Donna Christensen '66
U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress

Multi-Ethnic Commencement Celebration Address
Saint Mary’s College
May 8, 2011

 

Good evening everyone!

What a pleasure it is for me to be back here on the idyllic Saint Mary’s campus. Thank you students and administrators for inviting me and particularly for inviting me to this very special celebration of the increasing diversity that continues to enrich the Saint Mary's campus life.

I would especially thank President Mooney for her visits, for always reaching out to me and making sure I knew I was still part of the wonderful Saint Mary's family, and her commitment to diversity. Thanks to Stephanie Bridges for her gracious invitation and for her help in making sure I got here today.

Being a small Island girl and having been cloistered in a small, Catholic all-girls boarding high school in the Monticello, New York, countryside — a euphemism for “boondocks” — I thought I was ready to experience life on the big stage, and so my first choice of colleges was Michigan State.

But the Dominican nuns and my parents wouldn’t hear of it. As I looked at the other possibilities, I chose Saint Mary’s mainly because Notre Dame was just across the highway.

But over the four years I spent here, it is Saint Mary’s that made the difference in my life, and the course it would take, more than anything or any place else — just as it is shaping yours.

And as I take this time to reminisce a little on that time over 40 years ago, I am struck by the significance of this multiethnic gathering in celebration of students of color from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. There is much to celebrate.

As I recall — and keep in mind this is an over-40-year-old memory — when I was a student here, we had three African American students, one of whom was a day student. I don’t recall any Hispanics, international students, or other people of color. So Saint Mary’s has come a long, long way. And Notre Dame did not do much better back then either, despite the basketball and football teams.

[The College] has come so far that I hope you will permit me a little walk down memory lane. You will probably have difficulty recognizing the Saint Mary's of 1962¬ to 1966.

I know this will be hard for you all to even comprehend, but when I came in 1962, we had 6:30 weekday and 8:30 weekend curfews.

Even in my senior year, except for two allotted “one o’clocks” on Saturday nights, we otherwise had to be in at 11 p.m. So there was not much dating for me. The African American students at Notre Dame wouldn't even consider dating someone with those limitations.

But all of that notwithstanding, I spent a lot of my free time on the Notre Dame campus legally and not. Most of it was spent at the Notre Dame radio station helping with programming or just hanging around, sometimes playing bridge. I even got to sit courtside at a few basketball games and announce a minor thing or two.

And I suppose since I am reminiscing, and the statute has probably long run its course — not to mention that my little peccadilloes wouldn't amount to a hill of beans today — let me fess up to a few of my transgressions.

In my freshman year I did not drink at all. But St. Patty's Day in my sophomore year, I spent too much time at the Rathskeller and chugged so many mugs of green beer, my poor roommate had to shore me up so I could get through sign-in and up to our room. I made it, but it was quite a feat on her part. I know that has never happened to any of you!

I had a few close calls at Notre Dame, like the nights I helped one of my friends make and sell pizzas in the basement of his dorm. Once, I just barely missed the priest on the way out.

And then in 1965, I stayed for their graduation and slept in another of their dorms since Saint Mary’s had already closed its doors for the summer. It was all innocent, I can assure you, but back in those days it could have caused me to be suspended at least!

OK, confession is good for the soul. I feel better getting that off my chest!

Unlike today, there was no co-ed or opposite sex visitation on either campus in the early ‘60s. When Saint Mary's proposed cheerleading for Notre Dame football games, which we attended as faithfully as Sunday Mass, they wouldn't hear of it! Girls on their sacred field? No way!

On the other hand, I was one of the first Saint Mary's students to do what is now a common occurrence — to take a class at Notre Dame. Julie Lentz ’66 and I took parasitology and it was a lot of fun.

Some of the more memorable episodes happened in some of our biology classes. Linda Dondero Hazlett ‘66 and I were always the willing, if foolhardy, volunteers. I remember the time we went down to get the frogs for lab. No one told us that to get them we had to put our hands into a large aquarium full of jumping frogs and take them out one by one. When it took forever for us to return to class, our professor came down and found us hysterical and paralyzed with laughter — every frog still right where we found it.

And another time we volunteered to feed the mosquitoes for one of our genetic experiments. That night there was a school outing to see Othello. The two of us were in misery with alcohol and washcloths wrapped around our forearms to try to keep us from scratching our skin off.

The science department was great and I am sure it still is. When I decided to change my major from medical technology to pre-med, our biology chair, Dr. Clarence Dineen, was so supportive and encouraging, especially when I myself had doubts, that I had what it took to become a physician.

The years I was here, 1962 to 1966, were some memorable, historic, and life- and nation-changing years.

I remember coming to the dining room one evening to find my friend Jinxie at the door crying. When I asked what was wrong, she responded tearfully that we were going to war! It was the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was a very scary time, but, thankfully, war was averted.

And then came that 22nd of November in 1963, when as I walked into Le Mans Hall, we first heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot. All of us ran quickly to the chapel and prayed that he would live. But it wasn't long before one of the Sisters came bearing the tragic news.

At the same time the civil rights movement was taking place and while I never felt any prejudice on our campus, Notre Dame was not quite the same welcoming environment.

In my freshman year I was the only black student, probably the only girl of color period, to attend the mixers. After several times of being virtually ignored, I stopped going.

Then came the summer of 1963. It was no ordinary summer, and while many of us may not have been at the historic March on Washington, it and the events in Birmingham and Montgomery had a profound effect on the entire country. Coming back to school, it was clear that it had a profound effect on our two campuses as well.

When we returned after that extraordinary summer, while we were in awe of all that had occurred. There may not have been a very noticeable difference in life at Saint Mary's, at least I didn't sense one here. But over at Notre Dame, it was remarkably different. The guys would actually talk to me — whether they asked me to dance or not, and dates were not forthcoming — there was a new atmosphere.

But more important than how I was treated or the change in interpersonal relationships was the development of a new caring relationship with the black South Bend community. Students from both institutions came together and began tutoring and a Big Brothers Big Sisters outreach to children. Several nights a week we would go to a church and tutor elementary schoolchildren and we would occasionally take them on outings in town or on our campuses on weekends.

We had not been there to sit in, to register people to vote, to be jailed, or to march, but we knew we had to be part of the change that was taking place in our country and this was our way, our contribution then. I am really pleased to see that an expanded and more formal program of tutoring is still happening here. One cannot overestimate the impact you have had and are having in the lives of the children you touch.

Following the tumultuous civil rights events, and while I was still a student here, the historic landmark Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.

We were also in the middle of the Vietnam War. The country was maturing as we students were here at Saint Mary's. It was a remarkable time at a remarkable school and my life, like the lives of my fellow students, was profoundly shaped by both.

Inspired by the times and nurtured, prepared, and sent forth to serve by Saint Mary's, so many of us have gone on from this campus to shape the lives and life opportunities for others: in our homes and in our professions; in our neighborhoods and communities; in our nation; and yes, even our world.

Just one small testimony to the power of a Saint Mary's education is that there are three members of Congress now serving who were students here. For several of the years I’ve served, there were four. What is more remarkable is that two of us are African American — Eddie Bernice Johnson (of Texas) and myself. The other [Madeleine Bordallo] is from Guam. Anne Northup from Kentucky is no longer serving.

I doubt there are many schools that could boast of four students, and certainly none of our size! Saint Mary’s is a remarkable institution and we who have the opportunity to be educated and groomed to take a meaningful place in the world by her are, indeed, blessed.

You, too, are living in a historic time, one of great challenge and of momentous change. Your years at Saint Mary's have also been marked by historic events: security threats and concerns in the long wake of September 11, 2001; wars on several fronts in the Middle East and now the dawning of possible new democracies there; accelerated global warming; a major recession now climbing out of a jobless to a job-creating recovery, I hope; the election of the first African American president of the United States; universal health care within our reach; the growth of the racial and ethnic minority population in this country to 30 percent; and more.

Some of it is positive, some not. Much of it uncertain at best — just as it was for us. What your class and mine share, though, is that just as we did, each and every one of you has the opportunity to make a difference and in some way, big or small, make some part of our world a better place.

That’s what a Saint Mary’s education has always been about — preparing women to step out in faith to be change-agents for a better country and a better world. And the possibilities are limitless not only because the needs are great, but also because of the talents, skills, and passion you have to bring to address them.

It doesn't matter if your future is mapped out to the last detail or whether you don't have a clue where the next phase in your life will take you. Never in my wildest college dreams did I think I would be a member of the Congress of the United States. I told you I even had doubts I could make it as a medical doctor.

But despite the doubts I carried with me all the way to medical school, Saint Mary's made sure I was ready. And once I got though the first few tests, the preparation I received here enabled me to excel at GW [The George Washington University] and through my residency.

But more than that, the education of a Saint Mary's woman instills a spirit of service, the capacity to empathize, and a passion for helping those in need. And so I think I was able to be a family doctor in the real sense and care for my patients in a holistic way not just with skill, but with compassion. I developed that here, and you will find that you did, too!

One of the other pillars of our education is a commitment to justice. And while I didn't know it at the time, I am sure the seeds of my current service were sowed here. If you look at the many public servants whom Saint Mary's has sent out into the world, you would know the path that many of you will be embarking on when you leave here will take you into an office of high public service somewhere. I know and expect each of you to be servant-leaders in some capacity. The seeds have been planted in you, also. And the sense I get from this brief encounter with you is that those seeds are well-placed for a big harvest!

When we leave this premier Catholic women's college, we leave with the certain knowledge that we are women of faith, and of hope born out of that faith, and of love. And the greatest of them is love!

Today, one of greatest challenges in a world full of division and conflict, in a country deeply divided by ideology and by race, ethnicity and income, in neighborhoods plagued by poverty and violence, and families diminished by abuse — one of our greatest challenges is to infuse God's love to cure these ills. And who better equipped to do that than us!

Ours is a world in need of the transformation and renewal that is the cornerstone of the vision of our alma mater.

Ours is a world in need of the hope and courage that this institution has instilled in us.

Ours is a world in search of the security that only the word, the presence and the omnipotent work of God can provide.

Even in my tenure in Congress, I have seen and felt the hand of God working when I didn't know where else to turn, knowing that He is the only one who could bring just the people I needed into my office at the right time, and could turn my simple words into a message of hope and inspiration, as I am hoping He is doing now.

You see, I have some powerful praying folks back home. I know it is not me, it's them! And I thank God for these men and women of God who seem to have a direct line to Him every day!

We women of Saint Mary's of color have a special role to play, a special calling that no one else can fill. In addition to everything else, it is up to us to close the gaps, to level the playing field, to make sure the left out, left behind, and otherwise marginalized are brought into the mainstream and that everyone, wherever they live, enjoys the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While we, racial and ethnic minorities, have made a lot of progress, we still have so much further to go to get to where we need to be and to realize Dr. King’s dream of a “beloved community.” Our mission must be to transform this country and world into ones that are equitable and just.

And to go back to love, one of my favorite people, Cornel West has been fond of saying, and I quote: "Justice is what love looks like in the public arena."

So I charge you, as I charge myself every day, to be of good courage, because you will often have to stand alone, and to make your primary mission — no matter what profession or vocation you choose or chooses you — make it your primary mission to spread God's love because it is the only way to bring justice and peace to a world that's in dire need of both.

It has been a real pleasure to be back on campus, a singular honor to be able to share this special time with you, and to be a part of this multiethnic celebration of my Saint Mary's sisters of color.

These are your days, this is your season. God go with you.