It's very quiet on campus today. Now that the semester is over and  graduation festitivies have come to an end, a peaceful, calm atmosphere prevails. There is almost a palable sense of an expansive exhalation.  We here at Radius are exhaling as well. We would like to thank all of our friends, colleagues, partners, collaborators and advisors for a fascinating, inspiring year. We will be taking some time off for the summer months; however, the planning, reading, and researching will continue as we gear up for the coming academic year.

We will also reflect upon some of the comments made by President Reif last Friday at graduation and by The Rev. Scott Paradise when he gave the 1994 MIT Graduation Invocation upon his retirement as coordinator of the Technology and Culture Forum and as the Episcopal Chaplain. Both speakers charged the graduates with the responsility of making this world a better place. These are words for all of us to live by--whether we graduated last week or 25 years ago.

President Reif, 2017

After you depart for your new destinations, I want to ask you to hack the world — until you make the world a little more like MIT:  More daring and more passionate. More rigorous, inventive and ambitious. More humble, more respectful, more generous, more kind.  This morning, I see more than 2,800 new graduates who are ready for that lifelong problem-set. You made MIT better. And you will make a better world.

You came to MIT with exceptional qualities of your own. And now you leave us, equipped with a rare set of skills, and steeped in this community’s deepest values: A commitment to excellence. Integrity. Meritocracy. Boldness. Humility. An open spirit of collaboration. A strong desire to make a positive impact. And a sense of responsibility to make the world a better place.

The Rev. Scott Paradise, 1994

We commit ourselves to a renewed sense of vocation. May we realize that even the smallest deeds of love, justice and generosity can change history. May we learn to risk speaking the truth when evil is done and all are silent. May we work less on the problems of the powerful and prosperous and more on the needs of the poorest, the weakest, and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. May we together blaze a path toward a world at peace with itself and reconciled with the earth.

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Have a wonderful summer. We'll see you in September!