 Welcome everybody welcome and please be seated. I'm Susan Collins the Joan and Sanford Wildein of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. It was truly a pleasure to meet so many of you at our graduation open house yesterday and it's really an honor to welcome you here to Rackham Auditorium this afternoon for our 2017 commencement ceremony. I'll begin by introducing the members of the platform party. With me on stage is our keynote commencement speaker the president of the Russell Sage Foundation and formerly a long time Ford School faculty member and distinguished university professor Sheldon Danziger. Sheldon we're honored to have you here with us today and we look forward to your remarks a little later in the program. To Sheldon's right is Annie Maxwell MPP class of 2002 now president of the Skull Global Threats Fund and this morning at Michigan Stadium Annie was celebrated as one of just ten recipients of the university's Bicentennial Alumni Award. Annie we're so proud of you and we're really happy that you are here with us to celebrate this evening. Next is Paul Carant the University of Michigan's interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and it is our great fortune to count Paul as among the Ford School's own faculty. Thanks for being here Paul. At stage right is our writing instructor David Morse who will be reading the names of our graduates as they cross the stage a little bit later. We're joined as well. We're joined as well by our two associate deans Paula Lance and Elizabeth Gerber and by Jonathan Hansen who has been elected by our graduating students to deliver the faculty address and I'll have more to say about each of them in a few moments. And last but not least elected by their respective classmates to provide the student commencement addresses are soon to be Ford School MPP graduate Bilal Baidoon and BA graduate Joseph Shea. Well we're gathered here this evening for what has become the happy highlight of the academic year for me and many of our faculty and staff. The opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the wonderful faces who are sitting among us in caps and gowns. The Ford School at the University of Michigan has pioneered the study of public policy for over 100 years. We were the first program of its kind at our founding in 1914. So we've been at this for quite some time. But like unlike I should say my colleagues who for example lead the law school or the business school or the school of education. I'm often asked questions like so what is the school of public policy anyway. Well I'm always delighted to take any chance I can to tell families and friends about the Ford School our students and our faculty. At its core the Ford School's mission is to improve lives to improve communities. Public policy is about the institutions and the structures that we build together that connect us together as neighborhoods nations a global community. We can see that public policy from 10 30 a hundred years ago helped to shape the lives that we lead today. Public policy was instrumental in pulling America out of the Great Depression in rebuilding Europe after 1946 in radically reducing disease providing safe food and expanding civil and human rights. Public policy provides the infrastructure around which countries agree to trade to partner for security and to implement large scale environmental protections. Undertakings like these take time collaboration and diverse perspectives. They were and are actions rooted in the simple principle of decency and yet let's be clear it was also public policy at work throughout the past year as we slogged through what was one of the most divisive presidential elections which with perhaps the least amount of policy substance in American history. It is also public policy at work just down the road in Flint Michigan where a generation will suffer devastating permanent health impacts of lead poisoning from drinking water that they had every reason to expect was safe. Extreme partisanship, growing economic inequality, fake news all of that too is the public policy context that we face. And I think this helps explain why since last November's election I have had dozens of people from different backgrounds and in different contexts approach me the dean of the Ford School and say something like we need more Gerald Ford's. I really admired President Ford. His decency, his decades of success in working across the aisle, his commitment to an inclusive society and his fervent belief in bringing facts to bear on public problems. President Ford was a tremendous role model. The University of Michigan's bicentennial celebrations call to mind that our namesake president was in office in 1976 as United States marked its 200th birthday. On July 4th 1976 Ford delivered bicentennial remarks at Valley Forge, the site of great suffering for America's revolutionary army 200 some years before. While President Ford of course was talking about the United States, I think his words are much more universally true. He stressed and I quote, a nation survives only so long as the spirit of sacrifice and self-discipline is strong within its people and that freedom is always worth fighting for. While students I won't trivialize the icy winter suffering of General Washington's army by comparing it to your time in public policy 320 or 510 or economics core, but you have sacrificed and shown discipline and worked hard here at Michigan. And because of that you are truly prepared to fight for principles that you hold dear to keep building a more fair, just and peaceful world. We've taught you to analyze complicated data sets, to evaluate benefits and costs, to speak and write clearly and persuasively, to think critically, ethically, compassionately, to recognize and incorporate multiple perspectives, to craft and enact creative solutions where others might see only dead ends. These tools are becoming all the more relevant as technology and demography propel dramatic breakneck changes in society. We can all see and feel our world becoming smaller and more and more interconnected. Our challenge is becoming more complex and our problems more wicked. On a happy commencement day it doesn't take an optimist like me to see that the solution to these problems, our bright hope for the future is right here. It's among our Ford School students and our alumni. We've prepared these graduates to build careers that represent the very best of the field of public policy. I first stood on this stage for our commencement ceremony in 2008. And just nine years later the graduates who shook our hands that day have already forged careers of impact. Alums from the class of 2008 are directing public affairs efforts for Coca-Cola and Google. They're leading USAID's anti-malaria initiative, serving as chief of staff for the New Orleans City Council, managing clean energy strategy for Pacific gas and electric, and much, much more. Those sorts of careers are in your futures as well. The talented, courageous people working with others to solve society's big problems for the next half century, that's the group that you are now joining as an alum of the Ford School. I speak with confidence when I tell you graduates that the faculty and staff of the Ford School are proud of you and proud of the role that we've played in preparing you for your careers. I've often thought that we who teach and work at the Ford School are privileged in the sense that every day we get to help prepare students like you to become the citizens and the public servants that our world deserves and so desperately needs. So let me speak for a moment about the world-class faculty and outstanding staff who do that work. Our faculty hold joint appointments ranging from economics, political science, sociology, math and history, to business, law, social work, education, natural resources, information and urban planning. So their expertise at the Ford School is both broad and deep. They're thoughtful, enthusiastic teachers and mentors, and they're actively engaged with critically important public policy challenges. To give two examples from right here on the stage, Liz Gerber is our Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement. Her recent work has included game-changing involvement in developing a regional transit authority that is already helping to improve public transportation options for Metro Detroit residents. Paula Lance is our Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. She has dedicated her career to improving population health and reducing health disparities. She's currently leading a major effort to provide timely, actionable policy research that will accelerate progress towards health equity. The Ford School's professional staff are also a fabulous source of the school's strength. Today's graduates have been recruited, counseled and prepared for their careers by the work of our terrific staff team, a team that keeps the education, research, public service and engagement missions of the school moving forward. And it is now my pleasure and indeed my honor to invite all of the Ford School's faculty and staff to stand. So you all are way ahead of me. Thank you for joining me and thanking them for the tremendous work that they do. Speaking of people who deserve thanks, our audience includes over 800 family members and friends along with perhaps 400 others who are tuned into our live web stream. Graduates, please take this chance to thank your loved ones for their support over the years and our thanks as well. And now I'd like to talk to you about the classes of 2017, about what they've accomplished and given back during your time at the Ford School. We have one PhD graduate who will receive her doctoral hood here this evening from her faculty advisor. And you'll hear her dissertation title as she's hooded. She has done outstanding work and she leaves the Ford School to join the Peking University faculty as an assistant professor. 91 students receive a master's degree tonight. They hail from eight different countries and they speak an astounding 23 languages. They include a Boran Fellow, a Winston Health Policy Fellow, and the recently named Michigan Difference Graduate Student of the Year. This year they raised over $13,000 for the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and they did so with tremendous creativity. Many of us especially enjoyed the Top Chef tasting events. Thank you very much. They were delicious. Last year, this cohort was the driving force behind a new group for first generation college students. They organized lunches, created a newsletter, and found many ways to connect and support each other here at this very large university. I recently heard a staff member describe this MPP class with one word, rambunctious. Well, I actually think that's a fine way to start a career in public policy. So, have they always mingled and collaborated well with our undergraduates? Well, commencement seems as good a time as any to really start that tradition. And so, I'd like to invite Joe and Bilal to maybe demonstrate with a special, oh, a hug even better. Perfect. And just to remind our MPP students, you might be working for one of the BAs one day and they may be working for you. So, now let me tell you about the 73 students who graduate today with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy. They have been part of one of the university's finest liberal arts programs. In small classes with some of the universities of Michigan's top faculty, our BA curriculum trains students to think critically and across disciplines to understand policy challenges and develop solutions. I must note that the BAs first joined the Ford School 10 years ago, which was my first year as dean, and it has been such a pleasure to watch the program take off. Today's BA graduates include 23 Phi Beta Kappa, 26 Angel Scholars, and two recipients of the Martin Luther King Junior Spirit Award. They write for the daily. They lead campus-wide student government. They advocate passionately and wisely for the causes they believe in. These students truly are the leaders and best across a wide array of campus activities. Taken together, the classes of 2017 are serious students, hard workers, and dedicated leaders. They have changed this place for the better, volunteering in large numbers and in so many different ways, welcoming incoming classes, serving on school committees, leading student organizations, supporting our public lecture series, and more. The classes of 2017 have been at the Ford School and the university during a time of increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In fact, these students have actively led the way. They've chaired and participated on campus-wide initiatives, and here at the Ford School, they've led diversity summits and community conversations. They've worked hard in the classroom to both speak and listen with respect for differences of all sorts. And so, to all of our graduates, I say on behalf of the Ford School, thank you. It has truly been a pleasure to work with you and to get to know you. I know that many of you have mixed feelings about what today represents. You'll miss a lot about your days in Ann Arbor. Dominics, the Diag, Dancing at Live, Ricks, Skeeps, Charlie's. You'll miss long working hours in the computer lab, urgent emails to FSPPL, Jim Harbaugh's third season. Of course, most of all, you'll miss your Ford fam. Next year, your friends and classmates may not be just down the street, but I promise you that the ties you've made here, the ties that you forged in shared struggles and shared values, will endure and will help sustain you. On July 5th, 1976, President Ford made bicentennial remarks during a naturalization ceremony at Monticello. He said to the crowd of immigrants, soon to be American citizens, remember that the more freedom you give to others, the more you will have for yourself. Remember that without law, there can be no liberty. And remember as well, the rich treasures you brought from whence you came and let us share your pride in them. As an immigrant myself, those words particularly resonate with me as I reflect back in the 10th and final year of my deanship. Indeed, my parents, both from Jamaica, exemplified the values of perseverance and helping others. They inspired me on the path that led to this unique place, the small but mighty Ford School. Its reach and its impact are immensely enriched by the many treasures that its faculty, staff, students and alumni that each of you have brought to its very special community. It has been a tremendous honor for me to have become part of this Ford fam and for all of the good. Indeed, I would say great work that we have done together in the past 10 years. My heart felt thank you. I like how Oprah Winfrey put things when she said, and I quote, if you hadn't been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn't have been lucky. It might not always seem so, but as Hamilton's Angelica Skyler sings, how lucky we are to be alive right now. Well, to that I'll add now when our world and our community so clearly need your talents, how well prepared you all are to serve and lead, to seize the opportunities that will present themselves. Graduates, we are so proud of you. Congratulations and best wishes to the classes of 2017. Go Blue. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you all.