Word: nelsons
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Examples of this attitude are everywhere. There were quite a few of members of the class of 2000 who had not quite gotten around to dropping their advanced standing in the "special senior section" of the seating for Nelson Mandela's speech. In fact, a lot of the student proponents for advanced standing hold it up as the perfect way of beating the system--one convenient piece of paper good for better odds in Core lotteries, improved housing assignments and a raft of other benefits only sketchily associated with its actual academic function...
...special convocation to honor Nelson Mandela was a tremendously powerful and unforgettable event. President Mandela credited the University with contributing to South African anti-apartheid and democratic movements in the way that Harvard does best--through educational excellence and opportunity...
More students showed up to see Nelson Mandela on September 18 than would have shown up to see Gerhard Schroder, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton together. Why? Because Mandela represents an archetype of one who is committed to truth and who is willing to sacrifice himself for justice, while these "ordinary guys" would be hard-pressed to spell "justice" before taking a poll. The irony of the special convocation two weeks ago is that Mandela seemed like an artifact receiving his honorary degree--a romantic afterthought in an age that has forgotten that men like him exist...
...received by one guest and the honorary degree received by the other--these elements of the two leaders' visits made me see the two men as something much larger than either of them actually were. Instead of two political figures, one a freedom fighter and the other fighting freedom, Nelson Mandela and Jiang Zemin became the avatars of Good and Evil. To the aspiring future leaders in the audience, it was as if some higher power had sought out our student body, telling us in a biblical voice: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: Choose...
...course, the parallels were not perfect. We are all aware that Nelson Mandela is not Mother Theresa and Jiang Zemin no Pol Pot. But the effect was nonetheless achieved. We who witnessed both Mandela and Jiang pass through our campus have been forced to ask ourselves: Which will we choose, the blessing or the curse...