00:00:00:00 - 00:01:05:00

Unknown

good. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Cindy Fan. I'm the Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement. Yes. On behalf of the regions of the University of California, I welcome you all to the 2023 commencement ceremony of the UCLA International Institute. Everyone, please be seated with family and friends. You're already doing so great, even before we saw it.

00:01:05:02 - 00:01:45:25

Unknown

We are here to recognize and celebrate the undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Sorry, undergraduate and graduate degree recipients of the International Institute. Academic programs. One of the most valuable qualities of higher education is the critical role it plays in in bridging nations and cultures. And you know what? Because only by bridging nations and cultures, only by working together across the world can we solve all these global problems that we have today, such as climate change, political conflicts, diseases, and, you know, racism.

00:01:45:28 - 00:02:33:10

Unknown

We got to work together and this is why we are educating our students. So you are our future graduates. The academic programs in the International Institute aimed at crossing boundaries and building a global understanding from across the disciplines. They are designed to improve students understanding of the world and produce global citizens, as does next next generation of world leaders think they mark the end of a long chapter.

00:02:33:12 - 00:03:44:00

Unknown

Years of students here to congratulate all of them. Academic success is built upon what many, including our world consequences. I would like to acknowledge all of the faculty members in attendance today. When your name is called, please Pan Professor, Montreal Alumna Thank you. Professor David Kim. Professor Bill Moriarty. Professor Bonnie Taub. Professor Margaret Peters, also Jennifer Chung, Professor and Gagosian and Professor Victor Gordon in.

00:03:44:02 - 00:04:13:17

Unknown

But of course the support from family and friends and from different cultures and traditions is in dispensable. Many of you have travel long distance and make important sacrifices to be here today. So on behalf of the students and my colleagues, I would like to thank you. You are the emotional, moral and material support who have made possible the accomplishments of our graduates.

00:04:13:24 - 00:05:07:20

Unknown

So thank you all and welcome. The UCLA International Institute is honored to have as our keynote speaker the Honorable Paul Cook, Korean Interest and 22. Paul Krikorian was elected unanimously by his fellow Los Angeles Council members to serve as president of the Los Angeles City Council. As chair of the City Council's powerful Budget and Finance Committee. For the previous ten years, he led the city to recovery from two fiscal calamities the Great Recession and the COVID related economic collapse, completing 11 balanced budgets and building the strongest reserves in the city's history.

00:05:07:20 - 00:05:46:20

Unknown

That's quite an accomplishment. He took the lead in ending oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles and initiated the city's L.A. 100 drive to achieve 100% carbon free electricity by 2025. As a member, yes, as a member of both the metal and metal boards, he brought electric busses to the valley and is expanding the valley's light rail service.

00:05:46:27 - 00:06:26:12

Unknown

While Metrolink has converted to 100% renewable fuel. He was the first member of the council to create interim housing for persons experiencing homelessness, building enough capacity to shelter every person who was living on the streets of his district. Another major accomplishment, a longtime advocate of sensible gun law reform, he led the council in enacting a safe storage ordinance and coauthored the city's ghost guns ban.

00:06:26:15 - 00:07:12:04

Unknown

Yes, I'm elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2010. He's the first Armenian-American to hold elected office in the city of Los Angeles. He was previously a member of the California State Assembly and before entering politics, he enjoyed a successful 20 year career as an attorney in the private sector. And we are so fortunate that he entered politics and we ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Paul Krikorian.

00:07:12:07 - 00:07:14:29

Unknown

Thank you.

00:07:14:29 - 00:07:42:13

Unknown

Thank you very much. Vice provost fan and esteemed faculty, staff and graduating students of the UCLA International Institute. Thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you. It's really an honor to be here, to be able to celebrate this incredible moment and all of the accomplishments of the best and the brightest who are here with us.

00:07:42:15 - 00:08:06:09

Unknown

And to salute each of you who've worked so hard to get to this point, to this place at this moment, I recognize that I'm all that standing between you and your big moment, though. So I will try to be brief. But I do want to take a minute because as Vice provost, Fran just acknowledged, none of you got to this place by yourselves.

00:08:06:12 - 00:08:41:14

Unknown

All of you were here with the support and encouragement of friends, family, mentors. And I'd like you to take a moment now to acknowledge them. Please. So just a moment ago, we heard Elgar's pomp and circumstance, and in a few minutes you'll be walking across the stage and you'll be slipping your tassel from one side of your cap to the other.

00:08:41:14 - 00:09:29:03

Unknown

And you'll be doing all of the things that tens of thousands of UCLA graduates have done for over a century now. And we have these traditions. We have this ritual about graduation. But at the same time, I just want to make sure that the familiar traditions of graduation don't mask the extraordinary nature of this particular class, because you are not an ordinary group of graduates in addition to everything else that everybody goes through when they go through college, You've lived through the worst public health crisis in a century.

00:09:29:06 - 00:10:06:25

Unknown

You've had to cope with an unprecedented interruption of normal academic life and normal teaching methods. You've had to deal with remote classes, glitchy audio, frozen screens, probably not. An hour has gone by where you haven't said or you've heard somebody else say you're on mute. But through all that, you coped, you improvised, you adapted and you overcame. Last night, I was had the pleasure of having a dinner with some of the administration and faculty and some of the students.

00:10:06:27 - 00:10:34:02

Unknown

And one of the graduates told me that she had spent her entire first two years at UCLA not stepping foot in the United States, but conducting that entire two years in her own country, 12 time zones away on the other side of the world, sometimes taking classes at 3 a.m. virtually. So it's that kind of resilience that marks this class.

00:10:34:02 - 00:11:05:26

Unknown

It's the superpower of the class of 2023. And I hope that it never leaves you. So the pandemic is a story that will all tell future generations and many exactly understand it or believe it. But those of you who went through this during your college experience went through an experience that you will always share as a bond. And I hope that you'll make it a shared strength.

00:11:05:28 - 00:11:48:03

Unknown

You survived this together, so you should stick together because the friends you made in this program are the first pillars of the global network that you will continue to build throughout your careers. And your relationships will be among the very best resources you'll have in the years ahead. So take a minute to look around at this class and realize that some among you will be ambassadors, some will lead global initiatives, some will bring your expertise to international commerce or to government and all of you will be able to work together and help one another to build the new world of the future.

00:11:48:05 - 00:12:17:14

Unknown

And make no mistake, the education you've gained here and your depth of understanding of international issues are more important to all of us right now, more than ever, you're all here because you're interested in the world beyond our borders, and you've gained here at UCLA a global perspective that too few have realized, especially frankly, here in the United States, and that that perspective is now absolutely imperative.

00:12:17:17 - 00:12:46:25

Unknown

The Internet doesn't recognize borders. We live in a global information ecosystem where ideas travel around the world at the speed of light. The phone in your pocket gives you access to the combined knowledge and vision and ideas of the greatest thinkers and artists throughout world history. But it also gives you access to an international cesspool of toxic lies, cybercrimes and the vilest hate speech.

00:12:46:28 - 00:13:13:23

Unknown

Preserving the health of the environment is no longer done in isolation, in local isolation, a plastic bottle cap that you drop on the sidewalk out on Westwood can end up choking a seabird on the Midway atoll. But on the other hand, the visionary energy policies that we're adopting here in the city of Los Angeles right now will benefit the entire world by combating climate change.

00:13:13:25 - 00:13:42:26

Unknown

Commerce is now inherently internationalized. The port complex here in Los Angeles receives 40% of the nation's imports from Asia, and it creates a half million jobs right here in Southern California. But the shutdown of one factory in Shenzhen can cause instant supply chain disruptions that will shut down small businesses in the San Fernando Valley. So all of this ties together.

00:13:42:28 - 00:14:18:14

Unknown

We're all tied together globally. And as we've learned over the last three years, inadequate health care anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere. A deadly virus can circle the globe in a matter of days. And that, too, is a problem that no one country can solve for itself alone. All of these experiences have made us realize that the world is smaller than we think it is, and these experiences have emphasized the vital nature of your studies and the expertise and insights that you've gained here.

00:14:18:16 - 00:14:50:28

Unknown

Addressing the greatest challenges we face today, and also seizing the incredible opportunities that are before us today will require a much greater degree of international cooperation and understanding. And that work falls to those who explore cultures, cultures other than their own, those who study international development, those who practice diplomacy, and those who understand issues like global public health, mass migration and conflict resolution and graduates.

00:14:51:02 - 00:15:19:18

Unknown

That means you. So that sounds like a lot of pressure. I know there's a lot riding on your shoulders now. There is, but don't worry, you've had an extraordinary education here at UCLA and you've had an extraordinary opportunity to experience this incredible international city of Los Angeles. It is your great good fortune that you've taken your studies here at this great university.

00:15:19:20 - 00:15:54:27

Unknown

But just as important, you've done this work in Los Angeles, a truly global city, probably the most diverse city in the history of the world. This is a place where a majority of our population speak a primary language other than English. Los Angeles has the largest populations of Armenian, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Iranian, Korean, Mexican, Salvadoran, Sri Lankan and Thai people in the world outside of those countries themselves.

00:15:55:00 - 00:16:30:20

Unknown

We have 25 sister cities on every continent. Our port here in Los Angeles does facilitates commerce for the entire world. It's the biggest, busiest, most port complex in the Western Hemisphere. L.A.X. is the most important, busiest destination airport for international travel anywhere in the world. There is a good reason that the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics chose Los Angeles as a host city.

00:16:30:20 - 00:16:59:17

Unknown

And that's because we are such an international city. We are one of the biggest, greatest living laboratories of international studies anywhere in the world. And whatever we achieve here in Los Angeles, in this great global city, on energy, on climate change, on transportation and on housing, on homelessness, on human rights, will be watched and imitated by the rest of the world.

00:16:59:19 - 00:17:30:22

Unknown

So you can have no greater impact anywhere in the world than with what you can achieve here. So I'm just going to put it in a little plug. If you choose to put your knowledge, your energy and your passion into building and improving this city, the splash you make will send ripples around the world. So as president of the city Council, let me just say that I encourage all of you to consider building your international future right here in Los Angeles.

00:17:30:24 - 00:17:56:10

Unknown

And, you know, look, this is this city has always been known by people around the world as a city where dreams come true. And it's a reason that people come here from around the world and around the country because they have big dreams and they know that this is a place where that can happen. I know that from personal experience, it's neither my mom nor my dad had the chance to go to college.

00:17:56:17 - 00:18:17:08

Unknown

My mom didn't graduate from high school. The only time that my dad went out of this country was when he fought for the Marine Corps during World War Two. And we didn't have a lot of opportunities. We didn't have a lot of resources. But because they worked hard, this city gave me the opportunity to be the first in my family to go to college, albeit it was USC.

00:18:17:11 - 00:18:44:15

Unknown

But and that, well, I can make it. I'm going to make it worse for you right now. And then I went to law school at Berkeley, so. But but because of those opportunities that I had to get educated in these great institutions like you have had here at UCLA, because I had those opportunities, I had opportunities that no one else in my family ever had.

00:18:44:15 - 00:19:12:10

Unknown

And in this city, I was able to have a successful career as a lawyer and then go on to elected office and to become the president of the Los Angeles City Council. And that's what Los Angeles can do. Right. But more important than my examples, I want to bring an example to you a little bit closer to home for all of you, because you spent a good amount of your life last few years walking in and out of Bunche Hall.

00:19:12:13 - 00:19:40:10

Unknown

You've walked past the bust at the front of Bunch Hall and maybe some of you don't know why Bunche Hall is named Bunche Hall. And so I thought I would share with you the story of Ralph Bunche, a UCLA graduate who is raised here in Los Angeles by his grandmother, a woman who had been born into slavery. He was raised without his parents.

00:19:40:12 - 00:20:12:02

Unknown

His grandmother and him and his siblings moved to Los Angeles when he was a young boy and the family struggled financially terribly. He did whatever jobs he could to help. The family sold newspapers, and then he got the opportunity because he was a great student who, despite all these issues, continued to do well in school. He had the opportunity to come to UCLA, and when he was here, he supported himself working as a janitor.

00:20:12:05 - 00:20:43:17

Unknown

Through his extraordinary hard work. He graduate aged from this university summa cum laude. He the valedictorian of his class with a major in international relations. And when he graduated, he stood on a stage, something like this one, like all of you are about to. And he received a diploma like the one that you're to get. And then he went on to be become one of our nation's greatest diplomats and greatest civil rights leaders.

00:20:43:20 - 00:21:10:06

Unknown

He was involved in the formal fashion and the early administration of the United Nations, and he played a major role in both the decolonization process and countless U.N. peacekeeping operations. He represented the United States of America in the conferences that drafted the U.N. charter and on the American delegation to the very first session of the U.N. General Assembly in 1946 as a mediator for the Middle East Middle East.

00:21:10:06 - 00:21:46:14

Unknown

Bunche negotiated an armistice between Egypt and Israel and played a pivotal role in resolving crises in the Sinai, Congo, Yemen, Cyprus and Bahrain. In 1965, he supervised the cease fire following the war between India and Pakistan. So in 1950, UCLA alum Bruin Ralph Bunche, the grandson of a person who had been born into slavery, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African-American ever to receive that prize.

00:21:46:17 - 00:22:28:01

Unknown

Ralph Bunche understood the importance of viewing all people as worthy of dignity and respect, even in disagreement. He once said, I am a professional optimist that is optimistic in the sense of assuming that there is no problem which cannot be solved, and that therefore you have to keep at it at a time when all of us are seeing such immense polarization, both here in the United States and around the world, the notion of middle ground sometimes seems almost impossible at times like that.

00:22:28:03 - 00:22:58:02

Unknown

Ralph Bunche has persistence, optimism and positive commitment to mutual respect and to achieving compromise should be an example for us all. So, graduates, you know, I know that there are these are uncertain times that we're living in, and the last few years have certainly made a point of that. I know sometimes during times great uncertainty like this, you could feel uneasy about your future.

00:22:58:04 - 00:23:25:21

Unknown

But at those times, I want you to draw inspiration from your fellow Bruin, Ralph Bunche. Don't allow yourself to get bogged down by worries. You're the next generation of young adults poised to make your mark in a country that's known throughout the world as a place where people achieve big dreams against tough odds. We are a nation of immigrants and pioneers and innovators and overachievers.

00:23:25:29 - 00:23:53:22

Unknown

We are a people who don't take no for an answer. So keep pushing yourself hard, really hard to excel. You're all brilliant and talented. Talented. That's a given. But trust me, that's never enough. The future will be created by those who are willing to make the extra effort, who take on more personal responsibility, and who relentlessly demand more from themselves and keep dreaming.

00:23:53:25 - 00:24:18:14

Unknown

Dream big, stay inspired. Try to do what no one else has ever done before. Because right now you really literally can achieve anything that you want to achieve in your professional life. It may not always seem practical or efficient to you. You might not start in a position, you know, that's exactly the one you wanted. It might be far from your initial interest or your field of study.

00:24:18:22 - 00:24:43:07

Unknown

You might change jobs many times and be presented with opportunities in doing so that you've never imagined. So keep your eye on the horizon. Remember where you're trying to go. Remember your big goals and you can make them happen. Class of 2023. Your families and your friends and everyone who helped you get to this moment are incredibly proud of you.

00:24:43:10 - 00:25:10:08

Unknown

And please know that Los Angeles believes in you. And I know our future is bright because of you. I urge you to make the most of this opportunity that you have right now. Use the tools that you've been given here at UCLA to create your own best future and also to bend the arc of the future of our world in a positive way that will make a lasting difference from this day forward.

00:25:10:11 - 00:25:35:14

Unknown

Each of you has an important obligation to fulfill. You must do everything you can to realize your own greatest potential. Because by doing that, you will discover the role that you'll play in writing the next great chapter of history. Other generations have had their chance. Now it's your turn. You are the hope of this world, and you inspire us all.

00:25:35:21 - 00:25:46:08

Unknown

Congratulations. Thank you. I look forward to seeing everything you're going to go accomplish,