Father Jonathan, Abbot Matthew, Bishop Joseph and the Benedictine Community, Members of the Board of Trustees, Honorary degree recipients, Faculty, staff, parents, relatives and friends and my fellow classmates of the class of 2009 , thank you for allowing me to speak on this auspicious day. This is indeed a very special day for me as well.

Today, I stand before you, a graduate of a Catholic liberal arts education. I know I have obtained the very best education, not just academically, but spiritually. How can I make that claim? I am a Muslim, god willing, and I came to a Catholic College seeking an education solely in biochemistry. Oh, was I very wrong. Humanities, Theology, and Philosophy all opened my eyes to thinkers I had not studied before. Thinkers like Darwin, Machiavelli, and Aristotle, made me question and reaffirm my faith in Islam. This was my struggle: to seek faith through understanding. In fact, it was my Jihad here at Saint Anselm College. Jihad, is a very powerful word, unjustly defined in today’s media and hijacked by religious extremists. Jihad, in Arabic, means struggle. The Islamic meaning of Jihad is the struggle to obey God's commandments.

Five times daily, Muslims must pray to God. These prayers are meant to recognize the ultimate ruler of the universe. Praying on time became difficult when I was in afternoon Humanities lectures or late nights in biochemistry lab. My jihad, my struggle, was to do my utmost to pray these prayers on time. I must say though, the monastery bells ringing on campus served as an excellent reminder for me that I too needed to pray my evening prayer. As a resident assistant, part of my job was to create a healthy community in my building, so my jihad was to be the one who disrupted the 3am parties. As a student, my jihad was to get to classes on time, and to remember to turn off my cell phone. As a daughter, my struggle is to obey my parent’s rules, even if doing so imposes a burden on me. As a friend, my jihad is to be available for them, even if it means staying late at the coffee shop to talk about life. I struggled, as well, to learn the demands of academic integrity. At Saint Anselm College, my jihad was to quickly learn what so many students had known all their lives: the Catholic tradition that is the basis of the core curriculum. As a citizen, my jihad is to do whatever I can to make my community a better place, just by picking up water bottles around campus. Yes, every day here, I engaged in jihad, in personal struggles, and I am all the better because of it. And I know Saint Anselm College has made me a better person.

Dear classmates, all of you have struggled to earn the diplomas that you are about to receive today. I challenge you to continue learning and respecting ideas that are different from yours. Understanding others creates a bond and a realization that we are in the same “boat together” and that we need to find ways to cooperate for the good of all. We are, after all, sailing towards a common destination.

And what is the world we are entering as we leave the community of our beloved Saint Anselm? It is a world of six billion people, of whom 5 billion live in developing countries; 4 billion live under $1 a day. Our education will open this world for us, a world in which it will be more important than ever to examine our values and understand our everyday struggles.

Every one of us can do something that will make a difference in the lives of others, especially the elderly, the ill, the young, or the neglected of the world. From my time here at Saint Anselm College, I have been blessed to meet many fellow students, faculty and staff who felt moved to do something, to take a stand for what they knew was “right.” Their actions were extraordinary!

With the rapid changes in technology and ideas today, we must constantly struggle to reaffirm those values that have stood the test of time and change. In entering this world graduates, it is now our responsibility to preserve and pass on these values to the next generations, the values of honesty, justice, and ethical behavior. We have been given the keys to fulfilling that responsibility. Because the core of our Anselmian education is social justice, a sense of what is right, and a sense of true human belief.

Let us remember our respected professors who taught us to analyze texts and ask questions that left us arguing in Davison Hall for hours. These noble men and women are the real architects of the intellectual community we live in but they seldom get credit for that awesome responsibility.

Let us honor our families. For the pursuit of education can easily takes us away from our primary responsibilities as sons and daughters. Without the unyielding support of our families, we know we would not be here today receiving the diploma. Respect, honor, and love your parents and realize you stand before them as a result of their success as parents.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the creative light of altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's persistent and most urgent question is 'what are you doing for others?"

So, what will you do for others as you leave the comforting confines of Saint Anselm College? What struggles will you engage in and what successes will you achieve in the name of justice?

Let us pray for a better world, a peaceful world, a respectful world. Let us engage in a dialogue that is based on mutual respect, and that is elevated above mere ideological confrontations. The One God has created us all, and willed for us to be so different. Let us learn more about each other, and let us, together, construct a better world, for God’s sake. Congratulations Class of 2009. May God bless you and grant you peace.