The largest Juniata graduating class ever, 328 students, heard John Churchill, chief executive officer of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, urge them to weigh their learning, deliberate upon their knowledge when faced with a decision, and make the right choice, as he delivered the address at our 126th commencement ceremony.

The Class of 2004 had one of the highest retention rates in Juniata's history. The Senior Class Gift is a contribution for the construction of a brick walkway from the soon-to-be-constructed Marlene and Barry Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts to Founders Hall. About 70 percent of the class contributed to the gift.

Churchill told his audience that there are two systems of ethics: heroic and civil. The heroic ethic is personified in Alexander the Great: “The central theme is the self-expression of one's own excellence. The aim is to live hard and die famous,” he explained. The civil ethic is exemplified by restraint, self-control, moderation, respect, and conflict resolution.

Churchill became secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in 2001 after a long and distinguished academic career at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark.

“If I offer you graduates the exhortation to go out and conquer the world, please understand that I am not recommending that you do what Alexander the Great did,” he said. “Instead of behaving like Alexander, I know you will practice the virtues of the civil ethic. Deliberate. Act well. Live happily.”

About a month before commencement, Walter Kempowski, a noted German author celebrated as “the voice of several generations of Germans,” received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Juniata at a special ceremony at the City Hall in Rostock, Germany.

The degree was presented by Juniata Provost James Lakso and Klaus Jaeger, professor of German, along with a rare Bible from Juniata's Beeghly Library special collections. Walter Kempowski is best known in his native Germany for his fiction and documentation of memories from thousands of Germans who experienced World War II. Among his most famous works are “Das Echolot,” “Days of Greatness,” “Bloomsday '97,” “Did You Ever See Hitler?: German Answers,” and “Dog Days.”