Noting that the ceremonial diploma he received on the steps of Keating Hall was blank, Williams said, “Your diplomas are blank, too, regardless of what’s written in them. You have to fill them in with the love and work of a lifetime.”

Williams, the award-winning anchor of NBC Nightly News, received a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the ceremony. Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy!; philanthropist Glorya Kaufman; award-winning actress Marian Seldes; and Steven E. Sanderson, president and chief executive officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society, were also awarded honorary doctorates. (See the complete article on this year’s honorary degree recipients.)

More than 15,000 graduates, family members, faculty members and administrators packed Edwards Parade—lush and sparkling after a week of drenching rains—to celebrate beneath soft blue skies at the University’s 166th Commencement. The crowd roared with approval when Willams’ and Trebeck’s names were called out, and punctuated Williams’ address with cheers and applause.

Williams noted that in this country trains still travel at the same speed they did when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to Fordham. He lamented the decline of New York City and the U.S. infrastructure, and the shrinking of the space program, then exhorted students to do better.

“This city—our country—has to be a shining beacon,” Williams said. “We need to make sure this place shines. You have a first-class diploma from a first-class institution. I envy you: you have a head start.

“I got as lucky as a kid gets growing up in this country, and that’s the only reason I am standing here talking to you today,” Williams told the audience. “I have 18 community college credits to my name, and I dropped out of every college on that list. I got my working papers at 14 … and I worked at any job that would pay me.”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, told graduates that they did not attend an ivory tower university.

“Far from it. You attended a school located at the crossroads of the world, in the capital of the world. And you made good use of your time here. … You tested the lessonsthat you learned in the classroom against the insights that you gained from your non-credit course on the sociology of the subway and your community service.

“Therefore, my friends, you emerge from your Fordham experience with minds that are quick and supple and with hearts that are tender and compassionate,” Father McShane said. “Formed by the lessons that you learned here, go forth now and set the world on fire.”

(For more details, see the News Blog. Click here to download high res versions of all the images in this article.)

Video of the entire Commencement ceremony is here.

Russert, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, delivered Fordham’s 159th Commencement address at Rose Hill in May 2004, where he was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University.

“An eloquent and passionate voice for truth was silenced today,” said Father McShane. “In his commencement address at Fordham, Tim Russert quoted Luke: ‘To whom much is given, much indeed is expected,’ and in his words and deeds, Tim lived that ideal every day. His passing is a loss to journalism, and to the world of ideas.”

Russert, who has been the host of Meet the Press for 16 years, was also a political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Todayshow. He anchored The Tim Russert Show on CNBC, was a contributing anchor for MSNBC, and a senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News. Russert received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Joan S. Barone Award and the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communications.

“I never gave up; if I’d given up, I’d never be at Shea Stadium,” said Randolph, who interviewed for managerial jobs in Major League Baseball 11 times, and was rejected every time, before he was hired as manager of the Mets in November 2004. “If I’d listened to critics along the way, who knows where I’d have wound up. Keep fighting back like I did. Quitting is the easy way out. Whatever your goals in life, it is imperative that you stay focused, determined.”

Randolph delivered the keynote address to the 4,780 members of the Class of 2007, including his daughter Ciara, who graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill. The occasional misting of rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of the wildly enthusiastic graduates and more than 10,000 family members and friends who came to celebrate their milestone.

Randolph also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters, along with William F. Baker, chief executive officer of Educational Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21 New York; His Excellency Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; and Joseph Volpe, senior vice president of Giuliani Partners LLC and former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, told the graduates that they “sparkle with talent” and possess “an embarrassment of riches—the riches of strong and supple minds and great and generous hearts.

“On this day of days, the day on which you are rightly celebrated, I want to remind you [of the]biblical quotation … ‘Of those to whom much is given,’—and that would be you—‘much is expected.’ … The God who lavished so much care on you, the University that is proud to claim you as its own and the world that longs for justice all expect that you will lead lives worthy of your own talented selves and the gifts that you have been given: lives marked by self-emptying love, selfless service and the wise use of the transforming wisdom and knowledge that you have gained here at Fordham.”

Randolph, who led the Mets to within one game of the World Series last year, also had an accomplished 18-year playing career, mostly with the New York Yankees. He played more games at second base than any other player in Yankees history, and was part of teams that won two World Series championships as a player and four more as a coach.

“As a youngster growing up in the projects in New York, I faced many challenges in pursuing my dreams,” Randolph said. “I grew up in a tough neighborhood. I grew up around alcohol and gangs, but I had people who cared about me and helped me set my compass in the right direction and achieve my dreams.”

Fordham also conferred honorary degrees upon John L. Damonti, M.S.W. (GSS ’85), president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and vice president of corporate philanthropy at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Richard Goldstone, LL.B., former justice of the South African Constitutional Court; and Catherine R. Kinney, president and co-chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange Euronext.

Kinney received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the Graduate School of Business Administration diploma ceremony on May 19; Goldstone received an honorary doctorate of laws at the School of Law diploma ceremony on May 20; and Damonti received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the Graduate School of Social Service diploma ceremony on May 22.

In addition to Randolph, the other honorary degree recipients are: William F. Baker, chief executive officer of Educational Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21 New York; John L. Damonti, M.S.W. (GSS ’85), president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and vice president of corporate philanthropy at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Richard Goldstone, LL.B., former justice of the South African Constitutional Court; Catherine R. Kinney, president and co-chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); His Excellency Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; and Joseph Volpe, senior vice president of Giuliani Partners LLC and former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.

William F. Baker has been at the head of the Educational Broadcasting Company since 1987. Under his leadership, Thirteen created the The Charlie Rose Show discussion program, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, and the Peabody and Emmy award-winning local series City Arts and City Life. An author and lecturer, he is a well-known advocate for the educational potential of television.

John L. Damonti, GSS ’85, has more than 20 years of experience working in the areas of health policy, community relations and philanthropy. He has been at Bristol-Myers Squibb since 1999, where he leads a major initiative known as Secure the Future, which is the largest corporate commitment of its kinds to address issues related to HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Richard Goldstone served on the South African Constitutional Court from 1994 to 2003 and in the early 1990s chaired South Africa’s Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation, which helped undermine the system of apartheid. He also served as the first chief prosecutor of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Catherine R. Kinney oversees the New York Stock Exchange’s relationship with member firms and institutions, as well as its listings business and market operations. Kinney joined the NYSE in 1974 and rose through the ranks, holding management positions in several divisions. She is a member of the boards of the NYSE Foundation, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Georgetown University, U.S. India Business Council and Catholic Charities.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore was nominated Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Since his ordination in 1977, he has served the Vatican in Africa, Europe and traveled widely throughout Asia, and has championed the global fight against the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, advocated for workers’ rights and people with AIDS, and campaigned against poverty.

Willie Randolph was hired as manager of the Mets in 2004 after an accomplished playing and coaching career. In 2006, he guided the Mets to a league-best 97-65 record and the National League East Division title. As a player with the New York Yankees, he was part of teams that won two World Series championships and was on the coaching staff of teams that won four more. His daughter, Ciara, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, will be among the graduates in May.

Joseph Volpe spent 42 years at the Metropolitan Opera, the last 16 as its general manager. His tenure as general manager is the third longest in the Met’s 124-year history, and he has the distinction of being the only person to have risen through the company’s ranks to its highest executive post. Volpe greatly expanded the Met’s international touring activities and conceived “Met Titles,” a unique system that provides title screens for audience members. He is the author of a memoir, The Toughest Show on Earth: My Rise and Reign at the Metropolitan Opera (Knopf, 2006).

The following colleges and schools will have featured speakers at their diploma ceremonies:

Marymount College of Fordham University
Speaker: Carolyn Dolan (MC ’68), founding principal at Samson Capital Advisors
Date: Sunday, May 20
Time: 10 a.m.
Place:  Kenny Field, Marymount College, Tarrytown, N.Y.

Graduate School of Business Administration
Speaker: Catherine R. Kinney, president and co-chief operating officer, New York Stock Exchange
Date:  Saturday, May 19
Time:  6 p.m.
Place: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, N.Y.

School of Law
Speaker: Richard Goldstone, LL.B., former justice of the South African Constitutional Court
Date:  Sunday, May 20
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York, N.Y.

Graduate School of Social Service
Speaker: John L. Damonti, (GSS ’85), M.S.W., president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
Date: Tuesday, May 22
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Place: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, N.Y.

Details are available on Fordham’s commencement website.

“St. Luke tells us, ‘To whom much is given, much indeed is expected,’” said Russert. “Remember the people struggling alongside you and … the people who haven’t had the same opportunity, the same blessings, the same Fordham education.

“Eight children a day are shot dead in the streets of America, 25 percent of eighth graders will never graduate high school, 35 million fellow Americans are…without a high-school education,” he said. “If we are serious about continuing as the world’s premiere military, economic and moral force, we have no choice. We will need all of our children contributing and prospering.”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., the 32nd president of Fordham University, thanked graduates for “spicing the life of Fordham,” and noted that their time at the University has been defined, in part, by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

“In spite of or because of the context in which you have lived and studied, your search for truth has taught you a great deal,” said Father McShane, presiding over his first Commencement as University president. “[It has taught you] that ideas have consequences; that the human heart is fragile but that love is stronger than death; that, if you want peace, you must work for justice; that, paradoxically enough, the search for peace is fraught with danger.”

Father McShane presented Russert with an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Russert, who has been the host of Meet the Press for 12 years, is also a political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today show. He anchors The Tim Russert Show on CNBC, is a contributing anchor for MSNBC, and a senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News. Russert has received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Joan S. Barone Award and the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communications. Russert’s new book,Big Russ and Me: Father and Son—Lessons of Life, chronicles his relationship with his father.

Also receiving honorary doctorates at today’s ceremony were:

R. Scott Appleby, Ph.D., professor of history and director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Appleby is a leading academic voice in religious history, whose career highlights include serving as co-director of the Fundamentalism Project, an international public-policy study funded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and penning a number of academic titles, including The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), a study of religious peace building for the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict.

Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M., Ph.D., co-chair of Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Bioethics Project. Farley is the recipient of eight honorary degrees, a Luce Fellowship in Theology and the John Courtney Murray Award for Excellence in Theology. She currently serves on the Bioethics Committee of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. The past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society of Christian Ethics, Farley has published more than 75 articles and chapters of books on social, historical and theological issues.

Lady Helen Hamlyn, chair of the Helen Hamlyn Trust. Hamlyn has supported many humanitarian, medical and environmental projects throughout the world, and has underwritten several large restoration projects on notable historical sites. In addition to the trust, Hamlyn has established the Helen Hamlyn Foundation, dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly, and the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Arts in London, which houses an awards program that guides designers and architects to develop socially conscious projects. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art.

Vincent M. Novak, S.J., Ph.D., dean of Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GSRRE). Father Novak will retire from his post this summer after leading the University’s religious education program for 40 years. In the mid-1960s, he spearheaded the development of the Lord and King High School Religion series (Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1964-1968), which was incorporated into Catholic high-school curricula nationwide to build students’ understanding of the Second Vatican Council and eventually led to the creation of the GSRRE. Today, the school offers six master’s degree programs and a doctoral degree in religious education. The school’s 2,500 graduates are leaders in their respective fields. Former students currently run the six Roman Catholic diocesan school systems in the New York City metropolitan area.

Honorable George Bundy Smith, LL.B., Ph.D., senior associate justice of the New York Court of Appeals, will receive an honorary doctorate of laws at the May 23 diploma ceremony for the Fordham University School of Law. Smith was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1963. He began his judicial career in 1975, serving on the Civil Court of New York City and the State Supreme Court. He was also an associate justice of the State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, from January 1987 to September 1992, when then-Governor Mario M. Cuomo appointed him to the Court of Appeals.