Thea Lavin, an outspoken homosexual senior and former organizer of Tufts Students Against Discrimination (TSAD), will be the only undergraduate student to speak at this May's commencement ceremony. Lavin earned the distinction after winning the final round of the annual Wendell Phillips speech competition on Friday.
The noted activist was one of five finalists from a group of 18 applicants chosen to participate in the competition. The other contenders were seniors Rachel Elkinson, Angel Hossain, Greg Propper, and Shou Min Tan. Each was given five minutes to deliver a prepared statement before the Committee on Student Life (CSL), composed of faculty and students.
CSL members rated the candidates on a scale of 0-5 on their oral presentation and understanding of civic responsibility.
The speech topic reflected both the historic significance of Wendell Phillips and the finalists' personal goals. Contestants were asked to answer the question, "In his own day, Wendell Phillips was a staunch abolitionist who spoke out tirelessly against slavery, an issue that polarized the United States. How would you accomplish your goal of public service without compromising your ideals in the face of a deeply divided nation?"
Lavin began her speech by telling the audience a story about a Latino high school friend who could not afford to buy a cap and gown for graduation and about the falling standard of living in most minority communities.
She attacked the US political system for letting politics get in the way of progress: "The bipartisan divide dominates more and more of our communities," she said. "I have seen coalition building accomplish our goals. It is time for us to drop our differences."
Lavin was one of 20 students who occupied the Bendetson admissions building last November in protest of what they felt was a weak University nondiscrimination policy. Lavin and fellow protesters ended their sit-in after Tufts President John DiBiaggio clarified that the existing policy includes self-acceptance of identity.
Trumpeting the merits of community building, Lavin emphasized that community-based action must continue into the future.
"Let's use Tufts for a springboard for our work when we graduate," she said.
CSL Faculty Chair Peggy Cebe declined to explain why Lavin was chosen over any of the other candidates, and the CSL deliberations were private. She did say, however, that each finalist was top-notch.
"All of us were very pleased that we had five excellent talks," she said.
Fellow finalist Tan, a resident assistant for the last three years and the former co-coordinator of the Tufts, Transgendered, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC), offered a message similar to Lavin's, but while she focused on general ways to break out of the cycle of divisive politics, Tan zeroed in on the need to safeguard the rights of the LGBT community.
"LGBT people are systematically denied equal treatment under the eyes of the law," he said. "We can and must rid homophobia from our society. And we can do it."
Tan was not the only finalist to speak primarily about issues that relate to his personal involvement on campus. Elkinson and Propper each described their experiences as campus leaders and the lessons gained from their work. Elkinson was a charter member and co-chair of the Tufts Feminist Alliance (TFA), and Propper is president of the Tufts Democrats as well as the former coordinator of Tufts Choice 2000.
Propper used his experience to stress voting and the need for active citizenship. And, like Lavin, he pleaded for the minimization of political conflict.
"Every night when we go to sleep and there is a child who is starving, we are facing a great moral crisis," he said. "Young people of this nation can put partisanship aside and work for the common good of our nation."
Similar themes were echoed in Hossain's speech, in which she advocated understanding and tolerance as key factors in problem-solving. "Your ideals must be shaped by other people's needs as well. There must be some middle ground," she said.
Hossain depicted herself playing "make believe" at a young age, but after describing a potpourri of social problems in today's world, she shed her na??vet?©. Every person has a growing level of social responsibility to remedy these concerns, Hossain said.
Elkinson deviated thematically from the other speakers, concentrating on lessons of self-determination and character learned from conflicts the TFA faced while she served as its co-chair. "The gain of our independence and ability to choose our own identity has been immeasurable," she said.
Despite the overwhelmingly liberal stance of the finalists chosen by the CSL, few thought it was indicative of any underlying Tufts' philosophy.
"I think that there are a lot of opportunities to work for a great social good, which happens to be progressive," Lavin said. "So, a lot of progressive people came out of Tufts."
Wendell Phillips was a famed Boston orator from the late 19th century who championed the cause of abolition and women's suffrage. The award was established in his honor in 1896 by a memorial fund association. Harvard University also maintains a endowment to honor Phillips in an annual award ceremony.
