鈥淎ll the young people and all the communities that are going to benefit from your great work 鈥� for them, the sky will be no limit.鈥�
That was no mere turn of phrase for the speaker addressing 麻豆原创鈥檚 doctoral graduates on Thursday afternoon at the College鈥檚 fourth and final Convocation ceremony for 2019.
In 2007, 鈥� originally chosen as the back-up for Christa McAuliffe, who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster 鈥� became the first U.S. teacher in space. The training was hard, the specter of the Challenger loomed in the background, and the eventual mission 鈥� which included assembly work on the International Space Station and culminated with Morgan bench-pressing two male colleagues as she spoke to school children while orbiting the earth 鈥� was demanding as well.
鈥淏ut it is not harder than what all of you are going out into the world to do,鈥� the former Idaho teacher told the graduates. 鈥淵our work is every bit as important. A teacher needs a situational awareness of every student in his or her class, in order to design and provide the best learning environment where all can reach their full potentials. And each of you, will use your own awareness in whatever field of the education writ large field you practice.鈥�
Being an astronaut 鈥渋s not harder than what all of you are going out into the world to do.鈥�
There will be setbacks along the way, Morgan said, but the Challenger tragedy offers a lesson. After determining the worth of a continuing commitment to space and space exploration, NASA set out to 鈥渇ind out what went wrong and, even more importantly, what we did wrong.鈥�
鈥淭hen, we fixed it,鈥� said Morgan. 鈥淲e made it better and we kept the future open.鈥�
鈥淒octoral candidates, that鈥檚 what you are all going to be doing 鈥� keeping the future open.鈥�
麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey echoed that assessment, telling the doctoral graduates, 鈥淵ou are embarking on careers and lives as researchers at a moment when scholarship and science are under attack鈥hen the value of higher education is being called into question. You have the greatest opportunity and, by virtue of your 麻豆原创 doctoral education, the tools to change the climate of our times.鈥�
You are embarking on careers and lives as researchers at a moment when scholarship and science are under attack鈥ou have the greatest opportunity and, by virtue of your 麻豆原创 doctoral education, the tools to change the climate of our times.
Bailey called on his new 鈥渄octoral colleagues鈥� to 鈥渃arry within you the power of research to change our thinking at the most basic level.鈥�
麻豆原创 performed a musical interlude at the doctoral hooding, with vocals led by 2019 Ed.D. Music & Music Education candidate Drew X. Coles.
The choirs were accompanied by the Drew Coles Ensemble, which provided the processional and recessional music for each of the 麻豆原创 Convocation ceremonies.
Vocalist Natalie Fabian, an instructor with the Music & Music Education program, also performed at all four ceremonies.