麻省大学波士顿分校的毕业生因其“不屈不挠的精神”而受到赞扬
【中美创新时报2024 年 5 月 23 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）周四，超过 2,500 名毕业生在马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校的毕业典礼上胜利走上讲台，结束了因 COVID-19 大流行和以色列-哈马斯加沙战争而经历的动荡四年。《波士顿环球报》记者艾娃·伯杰（Ava Berger ）对此作了下述报道。
早在上午 8 点，哥伦比亚角就充满了期待，毕业生的家人和朋友开始在俯瞰波士顿港的折叠椅上坐满。
仪式于上午 9 点左右在多云的天空下开始，但当毕业生们走下白色台阶走向舞台时，太阳从云层后面露出来，在水面上闪闪发光。
53 岁的伊波利托·加西亚 (Hipolito Garcia) 拍了一张港口和舞台的照片，在他的小女儿卡罗琳 (Caroline) 走上舞台之前欣赏着景色。
“它很漂亮，”来自多米尼加共和国的加西亚说。 “我很自豪。”
几十名毕业生戴着阿拉伯头巾，其他人则披着巴勒斯坦国旗的披肩，还有一些人在毕业帽上写着“自由巴勒斯坦”。但绝大多数毕业生都穿着印有多个国家国旗的披肩，这证明了学生背景的多样性。该大学校长马塞洛·苏亚雷斯-奥罗斯科 (Marcelo Suárez-Orozco) 表示，毕业生来自 130 多个国家，近 60% 的学生是家庭中第一个上大学的学生。
苏亚雷斯-奥罗斯科表示，毕业生们克服了疫情带来的严峻挑战，并见证了政治活动的复苏。
“在麻省大学波士顿分校学习期间，你经历了两个[关键]时刻的影响，”苏亚雷斯-奥罗斯科说。 “邪恶的 COVID-19 大流行以及我认为是我们国家社会正义运动复兴的最前沿。”
苏亚雷斯-奥罗斯科赞扬学生们的“不屈不挠的精神”。
苏亚雷斯-奥罗斯科说：“在我这些年里，我从未见过有一群学生比今天坐在我们面前的你们更有毅力、更有进取心、更有毅力、更有毅力。”
副州长金·德里斯科尔在毕业典礼致辞中强调了她的政府致力于让公立大学变得更加负担得起。
德里斯科尔毕业于塞勒姆州立大学，谈到了公共教育的重要性，并告诉毕业生“马萨诸塞州需要你们。”
“尤其是在国家层面，太多人似乎因分歧而两极分化，不愿意妥协和共同努力。人们很容易真正忽视公民事务，而专注于家庭、工作和事业，”她说。 “但我真的希望你不要放弃、屈服、退出。 我们在公共生活中需要你。”
荣获约翰·F·肯尼迪学术卓越奖的罗西塔·贝阿特丽斯·拉米雷斯·文图拉 (Rosita Beatriz Ramirez Ventura) 代表毕业生发言。
“毕业是一个值得庆祝的日子，是一个举杯祝酒并承认我们取得的成就的机会。但今天，当我们庆祝并展望未来时，让我们不要忘记我们许多人面临的不公正，”文图拉说。 “许多人权目前受到攻击，我们在刚果、巴勒斯坦、苏丹、叙利亚、海地的社区正在[面临]政治动荡和种族灭绝行为。”
一提到巴勒斯坦，毕业生们爆发出热烈的掌声。
文图拉向人群讲述了她从危地马拉到美国的旅程，以及她的母亲西奥马拉(Siomara)，她有生以来第一次目睹毕业典礼。
当西奥马拉站起来挥手时，雷鸣般的掌声持续了近一分钟，文图拉害羞地微笑着，试图再次开始她的演讲。
“我的故事不再由统计数据来定义，”文图拉说。 “我想为那些历史上受到压迫和沉默的人发声。”
卡西姆·阿什卡 (Qasim El-Ashkar) 的帽子上印有“自由，自由的巴勒斯坦”字样，并系着一根印有巴勒斯坦国旗的绳子，他在球场外与父母合影留念。足球队守门员阿什卡表示，疫情期间上学“很艰难”，加沙战争开始后变得更加困难。
“政府只偏袒一方，”阿什卡在谈到以色列时说道。
阿什卡的父亲埃马德（Emad ）来自加沙，他兄弟的家人住在该地区。
附近，来自加纳的第一代护理专业学生伊曼纽尔·克里格(Emmanuel Kerig)在他形容为“可爱”的毕业典礼后，正在人群中努力寻找他的妈妈。38 岁的克里格表示，他“非常享受”在麻省大学波士顿分校的时光。
研究心理学和犯罪学的迈莎·刘易斯 (Myesha Lewis) 花了一些时间描述了在经历了一系列充满挑战的岁月后获得文凭的感觉。
“我不敢相信我成功了，”22 岁的刘易斯说道，“我感觉自己势不可挡。”
牙买加人丹妮尔·K·格兰特 (Danielle K. Grant) 在大学校园中心外等待她的四个孩子时，她“笑得合不拢嘴”。
40 岁的格兰特在谈到毕业时说：“完成这段奇妙的旅程真是令人兴奋。”她一边做全职工作，一边照顾孩子。“这确实是一次旅程。”
题图：Kayla Pham、Kathy Xu 和 Richelle Barry 在马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校的毕业典礼上为一位走上讲台的朋友欢呼。LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF
附原英文报道：
At UMass Boston, graduates praised for their ‘indomitable spirit’
By Ava Berger Globe Correspondent,Updated May 23, 2024
More than 2,500 graduates triumphantly crossed the stage Thursday at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s commencement ceremony, completing a turbulent four years bracketed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Anticipation filled the air on Columbia Point as early as 8 a.m., when family and friends of the graduates began filling up the folding chairs overlooking Boston Harbor.
The ceremony began around 9 a.m. under a cloudy sky, but as graduates processed down the white steps to the stage, the sun emerged from behind the clouds to sparkle on the water.
Hipolito Garcia, 53, snapped a picture of the harbor and the stage, admiring the view before his youngest daughter, Caroline, crossed the stage.
“It’s beautiful,” said Garcia, who is from the Dominican Republic. “I’m very proud.”
A few dozen graduates wore keffiyeh scarves, others had stoles showing the Palestinian flag, and some wrote “Free Palestine” on their graduation caps. But the vast majority of graduates wore stoles with flags from an array of countries, a testament to the diversity of student backgrounds. Graduates hail from more than 130 countries and nearly 60 percent of students are the first in their families to attend college, said the university’s chancellor, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco.
Suárez-Orozco said the graduates overcame the profound challenges of the pandemic and witnessed a resurgence of political activism.
“During your years of study here at UMass Boston, you experienced the impact of two [pivotal] moments,” Suárez-Orozco said. “The wicked, wicked COVID-19 pandemic and what I believe is the forefront of the renewal of social justice movements in our country.”
Suárez-Orozco commended students for their “indomitable spirit.”
“In all my years, I have never witnessed a group of students with more fortitude, more gumption, more perseverance, more ganas than all of you who sit before us today,” Suárez-Orozco said.
During her commencement address, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll highlighted her administration’s commitment to make public universities more affordable.
A graduate of Salem State University, Driscoll spoke about the importance of public education and told graduates that “Massachusetts needs you.”
“On the national level especially, too many people seem polarized around their differences, unwilling to compromise and work together. It can be tempting to really ignore civic affairs and focus on your family and your employment and your career,” she said. “But I’d really ask you not to give up, give in, back out. We need you in public life.”
Rosita Beatriz Ramirez Ventura, who received the John F. Kennedy Award for Academic Excellence, spoke on behalf of the graduating class.
“Graduation is a day of celebration, an occasion to raise your glass to make a toast and to acknowledge our accomplishments. But today as we celebrate and look toward the future, let us not forget about the injustice that many of us are facing,” Ventura said. “Many human rights are currently under attack, our communities in Congo, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Haiti, and the list goes on are [facing] political unrest and acts of genocide.”
At the mention of Palestine, the graduates erupted in applause.
Ventura told the crowd of her journey from Guatemala to America, and about her mother, Siomara, who was witnessing a graduation ceremony for the first time in her life.
As Siomara stood and waved, thunderous applause continued for almost a minute as Ventura smiled shyly and tried to start her speech again.
“My story is no longer defined by statistics,” Ventura said. “I want to be a voice for those who have been historically oppressed and silenced.”
Qasim El-Ashkar, who adorned his cap with the words “Free, free Palestine” and wore a cord with a Palestinian flag, took pictures with his parents just outside the field. El-Ashkar, a goalkeeper for the soccer team, said attending school during the pandemic was “tough” and became more difficult when the war in Gaza began.
“The administration is only taking one side,” El-Ashkar said, referring to Israel.
El-Ashkar’s father, Emad, is from Gaza and his brother’s family lives in the region.
Nearby, Emmanuel Kerig, a first-generation nursing student from Ghana, was struggling to find his mom among the crowd after what he described as a “lovely” graduation. Kerig, 38, said he “truly enjoyed” his time at UMass Boston.
Myesha Lewis, who studied psychology and criminology, took a moment to describe the feeling of receiving her diploma after a series of challenging years.
“I can’t believe I made it,” said Lewis, 22. “I feel unstoppable.”
Danielle K. Grant, a native of Jamaica, was “beaming from ear to ear” as she waited for her four children outside of the university’s campus center.
“It’s exhilarating to have finished this amazing journey,” Grant, 40, said of graduating while working a full-time job and caring for her children. “And it has been a journey indeed.”
