends. Having a religious affiliation also correlates strongly with feelings of connectedness and nothing statistically reduces the chance of loneliness more than marriage, especially marriage with children. It's a sermon for another Sunday, but I do hope most of you will not miss the joy and the lifelong education of raising children. I promise it's life's greatest reward and the best graduate school you'll ever attend. I heard about one wise guy commencement speaker who instructed his audience, remember, in life it's not who you know, it's whom. I thought of that as just a joke, but in our new situation it takes on a more serious tone. A lot of your success and happiness will depend on whom you know and know well. The author Gore Vidal once said, we never know when we are happy, only when we were. I hope in your case that proves way too cynical, that there'll be countless moments when you are truly happy and know it. But I also hope that when you reflect back on times when you were happy, your days at this university will rank high among them. And when people ask you, what was it about Purdue that made it such a great place for you? You can just answer, well, I guess you had to be there. I know great achievements lie ahead for you. My wish for you is that so do great friendships. Hail Purdue and each of you. Exercising the authority of the trustees of Purdue University, legally vested by the people of the state of Indiana and upon the recommendation of the Purdue faculty, I now confer upon you who have fulfilled the highest requirements of this university. I now ask our orders to read aloud the names of all students who are earning the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Graduates, I invite you to have your special designee place your hood and present your diploma to you now. Be sure to capture a photo of this to share with us. Erica Allen, Breanne Oman, Madeline Ambrose, Aisha Ansar, Rebecca Arnie, Abigail Baum, Aisle Joy Batista, Ronnie Bendersky, Casey Bernier, Julia Burkheimer, Claire Brady, Katelyn Brokopp, Madeline Brown, Rochelle Brual, Sarah Bird, Michael Campbell, Hesu Che, Won Ying Cheng, Megan Clark, Allison Clifton, Corbin Cox, George Crabtree, Natalie Crater, Phillip Cree, Clay Cummings, Christopher Domlos, Thomas Della Villa, Keena Desai, Steven Durkis, Veronica Disher, Tiefuang Xiang Zhuang, Sabrina Dykes, Austin Edinger, Audra Elliott, Jessica Aloso, Haley Astis, Elena Adder, Kevin Fakit, Nicole Flossbohler, Hannah Foley, Colton Fraheiger, Meredith Fritz, Rebecca Fritz, Katelyn Frost, Meredith Freymeyer, Emily Freishut, Renee Gascoigne, Jenna Gerhardt, Olivia Goble, Natalie Groff, William Gutskell, Miriam Habib, Angela Hacker, Anthony Haddad, Misung Hakimian, Whitney Haley, Monica Hardy, Jacqueline Harris, Faith Harrison, Scott Herod, Lars Henderson, Lauren Humer, Rachel Huntsman, Wei Ming Zhang, Jacob Johns, Lauren Johnson, Andrew Karoke, Rosa Karamakoski, Mon Deep Kaur, Lauren Keller, Allison Kinnealy, Nicole Keeda, Alyssa Mingzheng Kim, Margaret Klein, John Klopping, Alyssa Kowalski, Jared Krug, Alyssa Kruger, Taylor Kiester, Phat Blom, Evan Lang, Grant Larson, Ashley Lee, Anna Leventus, Joshua Lewis, Patricia Liu, Ashley Logan, Yuk Ma, Grace McGuire, Jonathan Malola, Janelle Marriott, Lindsey Martin, Jesse Martinez, Molly McCord, Erin McMahon, Zuhani Mehta, Evan Millway, Alyssa Ming, Kendall Moores, Katelyn Mukai, Kelsey Myers, Trenton Myers, Jade Najee, Matthew Olson, Alyssa Au, Mahiman Pratak, Grant Persky, Jeffrey Pucci, Tzu Rong Chou, Peyton Randolph, Christie Roppus, Austin Rich, Leilani Rivera-Flores, Claire Schumann, Jingya Shou, Lauren Shin, Abigail Shockley, Rebecca Silvola, Wyatt Simpson, Julia Smith, Rachel Smith, Angad Sodhi, Katelyn Spezard, Savannah Spice, Maria Stephanowska, Michael Stepanovic, Brayden Strohmeier, Samuel Stuckey, Jocelyn Tao, Audrey Tepe, Molly Taiman, Molly Towns, Sylvester Tran, Mary Tremaine, Emily Vahary, Devin Valpatik, Heather VanBrie, Alice Wong, Caroline Wartman, Kelly Weaver, Heather Wendling, Sarah Weiser, Bradley Wutheridge, Zachary Zajak. Exercising the authority of the trustees of Purdue University, legally vested by the people of the state of Indiana and upon the recommendation of the Purdue faculty, I now confer upon each of you who have fulfilled the stated requirements, the appropriate baccalaureate degree and associate degree, with all the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of that degree. As evidence of your achievement, you will now receive an appropriately inscribed diploma. I now ask our orders to read aloud the names of all students who are earning baccalaureate degrees. Graduates, I invite you to have your special designee present your diploma to you now. Be sure to capture a photo of this to share with us. The College of Agriculture, Sarah Acevedo, Nathan Adams, Nicole Adkins, Daniel Agazi, Mary Grace Ahern, Samuel Oller, Andrew Olersmeyer, Carly Alexander, Garrett Alka, Keith Altman, Mason Amos, Alexander Angel, Mitchell Antony, Makayla Applegate, David Armbruster, Lillian Armour, Robert Armstrong, Megan Arnold, Joseph Ascolisi, Catherine Alsema, Jong Ho Bae, Kayla Baer, Mackenzie Bales, Kira Ball, Marcus Bonus, Samantha Manek, Robert Barbato, Madison Barton, Veronica Barnard, Riley Barnes, Mary Barr, Abigail Barton, Tanae Baskin, Marley Beck, Austin Beer, Elizabeth Beer, Luke Beyer, Devin Beiswanger, Robin Bender, Ryan Benter, Julia Betts, Brooklyn Bitting, Kelsey Bragg, Sydney Brial, Kylie Bright, Emmanuel Briscoe, Shania Brock, Nicole Brockway, Evan Brouillette, Mackenzie Bruder, Madeline Burke, Nicole Burns, Jarrett Burroughs, Patrick Bustamante, Brandon Butts, Thea Callilang, Josephine Cameron, Victoria Campbell, Anthony Cannon, Austin Carey, Sean Carl, Jacob Carlson, Alyssa Chambers, Allison Cheney, Ho-Tien Chong, Dane Chapman, Devin Charlton, Keaton Cheesewright, Xu Ran Chen, Shiyang Chen, Ying Chuan Cheng, Emily Chuang, Baton Clark, Christina Claycamp, Mackenzie Click, Skyler Klingen, Serena Clark, Cody Colbert, Emma Cole, Sean Collins, Lindsay Cumber, Bailey Cook, Tyler Coon, Garrett Cooney, Trenton Corby, Cheyenne Cornette, Elise Kovrat, Kyle Crawford, Michael Crippen, Megan Cross, Madison Cundiff, Kailin Cunningham, Beau Curlis, Conor Cuscaiden, Kristen Dagger, Adriana Dag, Chaley Daiming, Mark Davis, Zabadiah Davis, Matthew Dawson, Emily DeKamp, Haley DeHaan, Desiree Delilosa, Alex Delworth, Ellen Denning, Valeria DeVasquez, Lindsay Dice, Flora DiPietro, Vana de Pretorio, Ashley Ditman, Testa Bows, Kaley Donahue, Sean Donlan, Samantha Dowell, August Dunbar, Jayce Durkholz, Kale Dyson, Kelly Eddington, John Edmondson, Bailey Elkins, Miller Elwood, Kendall Endress, Austin Herb, Joshua Estridge, Samantha Evans, Nathan Eistad, Alyssa Fagner, Chandler Fairfield, Alexis Filani, Brina Ferrara, Amber Farrell, Grant Fitzsimmons, Shannon Flanagan, Bariah Fogel, Annalise Ford, Evan Francis, Joshua Frazier, Cheyenne Freeman, Clayton Fugate, Emily Furlong, Andrew Gattus, Katherine Garland, Joyce Garner, Tara Garrig, Haley Ginter, Olivia Glasser, Rachel Getty, Allison Geltz, Jasmine Gonzalez, Mason Gordon, Jordan Grant, Rachel Grayless, Megan Greer, Nathan Grelling, April Grummer, Justin Grunkenmeyer, Erica Grush, Kimberly Goldbrandsen, Renner Gunts, Grace Gussler, Mark Gutay, Connor Gutwein, Jacob Haas, Kaitlyn Hagen, Joseph Hale, Makayla Han, Gina Hanco, Amy Hanners, Kevin Harden, Trevor Hardwick, Kailin Harnes, Adam Harner, Hannah Harrell, Patricia Hartley, Zachary Hartley, Taylor Hayes, Henry Hanner, Caleb Hendress, Mary Catherine Hepler, Reed Harren, Kristen Herrera, Nicholas Hickner, Tess Hoffman, Gabrielle Holly, Eric Hulscher, Abby Holstein, Grant Hood, Troy Hook, Megan Hoover, McKenna Houston, Julie Hattleson, Mariah Hugie, Casey Hummel, Danielle Hunt, Brandon Hunter, Ajah Hatchek, Tyler Hooth, Taylor Heisel, Rachel Imel, Erin Eisen, Leah Jacobs, Jacques Jacque, Matthew Jager, Sarah James, Kiara Jammer, Rebecca Jarbo, Grayson Jarrett, Jason Jaworski, Shikai Jiang, Xi'an Jin, Jessica Johnson, Junna Johnson, Noah Johnson, Emily Jones, Haley Jones, Kylie Jones, Mitchell Jordan, Rebecca Justice, Siba Kaki, Cherry Kapp, Peyton Keller, Courtney Kelly, Sulfina Kemp, Dustin Kirkoff, Evan Kindig, Ross Kindig, Nicole Klinger, Kray Klopfenstein, Haley Kluge, Cordy Kametz, Nelson Knoblock, Levi Knoll, Travis Kester, Caitlyn Kraft, Caitlyn Krauth, Kenzie Kretsmeyer, Kaley Krieger, Sydney Cole, Lauren Kumpf, Yi Yong Kwan, Ryan Lackey, Morgan Lambracht, Brendan Lane, Casey Lane, Marissa LaRose, Elizabeth Lawrence, Katelyn Lazaro, McKenna Lebo, Dane Laker, Kaley LaClark, Thad Yon Lee, Jasmine Leninger, Jacqueline Lentz, Thomas Letzinger, John Levitz, Renee Lewis, Logan Luton, Madeline Lilly, Jia Yi Lin, Jia Heng Ling, Tamara Lipsa, Allison Little, Dong Xuan Li, Yi Liu, Anna Long, Tia Long, Davana Lord, Colton Lotus, Ciara Love, Thomas Lovisa, Matthew Lucas, Evan Lusator, Jiaxin Ma, William Mulucky, Chloe Manley, Katrielle Marks, Ashley Marzolf, Samantha Matisco, Ace Matthews, Jake McClain, Connor McCormick, Michael McGill, Miranda McGuire, Tristan McIntyre, Suzanne McCague, Madison McKeon, Kyle McKee, Luke McLean, Amanda McLaughlin, Kailin Meeks, Allison Meggle, Hudson Mera, Jessica Mercer, Araya Merriman, Rafael Amino de Valdos, Victoria Mira Monti, Niko Morellis, Peyton Moeller, Parker Moore, Ronald Molinari, Haley Mood, Emma Moon, Iris Moore, Matthew Moore, Megan Moore, Mitchell Moore, Alyssa Morgan, Cheyenne Morgan, Kay Morgan, Sarah Morgan Nishimura, Julia Motto, David Mudd, Abigail Murphy, Andrew Murphy, John Murphy, Emily Musenbach, Carly Myers, Jonathan Neff, Lorda Neworth, Reed Nicely, Kurt Nyhoff, Katie Nixon, Ethan Nobles, Benjamin Nussbaum, Aaron O'Connor, Iris O'Donnell Belisario, Eater Othman, Kathleen Ott, Emily Otty, Bridget Owens, Mary Claire Palsinski, Britton Park, Garrett Pell, Joshua Perkins, Mitch Perkins, Tyler Pinkerton, Caleb Pollert, Cassidy Polzen, Sydney Ponsler, Kenna Porter, Noah Pointer, India Prate, Caroline Provines, Nathan Perk, Abigail Perser, Jared Putt, Shaolin Xu, Noah Raddy, Myra Rademacher, Isaiah Ramsey, Joshua Randall, Bryce Rick Ewerk, Evelyn Reverend, Erica Rexing, Ava Richardson, Jacob Ryder, Michaela Raike, Josie Reinhold, Christopher Roberts, Kelly Roberts, Cassidy Robinson, Fernando Romeo Sanchez de Lozada, Selena Romo, Emily Rosenbaum, Ayan Rudolph, Katelyn Rumsey, Katie Sandifer, Elliot Sass, Ryan Schaefer, Brooke Schaefer, Kyle Schaefer, Katelyn Schmouse, Bennett Schmidt, Christopher Shore, Lauren Shrek, Claire Schroeder, Jacqueline Schroeder, Madeline Schroeder, Kara Schuler, Eli Schuler, Jacob Schuler, Steven Schwanz, Sarah Schwartzkopf, Katie Schwering, Pierce Scott, Ryan Scully, Elizabeth Sealy, Aksha Atul Shah, Leanna Scherer, Daniel Shedrow, Cade Sheffield, Jacob Schofler, Grace Showalter, Toy Lamse, Kaley Simmers, Evelyn Simmel, Elizabeth Simmermeyer, Luke Simon, Audrey Schafiden, Sydney Skinner, Bailey Slivka, Andrea Smith, Dalton Smith, Corbin Smith, Raphael Sogamanian, Redney Sparks, Kristen Squillace, Skyler Stahl, Megan Stamford, Haley Stanczewski, Jacob Steven, Trent Sticker, Brooke Stinson, Rachel Stoner, Michaela Strain, Chad Stuckwich, Dakota Studebaker, Katie Stahl, Harley Sullivan, Juliana Sullivan, Che Sulak, Big Swy Soon, Valerie Sween, Gabrielle Tannis, Emily Tauber, Sarah Thayer, Tanner Thomas, Emily Thascher, Samuel Tilden, Elizabeth Tyndall, Jessica Titzer, Tevin Tomlison, Oriana Torres, Reed Trendy, Yohan Tu, Xi Yong Tu, Craig Tummy, Morgan Eubelor, Noah Van Horn, Richard Van Est, Hunter Van Stoost, Jordan Ventresco, Alexandra Verdeja Perez, Alexander Vidus, Hilary Verba, Caitlin Weibel, Blaine Walters, Brianna Ware, Alyssa Warren, Quinn Waterbury, Damian Waters, Brianna Weida, Catherine Weiss, Mary Margaret Welch, Faith Welty, Sarah Wendtland, Grace Wernert, Plannery Whitmore, Cody Widmer, Catherine Wigner, Aaron Will, Gabrielle Williams, Kaylee Williams, Makayla Williams, Emily Willis, Kaylee Wilson, Nicholas Wilson, Steven Wilson, Morgan Winder, Emily Wishmeyer, Emily Witty, Zachary Woostie, Elizabeth Wolfe, Catherine Wolfert, Matthew Wolfe, Nicholas Wandaugh, Richard Ho Wong, Kayla Woodcox, Jenna Wright, Xiki Sui Yong, Han Shui Xu, Zhonglin Zhang, Xiki Yang, Lindsey Jaeger, Makayla Yang, UIU, Zachary Zaltin, Jinfan Zhang, Zerui Zhu, Jack Zeiss, Caleb Ziliac, Agricultural in Biological Engineering, Haley Adams, Sylvia Antunes, Matthew Baker, Zachary Berglund, Casey Baumrad, Jonathan Bradway, Kate Carpenter, Mishbaa Chagpar, Janice Chan, Chujia Chun, Joshua Coulson, Rachel Eaton, Grace Enomerato, Nathaniel Everett, Nicholas Fields, Kevin Fitzgerald, George Fontenot, Nicholas Formica, Chaofu, Zihan Gao, Ethan Gaskin, Jenna Green, Sanya Gupta, Devani Harrell, Brian Tartano, Elena Haskins, L. Halwarth, Adam Hemmelgarn, Kayglee Hodson, Yu Wing Ji Hong, Russell House, Deborah Hughes, Anastasia Ingraman, Adaranke Jackson, Yi Jing Zhang, Yashuan Kalanisen, Ngbe Kim, Joseph Crampon, Austin Lason, Hanlu Li, Jingyuan Li, Jinfang Ling, Mai Liu, Thera Liu, Yi Xuan Liu, Zhang Xuan Liu, Colin Lynch, Sean McGill, Evan Martin, Sean McCormick, Emma Missicco, Katherine Nagy, Lauren Nash, Lauren Newworth, Madeline O'Neill, Ashley Otero, Adarsh Patel, Shu Yi Peng, Jaden Rosen, Tyler Rowland, Jessica Salinas, Christina Sanchez, Elliot Sass, Lingxi Xu, Billy Sypes, Patrick Strobe, Vishwajit Swaminathan Ravichandran, Reed Trendy, Alec Watkins, Ilyas Yilgore, Renwei Yu, Mai Chi Zhang, Materials Science and Engineering, Sebastian Aldwin, Ignatius Samuel Reconso Arnati, Mitchell Brazina, Natalie Carter, Daniel Cervantes, Renee Denino, Nicholas Finnan, Abigail Gentry, Jonathan Gerber, Anna Giesler, Benjamin Gray, Hayden Hermes, Nia Hightower, Peter Hong, Dominic Hurley, Sukyung Zhang, Alexander Johnson, Prunit Kabra, Alexander Keener, Sabrina King, Jonathan Klein, Michael Klingseisen, Siddharth Krishnamurthy, Paige Kerchak, Katie Kirpus, Lute Larmin, Ryan Leatherman, Tyler Lucas, Raven Macioni, Andrea Martin Tovar, Jack Mason, Jacob Melvin, Nolan Miller, Abigail Mitchell, Ryan Moore, Dylan Morris, Nathan Pong, Annalise Payne, Julia Peck, Kyle Petroski, Brooke Preston, Rena Sabatello, Margaret Sarowich, Shen Yu Shang, David Xu, Jack Sawajek, Robert Scoog, Zane Smith, Phillips Deckler, Edwin Velay Calay, Matthew Wan, Michael Warteberg, Haley Weldy, Daniel Whelan, Julia White, Ashley Whistle, Chung Yong Dong, Travis Ziegler, Mechanical Engineering, Abdul Aline, Madeline Ackerman, Brian Acosta, Romir Manish Agrawal, Cameron Ahmed, Tyler Albrecht, Moab Aforani, Salman Ali, Joshua Almanee, Dakota Alverson, Mohamed Andijani, Zachary Anderson, Ryan Andrews, Michael Anthony, Ling Bai, William Bione, Nolan Baird, Matthew Baker, Jessica Bartling, Talyn Bassett, Renato Bazin, Preston Becker, Evan Behringer, William Bennett, Eric Bergquist, Ian Bernander, Keller Bilstrom, Nicholas Bittner, Michelle Bitter, Brinton Blackwell, Caroline Blanchardt, Mohamed Bou Khamzien, Matthew Bonini, Balaj Banihe, Anna Brandt, Benjamin Brode, Justin Broly, Connor Brosnan, Samuel Buller, James Burnett, Nikhil Karniro, Casey Carter, Drew Chandra, Sibi Chandra Sakkar, Sung Woo Cho, Young Kyung Cho, Farhana Chaudhury, Wook Jin Chung, Simon C.S., Cheney Klappman, Steven Kohn, Benjamin Cortes, Emily Cottle, Lawrence Kauzi, Ryanne Cracker, Elizabeth Cronin, Logan Cross, Wei Xuan Dai, Jacob Danick, Ashley Davis, Riley Delaney, Prithviraj Deshmuk, Shaanik Despande, Yifei Ding, Yuja Ding, David Dahlahar, Nicole Dorsey, William Drummond, George Elias, Seth Emond, Mallory Engelhard, Kiram Eraslan, Ryan Eartham, Xuan Rae Phan, William Finn, Benjamin Fisher, Cameron Fritz, Glen Galloway, Jacob Galvin, Jordan Ganley, Adam Garrett, Andrew Gessner, Mary Glauner, Lucas Glenn, Rachel Goldman, Nicholas Good, Kirby Goodwin, Logan Greenlee, John Gross, Samuel Goodemann, Matthew Guido, Samruta Gujrati, David Gustafson, Rishabh Gowalani, Connor Hague, Kelly Hageman, Jordan Hanny, Samuel Hebeisen, Andrew Hedges, Ethan Hikens, Grant Heisey, Ryan Hellyer, Nathan Hess, Todd Yerpe, Peng Joshua Ho, Yuda Hoashi, David Hoglund, Evan Horsting, Duncan Hout, King Wong, Issue Wong, Zachary Hudson, Micah Hoffman, Benjamin Hutchins, Savannah Hutchins, Yung Ha Wang, Bo Hyun Nguong, Joshua Jenkins, Jacob Just, Kevin Calton-Mark, Kenzo Camilla, Shah Shakir Kantawalla, Juhi Khakre, Roshin Kenney, Bharat Khasari, Daniel Khilgor, Jong Young Kim, Shiranth Keshore, Julia Klayben, Samuel Nect, Hunter Kohhart, Ritik Kotuck, Michael Kottur, Owen Kraft, Aaron Kruder, Krish Kripakaran, Eric Kruger, Ryan Leach, Ho-Chun Lee, Sung-Hun Lee, Steven Lee, Samuel Lehman, Ming-Long Lee, Owen Lee, Xie Yuan Liang, Tang Da Lin, Hailani Linton, Li Meng Liu, Stanley Liu, Jonathan Lowe, Dylan Lurk, Dring Chao Ma, Jamie Macklem, Scott Madsen, Theresa Mayer, Katherine Mao, Jo Beth Martin, Andrew McCall, Mason McClure, Kyle McGinley, Griffin McMahon, Han Numenan, Christian Melching, Joseph Mesky, Nathan Miller, Aditya Mishra, Mason Mitchell, Zuhara Moineudin, Matthew Molin, Jessica Murray, Trent Murray, Pradeep Marugan, Emily Nadler, Ricardo Naan, Alessandra Napoli, Haley Nelson, Alan Nguyen, Muhammad Haroun Nishat, Ian Normile, Hunter Novak, Fagan Patel, Nicholas Parrish, Jacob Peterson, John Piazza, Mitchell Pullman, Mark Pollard, Joshua Porter, Tan Prasaprat, Zachary Profio, Devanj Rai, Pashan Raja, Ajit Rajandran, Akshay Rao, Vedapali Srisairedi, Graham Reed, Aaron Reem, Thomas Reinhart, Kade Rodine, Navid Riyazjiat, Daniel Rice, Sebastian Rodriguez Prokopevich, Alana Roth, Kailin Rudd, Liza Russell, Lauren Saylor, Colin Samuels, Daniel Schuler, Brendan Schultz, Peter Schultz, Peter Scott, Sahil Shah, Syed Safran Shah, Shivam Shetty, Nitao Shuh, Matthew Shortz, Yuvraj Singh, Jakren Sirimang Kolaskam, Christopher Shaland, Anthony Skipworth, Griffin Sneed, Jack Spiegel, Matthew Springer, Tyler Staggy, Joshua Stalbaum, Nathaniel Stearns, Austin Stahl, Nathaniel Stearns, Austin Steinman, Austin Stewart, William Stoles, Hardy Sura, Jason Swetlik, Megan Tendorich, Matthew Tao, Nicholas Taylor, Alec Telichochie, Bradford Teston, Jared Throckmorton, Shantanu Tube, Nicholas Thurston, Kyle Tilly, Henry Toth, Nicholas Trevino, Arturo Trevino-Prestomo, Mark Turin, Ataman Uygar, Faheem Voira, Riley Reika, Ebo Wang, Yining Wang, Nathaniel Walshburn, Shantanu Tube, Nathaniel Walshburn, Alexander Wassmer, Tristan Watel Dehanen, James Waters, Patrick Wayman, Samuel Weiss, Kyle Westendorf, Katherine Williams, Luke Reedy, Jiaying Shan, Yihao Xia, Zhengyu Xu, Hanje Zhang, Takahiro Yang, Brandon Yant, Jaylin Yeager, William Jurgen, Yizhe Zhang, Zhang Lei Zhao, Zhongyue Zhao, The College of Pharmacy, Claire Aduware, Skyler Albury, Ken Amagai, Devin Bingham, Elena Bolfa, Lingxi Chen, Che Chiao, Allison Clifton, Riley Coates, Sienna Cooper, Joseph Cordill, Isaac Corum, Matthew Fernandez, Ziqi Guo, Jiyeong Wan Han, Aaron Gemmerstad, Chantiel James, Andrew Kim, Jimin Kim, Jennifer Lee, Nathaniel Lo, Abby Martin, Sophia Meyer, Carolyn Michelle, Kendall Morris, Aster Park, Zhang Weng Park, Parth Patel, Ross Robinson, Jing Shui Shao, Hong You Su, Weizi Shun, Shiv Vithal, Yewen Wang, Sydney Williams, Winston Woodfork, Weizel, You are now graduates of Purdue University. It's time for you to observe the tradition of moving your tassel from the right side of the mortarboard to the left, signifying your new status. Congratulations to all our new alums. It's appropriate at this time that we give special recognition to those graduates who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, leadership and service to the university community. You can read the names of the recipients of the award and their recognition in your commencement program. Additional special awards have been noted on your division's ceremony page. On behalf of the trustees and the faculty, congratulations on your accomplishments. We're counting on you to continue making exceptional contributions in all your future endeavors. Some of our graduates receive red, white and blue cords signifying that they are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Congratulations to all of our graduates who have made this achievement and our sincere gratitude for their patriotism. We honor these graduates for their hard work and accomplishments, but they'd be the first to tell us they did not make the journey alone. So will the graduates please take this moment to offer thanks and appreciation to your parents, grandparents, spouses, brothers, sisters and other family members and friends for their long and loving support that brought you to this moment. We'll be inside the front cover of the program and will be projected. Will you please stand? I'm pleased to introduce Mason Gordon who was selected as today's student responder in recognition of his leadership in many student and campus organizations. Mason is receiving a bachelor of science in agricultural economics. Has produced second ever student to be named a Mitchell Scholar. After graduation, he'll pursue a master's degree in rural futures planning and innovation at the National University of Ireland Galway. Please welcome Mason Gordon. To President Daniels, Provost Ackridge, the Purdue University Board of Trustees, Purdue faculty and staff, family and friends, on behalf of the Purdue Class of 2020, I say thank you. To Dean Plout, Doctors Michael Wilcox, Ken Foster, Michael Gunderson, Joan Fulton and Roseanne Altstadt, and Leanne Williams, my parents, loved ones in 421 apartment crew, with a new experience, incredibly memorable. To the Class of 2020, well, that ending was unexpected. Perhaps the most applicable comparison occurred in March 2019 during the NCAA men's basketball Elite 8 battle between Purdue and Virginia. With 5.9 seconds left in the second half, Purdue had a three-point lead. Boilermakers everywhere thought that we were about to witness a Purdue Final Four run, but fate would step in, alter our perfect ending, and Virginia advanced victorious. Flash forward to March 2020. The buzzer is about to sound on our senior year, and each of us have a perfect ending in mind. Study of broad experiences. Student-led events of some of us have poured hours of our hearts and souls into planning. Grand Prix, the great endorsement at Harry's, the opportunity for our loved ones to hear our name read aloud in the Elliott Hall of Music during this very ceremony. But fate would step in and alter this perfect ending. In this time of heartbreak, it is pivotal for us to remember the preceding pages of our college chapters that COVID-19 cannot touch. The professional development and career advancement opportunities that we experienced, the network that we wove across the country and across the world, the friendships that we forged and memories we made in the process, being the first in your family to earn a college degree, semesters on the Dean's List, the legacy of Tyler Trent, the 49-20 whooping that we threw down on No. 2 Ohio State in football last year, and most importantly, it's been 1,548 days since Purdue last fell to IU in men's basketball. Right now, as we take part in this graduation ceremony at home and not in Elliott Hall, it seems like all that this day represents is gone. But this ceremony really isn't about today. It isn't about this chapter of our lives. It's about the unwritten chapters that lie ahead. As Purdue graduates, we have increased our capacity for career success and increased the likelihood of writing the chapters that we dream of writing. No doubt, somewhere in the midst of creating our dream chapter, fate may try to step in and alter our perfect ending. But remember, no matter where our chapters take us, we remain Boilermakers. And there's a lot of great characteristics about Boilermakers. First off, Boilermakers don't pay more tuition year after year. We pay the exact same amount. Boilermakers don't ask ourselves, what would Carol Baskin do? We ask ourselves, what would Joe Exotic do? Boilermakers don't slow down and charge full steam ahead. Boilermakers don't crumble under unexpected pressure. We build one brick higher. Boilermakers don't take steps backwards. We take giant leaps forward. Boilermakers don't shy away from going where no man has gone before. We go to the moon. A brilliant man and my roommate's head hood wants to share a Dr. Robert Shuler quote with me. Tough times never last, but tough people do. No matter what COVID-19 took away from our senior year, it can never take away the fact that we are and always will be Boilermakers. Tough times never last, but Boilermakers do. I'll hail to old Purdue and congratulations to each of you. Boiler up. Today you are standing on the edge of possibility. We pause to give thanks for the deep sense of accomplishment, pride, and hope of this very moment. We pause today to reflect on your time here and the hope for your future. We gather with abundant joy and overwhelming gratitude. We pray the experience here embodies our vision of education as an engaged and dynamic partnership between the university and the wider world. The work here has never been merely for personal use, but always for public good. And so today we celebrate the collective commitment of a better and more just world. May we appreciate the joy of this day and may the dedication and patient perseverance that has brought us to this moment carry us forth to create a world marked by peace, justice, and compassion beyond measure. Go forth to do the good work set before you. Be tireless. Seek the common good. Love and nurture the people and things you value. Attend to your work with integrity so that what you believe may be what you do. And when you feel as if you might become defeated, think back on this day and know that you already have accomplished much. May you be blessed and may your lives be a blessing to all of us. Amen. You shall go out with joy You shall go out with joy joy joy joy As we conclude today's commencement ceremony thank you for joining this celebration of our newest Boilermaker graduates. On behalf of the trustees, faculty, and all the Purdue family, I bid you farewell. Godspeed. Hail Purdue.