middlebu ry college
middlebury chapel
middlebury, vermont
may 25, 2024
baccalaureate
Guests who wish to use the services of an ASL interpreter may be seated in the reserved ASL area in the front of Middlebury Chapel.
Michelle McCauley
ORDER OF PROCESSION ADMINISTRATION
Executive Vice President and Provost
Smita Ruzicka
Vice President for Student Affairs
Jeremy Ward Vice President for Academic Affairs
Jesse Bowman Bruchac
Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation
Danielle Stillman
Associate Chaplain, Rabbi
Scott Center for Spiritual Life
Laurie L. Patton
President
Mark R. Orten
Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life, Director of the Scott Center
Zahra Moeini Meybodi
Associate Muslim Chaplain
Scott Center for Spiritual Life
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MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE CHOIR
BACCALAUREATE SERVICE
Founded in 1800 with Protestant roots, Middlebury College has always been a nonsectarian institution. This Baccalaureate service pays honor to the full history of the College and its many traditions. One of these is an address to the senior class by the president at the time of Commencement.
The Baccalaureate service intends to welcome people of all faiths and no faith in the spirit of the College’s intellectual heritage. We extend warm greetings to all those in attendance, affirming the importance of shared human values that are central to religious traditions and beliefs. We recognize our rich past and celebrate the diversity of beliefs and worldviews represented among the members of this senior class and those in attendance.
George Matthew Jr., College Carillonneur
Jeff Buettner, C.A. Johnson Professor of Music; Director, Choral Activities
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THE CEREMONY
THE CARILLON George Matthew Jr. College Carillonneur
PRELUDE Toccata in F BWV 540
J.S. Bach
PROCESSIONAL* Voluntary on Thaxted (For the Splendor of Creation)
Albert Travis
LAND Mark R. Orten ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND INVOCATION*
OPENING PRAYER Jesse Bowman Bruchac IN THE ABENAKI LANGUAGE
WELCOME
President Laurie L. Patton
WORDS ON WISDOM** The Hebrew Bible, Proverbs 3:13–20
The Bhagavad Gita 4.38–39
MUSIC Improvisation for Native Flute
Jesse Bowman Bruchac
WORDS ON WISDOM** The New Testament, James 3:13–18
The Qur’an 2:267–269
* Congregation stands **Text of readings on pages 11–15
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MUSIC October
Kai Fukuda ’23.5
Middlebury College Choir
WORDS ON WISDOM** Zen Teaching of Master Linji (d. 867)
Toni Morrison
Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address, 1989
MUSIC To Daffodils
Andrea Ramsey
Naomi Clark ’24, soloist
Middlebury College Choir
THE President Laurie L. Patton BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS
MUSIC Peace I Leave with You
Amy Beach
Middlebury College Choir
CLOSING PRAYER
Jesse Bowman Bruchac IN THE ABENAKI LANGUAGE
POSTLUDE
Chant de joie
Jean Langlais
Guests are kindly requested to silence audible electronic devices.
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OCTOBER
Robert Frost 1874–1963
O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the forest call; Tomorrow they may form and go. O hushed October morning mild, Begin the hours of this day slow. Make the day seem to us less brief. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, Beguile us in the way you know.
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TO DAFFODILS
Robert Herrick 1591–1674
Fair Daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon; As yet the early-rising sun Has not attain’d his noon. Stay, stay, Until the hasting day Has run
But to the even-song; And, having pray’d together, we Will go with you along.
We have short time to stay, as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay, As you, or anything.
We die
As your hours do, and dry Away,
Like to the summer’s rain; Or as the pearls of morning’s dew, Ne’er to be found again.
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PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled.
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TRADITIONAL PRAYERS IN THE ABENAKI LANGUAGE
Abenaki prayers are offered by Jesse Bowman Bruchac, traditional storyteller, musician, and Abenaki language teacher. Abenaki was one of hundreds of languages spoken in North America before the arrival of settlers. In the words of Jesse’s father, Dr. Joseph Bruchac, Nulhegan elder, traditional storyteller, and author: “Our language is more than just a tool to communicate, it is also a repository of our history and our culture. It holds unique concepts and terms whose meanings deepen our relationship with and our understanding of the world around us, reminding us that everything is alive and imbued with spirit.”
OPENING PRAYER
Kd’almikolba! Wawaldamokw alosalegoakw sôgnawôzimek ta kinawakamigzimuk, pasanigek kazaldiakw, ketmôgaldiakw wji kdagik pmôwzowinnoak. Kwisilawaha nikônkôgoagik ta sôkhigwezijik kahalômawaldamakw mziwi awani wd’achwaldamen wlôwzin, waji kgizkomal kwennak ali ni niben pasottak askamiwi.
I congratulate you all! May your knowledge lead you to a peaceful and honest life filled with love and compassion for others. Honor those who have come before you and those yet to come, acknowledging that all desire a good life, so that your days will be long, and summer will always be near.
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CLOSING PRAYER
Kôgisgaki alamizikw wji ali wlitbeskawihlawôganal milgowanil; ni taôlawi Kizos pajitbihlakw wskitkamigui wasakwhlaniganak - kowasakwhlaniganowô waji namitohodit, kolalokawôganowôl nalawiwi.
With each new day be thankful for the opportunities it offers you; and like the sun, become the light of the world. Let your light shine before others so that they will be inspired by your good deeds everywhere.
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THE HEBREW BIBLE, PROVERBS 3:13–20
Translation: Jewish Publication Society (adapted)
Happy is the one who finds wisdom, the one who attains understanding.
Wisdom’s value in trade is better than silver, her yield, greater than gold.
She is more precious than rubies; all of your goods cannot equal her.
In her right hand is length of days; in her left, riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths, peaceful.
She is a tree of life to those who grasp her, and whoever holds on to her is happy.
The LORD founded the earth by wisdom; the LORD established the heavens by understanding; By the LORD’s knowledge the depths burst apart, and the skies distilled dew.
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THE BHAGAVAD GITA 4.38–39
Translation: Laurie L. Patton
In this world, there is no purifier like wisdom; in time, one who is oneself perfected by yoga finds that wisdom in the self. With wisdom as the highest goal, controlling the senses, and filled with trust one reaches wisdom. There, with wisdom reached, one goes quickly to the highest place.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT, JAMES 3:13–18
Translation: Luke Timothy Johnson (adapted)
Who among you are wise and understanding? By their good manner of life let them demonstrate their deeds in wisdom’s meekness. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but one that is earthbound, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every kind of mean practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then it is peaceable, gentle, open to persuasion. It is filled with mercy and with good fruits. It is not divided. It is not insincere. But the fruit that is righteousness is sown in peace by the makers of peace.
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THE QUR’AN 2:267–269
Translation: Abdel Haleem
You who believe, give charitably from the good things you have acquired and that We have produced for you from the earth. Do not give away the bad things that you yourself would only accept with your eyes closed: remember that God is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise. Satan threatens you with the prospect of poverty and commands you to do foul deeds; God promises you His forgiveness and His abundance: God is limitless and all knowing, and He gives wisdom to whomever He will. Whoever is given wisdom has truly been given much good, but only those with insight bear this in mind.
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ZEN TEACHING OF MASTER LINJI (D. 867)
Translation: Burton Watson
When students today fail to make progress, where’s the fault? The fault lies in the fact that they don’t have faith in themselves! If you don’t have faith in yourself, then you’ll be forever in a hurry trying to keep up with everything around you, you’ll be twisted and turned by whatever environment you’re in and you can never move freely. But if you can just stop this mind that goes rushing around moment by moment looking for something, you’ll be no different from the patriarchs and buddhas.
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TONI MORRISON
Sarah Lawrence College Commencement Address, 1989
I want to talk about dreaming. Not the activity of the sleeping brain, but rather the activity of an awake and alert one. Not idle, wishful speculation, but engaged, directed daytime vision. About entrance into another space. Someone else’s situation, sphere, projection, if you like. By dreaming, the self permits intimacy with the other without the risk of being the other. And this intimacy that comes from pointed imagining should precede all of our decision making, all of our cause mongering and our action. We are in a mess, you know, and we have to get out. . . . We should visualize, imagine, dream up, and enter the other before we presume to solve their problems or ours. We might as well dream the world as it ought to be.
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