Thank you President Wright for that warm introduction. It is a privilege to join with the Dartmouth community as you celebrate the culmination of another academic year. Let me add my own congratulations to all the good wishes you will receive today, because you, the millennium class of 2000, have worked hard to arrive at this milestone.
Graduation is a celebration of collaboration.
Many people have gone to great lengths to prepare you for the world ahead. And if you have any doubt on this matter, please consider this story about Gregor Piatigorsky, the great Russian cellist. Piatigorsky was struggling mightily with one of his students. No matter how many times he tried, he could not show the pupil how a certain piece should sound. In fact, the more he played, the more the student's skills seemed to deteriorate.