To the Class of 2004,

OK, so I’m getting to be a sentimental old fool, but even 28 years after my own Oberlin Commencement, I’m trying to pretend that I’ve just left school and my body rhythms still respond to the academic calendar. As a matter of fact, Oberlin is actually an enabler of this behavior because this year, as President of the Oberlin Alumni Association, I will be participating in your commencement, even wearing the cap and gown I didn’t wear at my own commencement in 1976!

It is a true privilege for me to represent the entire alumni body in welcoming you to the vast family of the Oberlin Alumni Association. As I consider my own graduation, I realize that it was the time of greatest uncertainty in my life – there were almost too many paths open to me. After a couple of false starts, or you could call them “learning experiences,” along the way, I have pursued what most would consider to be a conventional and successful career. I’ve lived in 8 different places in two countries, finished 2 graduate degrees, worked for 4 different companies in 11 different positions, owned 6 different houses and through all that change and growth and movement, one of the few constants has been my connection to Oberlin. I started soon after graduating as a volunteer, interviewing prospective Oberlin students, and gradually increased my involvement in the Alumni Recruiting Network as an Area Coordinator and then as a member of the Admissions Advisory Committee.

I’ve attended all but my 10th reunion and have been at Alumni Council Weekend in September for the past 10 years. Once I joined the Executive Board of the Association, this grew to 3 or more visits to campus each year and my collection of Oberlin friends started to grow exponentially, well beyond members of my own class.

Some of you are probably chomping at the bit to get out of town, and you should be! If Oberlin is doing its job, you should be ready to move on to the next challenge after your four years here. But ready to move on or not, you’re probably facing some questions about what comes next. At each fork in the road you’ll face a similar set of questions and uncertainty. I hope that you will choose now to stay connected to Oberlin so you can continue to draw on the learning culture at each of the transition points in your life and so that you can reach out to the following generations of students to share what you have learned, enriching both your life and theirs.

Congratulations to each of you and best wishes for continued success and happiness. I look forward to officially welcoming you to the Alumni Association and to seeing you at Oberlin events, both on campus and around the country, in the coming years.

–Leanne C. Wagner
OC ’76
President
Oberlin Alumni Association