Something to Aspire To

By Andrea Early

Special to the Gazette

The 206th Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises at Sanders Theatre took members of the Class of 1996 and other participants on a scholarly voyage Tuesday that spanned contemporary America to ancient Rome and back again, juxtaposing the new with the old, seemingly at every turn.

This time-honored pre-Commencement tradition, believed to have begun with the Phi Beta Kappa society's founding in 1781, hails scholarship with all the trimmings: prayer, robed scholars, poetry, an oration, awards, and anthems.

But even with so many Old World features intact, the tradition seemed to be changing a bit. In his opening remarks, James Engell, the society's president, announced that for the first time, the separate chapters previously maintained by Harvard and Radcliffe have unified this year under the new name of Alpha Iota. "We are the only society at Harvard and Radcliffe that draws from both Harvard and Radcliffe," said Engell, professor of English and comparative literature.

Sitting on stage, before the graduates, were several rows of highly decorated people of letters, among them the recipients of the Phi Beta Kappa teaching awards, the ceremony's orator and its poet, and several other high-ranking participants in this celebration of intellectual pursuit.

When he came forth to present his poetry, David Ferry took a place in history beside predecessors like Robert Lowell, W.H. Auden, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, and a long list of other distinguished poets who have over the years shared their learned views at these exercises.

But unlike many of his predecessors, instead of a single long poem, Ferry dared to be different: He read five short poems. Celebrants were taken on a journey back to ancient Rome with three of his translations of the Odes of the poet Horace. And then, using two of his own works, Ferry gently brought the audience back to the present -- to the coffee shops and riverbanks of Harvard's own Cambridge.

A tribute to his translation skills, the poet's renditions of the Horace Odes, all musings on the power and limitations of poetry, were at times humorous (one was written seemingly as revenge against the planter of a tree that fell and nearly killed Horace), ponderous (an ode to his role as a poet), and sad (a therapeutic lament in the wake of the epic poet Virgil's death).

Not surprisingly, Ferry's own writings presented a similar poet's-eye-view of the world. The first, "Wallenda" -- as in the tightrope-walking circus family -- pondered the death-defying hopes of a dying man, a friend of Ferry's. In the second poem, "Down by the River," the poet described himself in a perfect setting, sitting and writing beside the Charles River, when suddenly he is delighted to observe that a painter across the banks is immortalizing his role in the very scene he is enjoying so well.

As for her part, orator Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies and past recipient of a Phi Beta Kappa teaching award, took celebrants to a landscape far from the banks of the Charles. Providing vivid descriptions of Chinese temples in the suburbs of Boston, Buddhist temples in Nashville and Houston, and Muslims outnumbering Presbyterians in a nation once described as a three-religion country, Eck took celebrants on a tour of the rapidly changing religious landscape of America -- one she has helped survey for Harvard's Pluralism Project.

Eck also urged the audience to pay close attention not only to race issues but also to religious ones. "Religious markers are often the most significant markers of our differences," she said. Then she cited lurid examples including violence against Hindus and desecrations in the form of racist graffiti, axings, and burnings at the various temples, mosques, and other holy sanctuaries that are now a part of the new religious topography.

On the positive side, Eck also presented examples of interfaith cooperative ventures that might serve as models for continued religious harmony. She noted that a Methodist Church and an Islamic Church had recently broken ground beside each other and then built a pathway linking the two establishments to signify their unity. She also observed an increasing shift in the public and symbolic acknowledgment of diverse religions as evidenced by events such as the opening of a session of the U.S. House of Representatives by a Muslim and the recitation of Sanskrit at Harvard's Baccalaureate in the spring of 1993.

In the end, Eck challenged her listeners to think carefully about the deep religious currents that are shaping our civilization. And she urged them to consider pluralism -- the active seeking of understanding and the enthusiastic engagement with diversity -- as a possible vehicle for ensuring peaceful coexistence in the face of a differing identities and commitments.

The graduating seniors at the ceremony seemed to respond favorably to the exercises, some seeing it as an inspirational warmup for the days to come. Patrick Purdon '96, who will graduate with a degree in engineering sciences, saw the relevance of Eck's oration to the challenges ahead of him. "The oration was appropriate to the frame of mind we need as graduates," said Purdon as he was leaving the ceremony. "At no other time in our lives will we be surrounded by so many different kinds of people," he said.

Other students were seemingly moved by the ceremony's scholarly connotations and its inspirational choral interludes. "I felt very honored to be a part of such a great tradition and in the presence of such great academic minds," said Ivy Wong, who will graduate with a degree in economics this week. "I think this ceremony really gave us something we could aspire to," she said.