Grades for Spring 2025 are in. Medallions and diplomas handed out. We've had both university and DHC retreats, and are ready, now, to charge into a beautiful Montana summer.
As has become a bit of a tradition, my last Bear Necessities of the term features the eloquence of our student medallion ceremony speakers. Julia, Sarah, and Sophia, our 2025 Honors Ethic winners, shared the podium last Friday afternoon on the Oval and moved the more than 500 folks assembled with their smart, heartfelt, wise, and wonderful words. Here are some excerpts from their address:
We all wrote an I am from poem about four years ago. In this 12-lined poem, we reflected on our lives up until that point. We thought of street names, home-cooked meals, and family traditions...the good times and hard times...the roots of who we were. But now, we have a bit more to add. We are from -15 degree walks across campus, from the midnight rumble of the train passing through Missoula, from the bell tolls every day at noon, from fear, uncertainty, failure, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going. And we are from the joy of becoming: of growing into people we once only imagined, shaped by challenge, curiosity, and change. We are from a community that cares, people who showed up with kindness, with encouragement, and with open arms. From people who lifted us up so we could lift up others. Today, we stand on a new foundation, shaped by strength, compassion, and the people who believed in us, who saw us clearly, and who made space for both our joys and heartbreaks. This is where we are from. May we stand firmly on this foundation as we grow, move, and find new places to call home...
Five years of conversations, experiences, and relationships have shaped honors into what I understand it to be today. To be honorable is to be kind like Bethany, to care about the environment like Peter, to love like Tim. It's to be affable like Ava, creative like Nathan, passionate like Jayden, inquisitive like Anna, and to be unapologetically ourselves, like each and every one of us. Our definition of honors comes not only from our own understanding but from the honorable people we surround ourselves with. From professors and classmates, parents and siblings, coworkers, roommates, advisors, the list goes on. And as we step out into the world, we have the opportunity to be that person for others. We will use the definition we have created during our time here to show what it means to be honorable in the next chapter of our lives.
As graduates of the Davidson Honors College, we've been challenged to think critically, act ethically, and to lead with love. I believe that the world needs our empathy as much as our expertise. Whether we go on to be lawyers, teachers, artists, scientists — or something completely different — our impact won't be measured by titles or awards. It will be measured by the lives we touch, the injustices we fight, the systems we improve, and the beauty we create. For many of us, service will be at the heart of that work. Through service learning, we've discovered that meaningful change doesn't happen in isolation — it happens in community. Our little acts of service have added up. They've shaped us into people who not only care, but care loudly, joyfully, and without hesitation. I think that's what an honorable future looks like: people who are willing to work hard, to connect, and to keep showing up for each other, for their communities, and for the world.
As we venture out into the world with honor, let's also venture out with love.
It truly takes a village to be who we are and to do what we do, so be the villager. And just as importantly, when the time comes, let your village be there for you, too. And to our villages that are here today, thank you for showing up, making time, and giving us the courage to be who we are.
When life hits us hard and we struggle to find our footing, I hope we will rest easy knowing we made an impact on this place. We made an impact here in the DHC, at UM, and in Missoula. Knowing each of us, I can confidently say that wherever we go, we will leave a footprint. And what a privilege it will be if these footprints get crowded out by numerous others. Because that means we paved the way, we made the change, and others followed. So, to my fellow graduates, the movers and shakers of the world, celebrating with you is a pleasure. Leave this place knowing you are loved and believed in and in all that you do, keep being, as Tim would say, #honorable.
How about that, huh?
As a stunning conclusion to Friday's ceremony, Andy, Bella, Isabel, Luca, Rosie, and Sophia sent the graduates off with a gorgeous acapella version of The Parting Glass. I'll send you off for summer, then with this last line:
"So fill to me the parting glass. Good night and joy be with you all."
