40th Honors Convocation Celebrates Academic Accomplishments

Reflecting on a Four-Year Journey

As is tradition, the Honors Convocation featured student speakers nominated to represent each of Lehigh’s three undergraduate colleges.

In his introduction of student speaker Sarah Stankus ’19, Cameron Wesson, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, noted the value of a liberal arts education in a changing world.

“You all are certainly aware that much is changing around us, as we face tremendous environmental, economic, and social tests and trials,” Wesson said. “A liberal arts and sciences education at Lehigh helps our students develop a sense of social awareness and responsibility, an appreciation of culture and complexity, as well as transferable skills such as communication, analysis and problem-solving, and the ability to apply that knowledge and their talents in the real world. You are here because you have made the most of your college experience and are following an academic path that both excites and interests you.”

Stankus, an Eckardt Scholar pursuing both a Bachelor of Science in Earth and Environmental Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in English, invited her fellow students to reflect on how they got to where they are today.

“Our goals have changed,” she said. “Our perspectives of the world have widened and shifted. We have new levels of knowledge and understanding. We have pinpointed what our interests are and have taken hold of them, poring over those subjects and concepts for hours at the libraries and in our dorms. We’re older, we’re wiser, we’re tireder, maybe even a little bit more broken down, but we’re stronger. We’re like steel that has been forged in the fires of four o’clock exams and calendars full of extracurricular activities.”

Stankus reminded students to remember who they are at this moment—and that they’re more than just their academic achievements.

“We’ve done so much work to get here, to maintain the right GPA to get into this room, but that’s not all we have done,” she said. “We’ve met new people and tried new things. We’ve unlocked desires and dreams that maybe we didn’t even know we had. Right now we are all capable of achieving amazing things. Lehigh has given us the tools to expand our knowledge, and we’ve taken hold of them and used them. Right here, right now, we are full of dreams and hopes, some that are more grounded in the reality of the ‘adult world,’ some still more lofty and verging on the brink of the improbable and the impossible. Don’t let this go when you graduate. New lessons and experiences will be a part of the post-college life just as much as they are the college life, if you are open to them.”

Stankus shared about the pressure she put upon herself during her first year at Lehigh, a “compulsive drive to spend every minute outside of [extracurricular] activities studying and reading my textbooks.” She spent that first year trying to copy others without focusing on what she wanted, she said.

“My main goal in life was, and still is, to help people, and at the end of freshman year I finally realized that there is more than one way to accomplish this and that I didn’t strictly have to follow just what my immediate circle of friends was doing. Any area of study you choose, so long as it has been chosen because you care about it, can be used for the benefit of others,” she said. “... The main things that got me through freshman year and that have gotten me through the rest of college are the communities I am a part of. At the end of the day, we can get all the right answers we want, but without love for others and love from others, it doesn’t matter.

“If your goal is to help people, you have to know people. College hasn’t been just about the grades we’ve gotten. It’s late-night hangouts and walking through the South Side and sitting at the Lookout Point above Dravo with our friends. Life is about solving problems, but it’s also about the connections we form with others. That’s what Lehigh has taught me, and I hope that’s what it’s taught all of you.”

‘A Will to Succeed’

Georgette Phillips, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business and Economics, congratulated the students and noted that she loves this time of the year, when Lehigh is both accepting new students and saying goodbye to its seniors. She asked the students to think back to where they were four years ago, having just been accepted to Lehigh.

Upon arriving at Lehigh, Phillips said, “you were faced with a demanding set of academic challenges that somehow you alone had to manage outside of the comfort of your family. You also had some newfound freedom and I hope that you used that judiciously—you’re all sitting here so I bet you did. ... Savor this moment. Just wallow in it. Be happy. This is a great and wonderful period in your life. You’re sitting in this beautiful concert hall, surrounded by family and friends, recognized for your academic achievements … You’ve used your Lehigh time very wisely, and now you’re prepared with the knowledge to go out and conquer the world. You’ve had your internships, your projects, your countless late-night study sessions. Now it’s your chance to differentiate yourself, to go out and for heaven's sakes, make us proud.”

The Qualities that Define a Lehigh Student

Stephen DeWeerth, dean of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering, reflected upon how he was writing a message just the day before to the newly accepted students of the Class of 2023, telling them how they’d be challenged if they came to Lehigh. “And then to look out in this room and see those students who have gone through the gauntlet and made it through and been challenged, followed their passions—it was a wonderful bookend over two days,” he said. “This is truly an honor to be here with all of you.”

Listing the accomplishments of esteemed Lehigh engineering alumni who have left their marks on the world, DeWeerth noted that “in the Rossin College we’re very proud of all of these accomplishments from the past and all of the amazing accomplishments that our soon-to-be alumni here will contribute in their careers. … Lehigh is known to be a university that challenges its students to excel. By making it to the Honors Convocation, you have done just that: excelled in your academic pursuits and hopefully had some fun in the process. We hope that it is this combination of hard work and a passion for excellence that you will take away from Lehigh and take on to your future careers.”