24020300 Oxford Bacc

One Hundred Seventy-ninth

for Candidates for the Associate of Arts Degree Old Church

Friday, the tenth of May Two Thousand Twenty-Four Five in the Evening

THEBACCALAUREATESERVICE

TheBaccalaureateServiceisbelievedtohaveoriginatedinanEnglishstatuteof 1432atOxfordUniversityrequiringeverybachelortodeliverasermoninLatinaspart of his academic exercises. Since the earliest universities in the United States were founded primarily to educate ministers, British practice was continued in colonial America, and baccalaureate services have since become an integral part of commencement exercises.ThefirstbaccalaureateaddressatEmorywasdeliveredby BishopWilliamCapersin1840inOxford,Georgia.

OLDCHURCH

OldChurchwasbuiltin1841toserveasboththeChapelforEmoryCollegeand theplaceofworshipfortheMethodistsofOxford. Soonafteritwasbuilt,itsBishop Andrews, who owned a slave, became the focus of a national conflict between MethodistabolitionistsandthosewhodefendedtheBishop. Theresultwasaschism that divided the Methodist Church into Northern and Southern churches, and this divisionprefiguredthesecessionofSouthernstatesandtheCivilWar. DuringtheCivil War Old Church was used as an infirmary. In 1880, President Atticus G. Haygood preached a Thanksgiving sermon here entitled “The New South: Gratitude, Amendment,Hope,”whichinspiredGeorgeI.Seney,aBrooklynbanker,togiveEmory itslargestgiftuptothattime. In1974,theOxfordHistoricalShrineSocietywasgiven a ninety-nine-year lease of this Wesley Street property with responsibility for maintaining Old Church and determining its uses. The Shrine Society, with encouragementfromthecollegeandthetown,raisedfundstorenovatethestructure, whichwasrededicatedonJune18,2000.

THE PRELUDE

Prelude in C Major, from the Well-Tempered Clavier……………..Johann Sebastian Bach

Kristi Helfen, pianist

THE PROCESSIONAL

all stand as you are able

Sleepers Wake…………….

Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Jerry Brubaker

Oxford Chamber Orchestra

WELCOME

Dean Badia Ahad

GREETING

Will Farthing 24Ox

WORDS OF REMEMBRANCE

Chaplain Lyn Pace

CHORAL INVOCATION

When the Light of Morning Breaks………………………………………………….PinkZebra

Oxford Chorale and Chamber Ensemble

STUDENT REFLECTION

Anthony Vargas 24Ox

THE BACCALAUREATE SERVICE

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHS

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHS

Everyone please stand as you are able with respect during the following prayers.

Everyone please stand as you are able with respect during the following prayers.

SHANTIDEVA’S PRAYER – BUDDHIST PRAYER

SHANTIDEVA’S PRAYER – BUDDHIST PRAYER

Gianni Lugo 24Ox

Gianni Lugo 24Ox

May I be a protector to those without protection, A leader for those who journey, And a boat, a bridge, a passage For those desiring a further shore.

May I be a protector to those without protection, A leader for those who journey, And a boat, a bridge, a passage

For those desiring a further shore.

May the pain of every living creature Be completely cleared away.

May the pain of every living creature

Be completely cleared away.

May I be the doctor and the medicine And may I be the nurse For all sick beings in the world

May I be the doctor and the medicine

And may I be the nurse

For all sick beings in the world

Until everyone is healed. Just like space

Until everyone is healed. Just like space

And the great elements such as earth, May I always support the life Of all the boundless creatures. And until they pass away from pain May I also be the source of life For all the realms of varied beings That reach unto the ends of space. As long as space endures, As long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world.

And the great elements such as earth, May I always support the life

Of all the boundless creatures. And until they pass away from pain

May I also be the source of life

For all the realms of varied beings

That reach unto the ends of space.

As long as space endures, As long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world.

GAYATRI MANTRA – HINDU PRAYER

GAYATRI MANTRA – HINDU PRAYER

Shreya Gowducheruvu 24Ox and Amogh Kulkarni 24Ox

Shreya Gowducheruvu 24Ox and Amogh Kulkarni 24Ox

Oh god, you are the giver of life, The remover of pains and sorrows, The presenter of happiness, Oh creator of the universe, may we receive your supreme sin-destroying light, May you guide our intellect in the right direction

Oh god, you are the giver of life, The remover of pains and sorrows, The presenter of happiness, Oh creator of the universe, may we receive your supreme sin-destroying light, May you guide our intellect in the right direction

THE SHECHIANU – JEWISH PRAYER

THE SHECHIANU – JEWISH PRAYER

Marissa Lehv 24Ox and Alan Shnir 24Ox

Marissa Lehv 24Ox and Alan Shnir 24Ox

Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

CHORAL ANTHEM

CHORAL ANTHEM

Poor Man Lazrus…………………………………………………………………..Jester Hairston

Poor Man Lazrus…………………………………………………………………..Jester Hairston Oxford Chorale

Oxford Chorale

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHS

Everyonepleasestandasyouareablewithrespectduringthefollowingprayers

SURAH AL-HASHR – MUSLIM PRAYER

Talha Antik 24Ox and Shahmeer Khan 24Ox

He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity. Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

(Quran 59:22-24)

THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS – CHRISTIAN PRAYER

Matthew Lee 24Ox and Erin McGinity 24Ox

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine, Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

SENDING FORTH FOR GRADUATING SOPHOMORES

BLESSING OF GRADUATES

allpray

We are grateful for the years you have lived, studied, and worked in this college community. We send you forth to your new responsibilities with love. Our support and concern will go with you as you continue the quest for education and understanding in a new place. May you be open to all that will be offered to you and may you be true to that which is deep and true in your own hearts. Go to meet the future without fear.

SENDING

all stand as you are able

Chaplain Lyn Pace

THE RECESSIONAL

all remain standing while faculty, then students recess

An Ode To Joy Festival……………………….…...Ludwig van Beethoven, arr. Todd Parrish Oxford Chamber Orchestra

THE POSTLUDE

For All the Saints………………………………………………….…...R. Vaughan Williams

Kristi Helfen, pianist

MUSIC PROVIDED BY OXFORD CHORALE AND OXFORD CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

PIANIST

Kristi Helfen

MUSICAL DIRECTORS

Emorja G. Roberson, DMA, Assistant Professor of Music and African American Studies

Marvin McNeill, Assistant Professor of Music and African American Studies

USHERS

Representatives of the First-Year Class

Emory University Land Acknowledgment

Emory University Land Acknowledgment

Emory University acknowledges the Muscogee (Creek) people who lived, worked, produced knowledge on, and nurtured the land where Emory’s Oxford and Atlanta campuses are now located. In 1821, fifteen years before Emory’s founding, the Muscogee were forced to relinquish this land. We recognize the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast. Emory seeks to honor the Muscogee Nation and other Indigenous caretakers of this land by humbly seeking knowledge of their histories and committing to respectful stewardship of the land.

Emory University acknowledges the Muscogee (Creek) people who lived, worked, produced knowledge on, and nurtured the land where Emory’s Oxford and Atlanta campuses are now located. In 1821, fifteen years before Emory’s founding, the Muscogee were forced to relinquish this land. We recognize the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast. Emory seeks to honor the Muscogee Nation and other Indigenous caretakers of this land by humbly seeking knowledge of their histories and committing to respectful stewardship of the land.