Filed at 02:16 PM

A sea of colored umbrellas filled Butterfield Stadium this morning as Ithaca College’s graduating class of 2008 sat on rain-soaked folding chairs and heard associate Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and former NFL player Alan Page stress what he called crucial to his own success: recognizing preparation as crucial to success, and recognizing that fear, not situations, often creates the obstacles that impede it.

“Even when fears cause us to stumble, preparation will allow us to pick ourselves back up,” he said.

Character and learning to live in racial harmony were issues Page told the graduates would appear and reappear again as the college’s 113th class left to pursue their chosen paths.

 “As a nation, sometimes it seems as though we’ve lost our character,” he said. “Character is not something that is static. How we act today and every day for the rest of our lives will define the content of our character. Making biases harder to detect is not the same as making them go away.”

Provost Kathleen Rountree said character was a defining trait of President Peggy R. Williams' 11-year tenure at the college, which will end as she steps down next month before retiring at the end of a sabbatical year in 2009. She joined graduates in celebrating their achievements with an honorary degree from the college, presented by Rountree, and a president emeritus status granted by the college’s board of trustees. Both honors prompted a standing ovation from the graduates.

Arthur Ostrander, dean of the School of Music, and Howard Erlich, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, were also honored for their service to the college  — 37 and 35 years, respectively.

As she stepped to the podium for her last commencement address, Williams welcomed the sun to the ceremony before reflecting on her time at the college — quoting a Groucho Marx’s ballad and telling graduates to value what they had gained through their education.

“Your time at the college has changed you – as I know it has changed me,” she said. “You have given me renewed hope and a firm belief that the future of our country and our planet is in good hands.”

Williams said when she first arrived in 1998 she hoped students from Ithaca College would leave with two capacities: the capacity to know and keep knowing, and the capacity to know better. Graduates have gained both in their experience at the college, Williams said, but must remember to keep them in balance. 

“In developing the capacity for learning, ones focus is directed inwards on creating intellectual capacity, and developing the capacity and potential for citizenship requires an orientation to others in relation to self and a sense of connectedness to others,” she said.

Williams presented graduates with a medallion from the alumni association, a tradition that began in the college’s centennial year in 1992. One side bears the college seal and the other an inscription unique to each graduating class. This year, the inscription was a quotation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who visited the college in October.

“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world,” it read.

Senior Class President Tiffany M. Casale earned a steady roar of laughter from the crowd as she reflected on the class’ experience at the college, which included the weather,  local hangouts and semesters abroad. What she learned most during her time at the college was reaching for perspective outside of comfort zones, something she said reminded her of a package she received from her mother during her freshman year that contained a pair of silk underwear and a note that read “Grammy is watching you.”

“I think that’s the problem for a lot of us — we are too comfortable in what we know. We all have our favorite go-to pair of comfy underwear,” she said. “ Ithaca College has been a comfort to us. We have grown to love it, rely on it, need it. But like all of our favorite pairs of underwear, it is time to let it go. I would never ask you to forget about your favorite pair of underwear … you’ll always have the memories. Try something new and scary and uncomfortable. It will not be easy at first, nothing in life is, but given that opportunity we would all enjoy that underwear.”

The Senior Class gave two gifts to the college: $25,000 for the Class of 2008 scholarship and another $15,987 for various projects, bringing the total to $40,987.