Michael Berenstain, author and illustrator of the popular Berenstain Bears children鈥檚 book series created by his parents, Stan and Jan Berenstain, addressed the graduating seniors parents, friends, faculty and staff at
EMU鈥檚 93rd annual commencement exercises held on the front lawn of campus.

Light rain was falling as the two-hour ceremony began, but it stopped by the time Berenstain finished his talk and the graduates prepared to receive their diplomas. Berenstain鈥檚 son, Samuel A. Berenstain, was a member of the undergraduate class of 2011. He received a bachelor of arts degree in environmental sustainability.

鈥淢y family鈥檚 special contribution to the literary bear clan has come to be universally identified with what are loosely called family values,鈥� Berenstain said. 鈥淚t was never our intention to take on this role of do-it-yourself family counselors, but people are always telling us that they like our books not because 鈥榯hey teach good lessons鈥� but because 鈥榯hey teach lessons, good.鈥欌��

鈥淭he ethical messages of our books are not very original,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hey lean heavily on such standbys as the Golden Rule and Love Your Neighbor 鈥� scarcely an innovation. Their appeal comes, rather, in the way in which the material is presented. We work hard to make our books funny and visually engaging, to make our characters full-dimensional and we try to tell good stories.鈥�

The speaker drew from a number of short poems that introduce the subjects of many of the Berenstain Bears books in presenting markers, or guideposts, to the graduating class:

Small bears get big eyes
when they take off and roam,
and sometimes forget
all the good stuff at home.

鈥淒on鈥檛 forget your roots and the basic values of home and family as you venture forth into the brave new world of post-graduate existence,鈥� he advised.

When peer pressure
rears its ugly head,
it鈥檚 easy for most cubs
to be misled.

Berenstain contined: 鈥淲hen your summer fling is over and it鈥檚 time to buckle down at a job, because to stay true to your underlying beliefs and ethical standards 鈥� don鈥檛 let an amoral corporate culture lead you astray鈥�:

One鈥檚 sense of self-worth
is often undone
the first time one feels
left out of the fun.

鈥淟earn to reach out to others to help you on your way 鈥� after all, no man, or bear, is an island,鈥� Berenstain counseled. 鈥淏ut, don鈥檛 submerge your own identity to the interests of the group or go against your conscience just to fit in鈥�:

When bears are angry
and don鈥檛 get along
a hug makes up
for what went wrong.

鈥淐onflict is inevitable,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎lways be quick to make up after a quarrel. Bearing a grudge never did anyone any good.鈥� And further, 鈥淎lways adhere to truthfulness as a bedrock ideal, because:

No matter how you hope
no matter how you try,
you can鈥檛 make truth
out of a lie.

鈥淚n going out and finding the work that is meant for you to do may be daunting, [but] it will give you a profound sense of achievement and self-worth鈥�:

We all have something
we do the best 鈥�
a little bit better
than the rest.

鈥淵ou are about to move on with your lives both physically and spiritually,鈥� Berenstain told the graduates. 鈥淵ou will face many challenges, trials and tribulations 鈥� but many more joys and triumphs, successes and satisfactions.

鈥淢ay the best wishes of the Berenstain Bears go with you.鈥�

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber conferred 451 degrees and certificates: 320 undergraduate (including 119 Adult Degree Completion Program recipients), 120 graduate degrees, five graduate certificates in conflict transformation and six certificates in pastoral ministry studies.

Students who walked the platform wearing green ribbons indicated they had voluntarily signed a 鈥淕raduation Commitment,鈥� a nationwide initiative with the language of the pledge tailored to fit EMU鈥檚 mission:

鈥淚 commit myself to a lifestyle of social and environmental integrity and will seek to improve these aspects of the community in which I work.鈥�

The undergraduate class had 107 people who graduated with honors, finishing with cumulative grade point averages between 3.6 and 4.0, including three who earned a perfect 4.0 GPA.

• from commencement weekend are now available.
• of Michael Berenstain’s commencement address.

will confer 451 degrees – 320 undergraduate (including 119 Adult Degree Completion Program graduates), 120 graduate, (5 graduate certificates and 6 study and pastoral ministry certificates on graduates of the STEP (Training for Effective Pastoral Ministry) program at EMU Lancaster (PA). Last year, EMU awarded 432 degrees.

Michael (Mike) Berenstain of Doylestown, Pa., will give the commencement address on the theme, “Simple Gifts: Thoughts from Childhood.” His son, Samuel Berenstain, is a member of the undergraduate class of 2011. He will receive a BA degree in environmental sustainability.

Berenstain attended art school in Philadelphia in the early 1970s, then worked as a designer in the children’s book department of a New York publisher before starting his career as an author and illustrator. His first children’s book was published in 1976, followed by some 30 more over the next 16 years, ranging in subject matter from wizards to dinosaurs.

Since the late 1980s Michael has done most of the illustrating for the family-owned business that was started in the 1960s by his parents, Stan and Jan Berenstain of Solebury Township, Pa., Stan died in 2005 at age 82. Jan, 86, still collaborates with Michael on creative input and drawings.

Stan and Jan Berenstain introduced the Bear family of Mama, Papa and Small Bear, in their first children’s book, “The Big Honey Hunt,” published in 1962. More than 140 Berenstain Bear books are currently in print with the publishers Random House, HarperCollins and Zonderkidz. About 260 million copies in the series have been sold.

Michael is the author and illustrator of the new Berenstain Bears “Living Lights” series, the first faith-based books. The series follows the Berenstain Bears as they learn morals like the golden rule and loving your neighbor.

During the ceremony, “graduates’ perspectives” will be given by undergraduates Megan Grove, Greencastle, Pa., and Mitchell Stutzman, Middlebury, Ind.; ADCP graduate Nona Allen, Elkton, Va., and graduate student Erica Yutzy, Harrisonburg.

The seniors have elected, assistant professor of religion and culture at EMU, to be speaker for the baccalaureate service to be held 7 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 30, in Lehman Auditorium.

Dr. Dula, an EMU alumnus, received a PhD in theology and ethics from Duke University in 2004. Before joining the EMU faculty in 2006 he was Iraq program coordinator with Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa. He has taught at Lancaster (PA) Mennonite High School and at the Meserete Kristos College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was a Fulbright scholar in 2001-02.

The salutation will be given by senior class co-presidents Janelle Freed, Collegeville, Pa., and Braydon Hoover, Elizabethtown, Pa.

EMU music students will give a short concert in immediately following the baccalaureate service. President and Mrs. Swartzendruber will host a reception for the graduates and their families in the , second floor corridor, immediately following that program.

In case of rain, commencement exercises will be held in the , which can accommodate 3,600 people. An announcement to that effect will be made by 9 a.m. that day on the , on the EMU activities line, 432-4362, and on area radio stations.