'Be Courageous,' Dadlez Urges at Graduate Commencement

Christopher M. Dadlez, president and CEO of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, speaks to graduates and guests during Saturday's Graduate Commencement Ceremony.

Members of the first graduating class from the University’s Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program pose prior to Saturday’s ceremony.

Mary Beth Johnson, who graduated Saturday with a Master of Science in Nursing, holds her granddaughter, 6-month-old Lily Johnson.

Schauntice Marshall, who earned a Graduate Professional Diploma from The Hartt School, sings the National Anthem at the beginning of Saturday's ceremony.

Happy graduates from The Hartt School.

The 2013 Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) graduates pose on the steps of Dana Hall. This is the fourth DPT graduating class.

“Be courageous” was the charge that Christopher M. Dadlez, president and chief executive officer of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, gave to the members of the Class of 2013 who received advanced degrees at the University’s Graduate Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 18.

More than 400 students received master’s and doctoral degrees during Saturday’s ceremony, including the first graduating class from the University’s Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program.

See photos from Saturday's ceremony on Facebook.

Saturday's Graduate Commencement Ceremony was the first event in a two-day Commencement Weekend. Nearly 1,100 students received bachelor’s and associate’s degrees at the University’s Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 19.

Prior to his remarks at the graduate ceremony on Saturday, Dadlez was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University.

“For most of us, ‘courage’ seems like a topic too big, too grand, to fit into the narrow confines of our daily lives. I am here today to suggest that, of all the traits that we admire and want to emulate, courage should be — in fact, must be — at the very top of the list,” said Dadlez.

“Courage changes us. It makes us better on the inside because it makes us live our values,” he said. “Do what is right, what takes courage, no matter what the consequences,” he urged the graduates. “And every time you do, you will become a better person — and the world around you will become a better place.”

Listen to audio clips and read transcripts of Saturday's remarks by Dadlez and by University President Walter Harrison.

President Harrison told the graduates that “Today is a day to recognize you for what you have accomplished. I, however, want to suggest that you look at it differently. Today is a day to look forward to all you will do with the degrees you have earned and the knowledge you have acquired to make this a better world.

“This has not been the easiest of years, between the real tragedies in Newtown and in Boston," Harrison added. "There have been many things that would make us step back and wonder about our future, but today, with this really joyous celebration, this demonstration of the real possibilities of human accomplishment, I personally feel very reinforced that the future of our world will exhibit the kind of courage that Chris Dadlez urged us to follow.

“I rejoice in this knowledge, that each of you, in your own way, some in roles that lead many other people and some in ways that will individually touch people’s lives —and some in both ways — will use what you have learned here to change our world,” Harrison said.