ICTJ in the News

May 6, 2007

Graduates urged to use power to find peace

Austin American-Statesman

St. Edward's University confers 616 degrees at commencement ceremony

By Katie Humphrey

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Even world-renowned human rights activists go to the movies.

Speaking to St. Edward's University graduates Saturday morning, South African native Alexander Boraine had two recommendations in particular: "The Last King of Scotland" and "Amazing Grace."

Both movies, one about a corrupt African dictator and the other about an Englishman's opposition to slavery, are studies of power, he said.

"It can destroy or it can be a forceful burden. It can be growth, enlightenment or transformation," said Boraine, founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice, which assists countries that seek to overcome mass atrocities or human rights abuses.

As a Methodist minister and deputy chair of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, appointed by former South African President Nelson Mandela, Boraine has helped his country end apartheid and cope with the ills left in its wake.

Throughout his 20-minute address, he urged the graduates to use their power, be it on a small or large scale, to promote "old-fashioned moral values of goodness, love and peace."

The university conferred 616 graduate and undergraduate degrees at the 121st commencement ceremony at the Erwin Center. Families and friends cheered and even sounded the occasional air horn as graduates crossed the blue-and-gold bedecked stage.

"We're here. Graduation. Cool!" said Angelo Steinhardt-Keely of Austin, opening his valedictory address to his classmates.

Steinhardt-Keely, who majored in religious studies and minored in music, international relations and philosophy, will lead a group of student volunteers at an Indian orphanage this summer. He encouraged his classmates to be humble and conscious of how their decisions affect people nearby and around the world.

Jamie Ginther, 22, of Harlingen claimed her bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing. She will move to Seattle this summer to search for a job in sports marketing or event planning.

"I am in disbelief," Ginther said. "It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm done."

Boraine received an honorary degree during the ceremony.

The United States has traditionally set an example for the rest of the world, he said, but lately Americans seem to have forgotten the ideals they were so admired for, resorting to questionable detention of prisoners and the propagation of half-truths.

Yet Americans have the power and the historical legacy necessary to lead the rest of the world in the search for peace, if they first listen and seek the truth, he said.

"The power is there," Boraine said. "It's what you make of it that really counts."