Commencement Message from Dean Laura Belmonte

Welcome graduates, families, faculty, staff, and friends of the class of 2020. I'm Laura Bell, body, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and human sciences. While this year is unlike any ever known, it is demonstrated countless ways. Having how extraordinary our students are and how vital our graduate skills are to the world in which we live. Some might wonder why anyone would steady set in practical fields as history, political science, sociology, and the performing arts. The wisdom of pursuing such disciplines can be summed up most succinctly, not with words, but with a single year. 2020. The unprecedented challenges of the past months underscore the timeless importance of the fields that the graduates of the College of Liberal Arts and human sciences pursue. It will be hard to overstate just how important these graduates are right now. Our newly commissioned Air Force, Army, and Navy officers will protect our country from cyber, biological, nuclear, and terroristic threats are Human Development and Family Science graduates. We'll tackle the challenges of an ageing population, support our most vulnerable people, and help our children learn and thrive in even the most challenging circumstances. If you have watched the virtual cancer or play where I've lost yourselves in binge watching Netflix series. You have experienced firsthand the importance of the performing arts in raising our spirits, expressing our most profound emotions, and fostering economic development. If you relied on Scholars, contextualize the scientific, technical, political, and ethical realities in which we find ourselves. To understand the crucial role of historians, philosophers, linguist, Foreign Language Specialist, religion experts, political scientist, criminologists. And so theologists in interpreting our path, navigating our present, and guide our future. If you've been transported by a pole, novel or short story Origen formed by a clearly written professional text. You already know how our English students give voice to all aspects of the human experience and help us understand each or if you blasted sports commentators who during that isn't sporting events turned their tower and store describing the antics of their dogs or races between strollers and crosswalks. You've glimpse the skills of our communication students master before entering the worlds of multimedia, journalism, public relations, and sports media, if you struggled to home-school your children or siblings, I'm guessing you may have gained new appreciation for the patients can pattern and dedication of the graduates who will be devoting themselves to education. And if you've been living in sweatshirts and warm-up pants, the talents of our fashion merchandising design graduates, right? See you in 2020. Graduates. I know your senior year has been, you've dreamed of, but that does not diminish one bit. How proud we are of you and how very lucky we are to have folkies with your energy, brilliance and times. Taking Virginia Tech wherever you go to make your marks on a world that desperately needs you. So I give you a socially distant high-five, a gentle nudge to stay in touch as alumni. And huge congratulations on this remarkable achievement.