Graduation season means the annual parade of ceremonies has been taking place at the Ritchie Center on the University of Denver campus. Dozens of area high schools use the spacious venue for commencement exercises.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the University Park neighborhood as far as I’m concerned thanks to my bird’s eye view of the building.
However, I understand why some residents dread the weeks between mid-May and early June because of increased traffic and the din people make on our relatively quiet street.
As many as four ceremonies can be held at DU in one day. A recent example had students in black caps and gowns in the early morning, green ones at midday, dark blue in mid-afternoon, and red in the evening.
One group arrived just as newly-minted graduates of a different school were leaving, forming a temporary blend of colors punctuated by a variety of ethnic heritage and academic achievement sashes and ropes.
Members of The Class of 2023 deserve a special round of applause for finishing on time given that they dealt with COVID restrictions for much of their high school career.
Although they’ve already hit a rough patch, as future leaders they will be tasked with making tough decisions to save the world.
One can’t help but wonder if these young people will rise to the occasion.
But bearing witness to one of the happiest days of their lives is enough for now.
Sometimes, I’ll join relatives and friends waiting outside The Ritchie Center to greet the graduates with hugs, kisses, high-fives, flowers, and helium-filled mylar balloons.
I relish being encased in the joyful celebration and offering my congratulations to complete strangers.
Their response is usually a big smile and a polite thank you as “Pomp and Circumstance” or “Forever Young” rings out from the Williams Tower carillon.
I also find myself wanting to apologize to those optimistic young people for the staggering number of problems my generation is leaving for them to solve.
Baby Boomers, along with Gen Xers, took too long to start thinking about arresting climate change, decreasing gun violence, guaranteeing gender rights, improving race relations, safeguarding women’s rights, and slowing the growth of poverty.
To this year’s list of mea culpa I add not monitoring the dangerous machinations of big tech smarties who are pulling us closer to a soulless society run by artificial intelligence.
As a person of color, I’m understandably nervous that computer scientists who gave us A-I freely admit that they won’t know what to do if it goes out of control.
We already know that high-tech advancements tend to favor its white, usually male, inventors. I’m reminded of that fact every time I wait for automatic soap dispensers and water facets to recognize my Black hands.
I’m hoping that this year’s crop of graduates will not stink up the joint a la Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. That they will work to address the world’s problems with kindness and compassion rather than ego and greed.
First steps away from high school and towards becoming an adult always lead to an uncertain future.
As a class valedictorian once said, “Maybe graduation is about accepting that uncertainty. Accepting that we don’t have all the answers and that every generation screws up sometimes. That doesn’t mean we should be afraid to keep going and to take big, bold steps.”
Agreed, as long as such boldness reflects the honesty and optimism they had during their rite of passage on graduation day.
And does not result in a takeover of humankind.
Jo Ann Allen retired recently from Colorado Public Radio in Denver after 47 years of reporting the news. She is the creator and host of the podcast Been There Done That.
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