鈥淐olbert said precisely what I think about cynicism nine years ago,鈥� Dionne, a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, told the crowd. 鈥淐ynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it鈥檚 the farthest thing from it.

鈥淐ynics always say 鈥榥o,鈥� but saying 鈥榶es鈥� begins things. Saying 鈥榶es鈥� is how things grow,鈥� he continued. 鈥淐ynicism isn鈥檛 realism, because realism accepts people as they are.鈥�

Hundreds of students and thousands of family members and friends crowded into Yoder Arena at EMU to watch the university鈥檚 97th annual commencement ceremony.

A total of 486 degrees and certificates were handed out. Of those 486, 370 were undergraduate degrees 鈥� including 139 adult degrees 鈥� 106 were graduate degrees and 10 were certificates in pastoral ministry studies. . A total of .

EMU also awarded a posthumous honorary degree on behalf of Ruth C. Jones of Verona, who died in June at the age of 40 while enrolled in the adult degree completion program.

Jones was finishing a bachelor鈥檚 of science in nursing and was employed at Augusta Health, where she had worked for 15 years. Her husband, Nicholas, received her diploma on her behalf.

Throngs of people filled the 3,600-capacity arena, packing the bleachers and seats on the floor, the track circling above the arena and a theater that showed a live broadcast of the ceremony.

Dionne, 63, who also is a professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, titled his address 鈥淐ynicism Isn鈥檛 Realism: Letting Joy Surprise You.鈥� In it, he highlighted what he said is the importance of finding the good in everything and everyone, staying humble and continuing to learn.

Remember, Dionne told members of the graduating class, you can always learn something from everyone.

鈥淭he smartest people on this Earth are never, ever the know-it-alls,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he truly ingenious people 鈥β� are constantly amazed by how little they know.鈥�

He also took time to acknowledge the sacrifice and help from parents in guiding their children to graduation.

鈥淚 always disliked the phrase 鈥榮elf-made,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淣one of us is self-made. It鈥檚 a biological and spiritual absurdity.鈥�

Other speakers included Najla El Mangoush, a master鈥檚 graduate from Benghazi, Libya, in the university鈥檚 conflict transformation program; Kimberly Groff, a graduate from Ephrata, Pa., in the adult degree completion program; and undergraduate students Emily Shenk, of Goshen, Ind., and Jordan Luther, of Martinsville.

Speaking to the class, Luther compared the new graduates to a box of crayons.

鈥淪ome of us came from five minutes away down the road while others grew up 5,000 miles away,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur identities are like a 64-box of crayons, filled with subtlety, diversity and compassion; colors to create portraits of peace and transcendence in your community and in your world.鈥�

Dionne graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In addition to writing columns for The Washington Post and serving as a professor at Georgetown University, he is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He lives in Bethesda, Md., with his wife and three kids.

Before concluding his speech, Dionne said to the roomful of graduates: 鈥淐ommencement is the beginning and not an end. Never stop learning.鈥�

Courtesy of the Daily News Record, April 27, 2015

More from commencement weekend:

“I have been reading EJ’s columns in the Washington Post for years, and many others here at EMU have been too,” says . “He seemed to be an excellent match for the mission, vision and values of EMU. His writings reveal his consistent orientation toward a society based on fair social and economic practices, rooted in his Christian commitment as a Roman Catholic. He also comes with wide international experience as a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times. I think he will resonate well with many at EMU as our commencement speaker.”

Dionne鈥檚 career started in the late 1970s-80s at the . During that time, he was based in bureaus in Paris, Rome and Beirut, gaining a broad perspective on how international affairs affect American politics. Between these experiences abroad, he reported on government and national politics.

In 1990 Dionne joined the Washington Post as a political reporter. He began writing his bi-weekly column in 1993.

In a few recent columns, Dionne challenges his readers to address 鈥渢he vexing intersection of wage stagnation, declining social mobility and rising inequality.鈥� To not forget 鈥渙ur country鈥檚 struggle over race鈥ut also about our larger quest for justice.鈥� And to suggest, 鈥渁ll sides stop fighting and pool their energies to easing the marriage and family crisis that is engulfing working-class Americans.鈥�

These words resonate with EMU students like senior Jacob Mack-Boll who says he was pleasantly surprised to hear that EMU chose a political writer as the 2015 commencement speaker.

鈥淎s someone who is graduating, I feel like there are pieces of my education that have been very political in nature, but on a small scale,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want us to have a lens that is outward, as people who can bring about change on a larger level in society. If Dionne will be advocating for societal changes that are realistic and possible, I鈥檓 looking forward to what he will be telling us.鈥�

Shortly after Dionne joined the Washington Post, he wrote the book 鈥淲hy Americans Hate Politics,鈥� which won the Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee. Since then he has authored, edited or co-edited nine other books, including most recently 鈥淥ur Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent,鈥� published in 2012.

Dionne received a BA from Harvard University in 1973, summa cum laude, and a doctorate from Oxford University in 1982, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife Mary Boyle and their three children, James, Julia and Margot.

On the morning of Oct. 2, 2006, Charlie walked his two school-aged children to their schoolbus stop, kissed them, and told them he loved them. Charlie then departed to (presumably) drive his usual milk route in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

From the :

Five young Amish girls are dead, and five more are seriously injured, after being lined up in their one-room school Monday and shot “execution style” by a heavily armed milk truck driver who then took his own life, police said.

Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, was armed with three guns, two knives and 600 rounds of ammunition when he burst into the schoolhouse, forced the girls to line up against a blackboard and shot them at close range in the back of the head, police said.

Pennsylvania State Police commissioner Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, who described the crime scene as “horrendous,” said Roberts apparently was motivated by rage over a long-ago incident unconnected to the school or the Amish community.

Deduced from a letter Charlie left for Marie to read, he was twistedly depressed and angry at God, dating back to early in their marriage when the couple lost a daughter at 26 weeks, followed by an ectopic pregnancy. Perhaps following a psychotic breakdown, he took out his anger on the Amish girls in the schoolhouse.

In the , followed by an in the student-run coffee house, Marie spoke about growing up in a devoutly Christian home in rural Lancaster. She was a quiet, shy girl whose only aspiration was to be a good wife and mother 鈥� never, ever, conceiving in her worst nightmare of becoming known around the world as 鈥渢he shooter鈥檚 wife.鈥�

That horrible day, after the police had come to her home and told her what Charlie had done, she felt she had to choose between two options: (1) to turn away from God in whom she had always trusted, while she and her children went down 鈥渓ike the fastest sinking ship鈥� or (2) to continue believing that God keeps his promises to walk with those suffering. 鈥淕od spoke to my heart on that day of the shooting… 鈥業鈥檓 not going to fix it, but I am going to redeem it.鈥欌��

The God-sent miracles began with a visit of Amish community members to her home, where they met first with her father and hugged him and assured him that they were praying for the Roberts family, with forgiveness for what Charlie had done. At Charlie鈥檚 funeral service and burial site, Amish men and women formed a wall in front of the media’s cameras, helping to shield Marie and her family from the glare of publicity.

鈥淭hey live compassion and they live grace and they live love,鈥� Marie said in an article by Elizabeth Tenety, published by 鈥淭hey just do it so seemingly effortlessly, but it鈥檚 a choice that they make.鈥�

Marie, who is now happily remarried with the last name of Monville, is the author of One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting, published in October 2013. She is part of a blended family; her eldest child from her first marriage attends as a sophomore. She is still a stay-at-home mother 鈥� active in the family鈥檚 church, running to her children鈥檚 extracurricular activities, volunteering at their schools. But God has also transformed her into a motivational speaker and about his presence in everyone鈥檚 lives.

鈥淕od has a beautiful plan and a destiny for all of us,鈥� she told the hundreds who turned out for her . That doesn鈥檛 mean we won鈥檛 face pain and loss, she added. But God will also give us everything we need to cope with that pain and loss.

鈥淗e transforms broken places into whole places,鈥� she said. She described the 鈥渇aith walk,鈥� as “trusting that something beautiful will come out of this [grief].”

鈥淭he love of God is a light,鈥� she added, 鈥渢hat will never go out, no matter how dark.鈥�

The language and literature department will hold its first “Writers Read” program of fall semester 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16 in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at EMU.

Author Lauren F. Winner of Charlottesville, Va., will read from her works, Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath, published by Algonquin Books (Chapel Hill, N.C).

The child of a reform Jewish father and a Southern Baptist mother, Winner became an Orthodox Jew. But as she faithfully observes the Sabbath rituals and studies Jewish laws, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Christianity. Eventually she converts, but finds that her world is still shaped by her Jewish experiences.

Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner

Winner