‘The gods won’t fix the system’

Professor Sunil Bhatia

Connecticut College honored 170 students for excellence in everything from botany to dance during a festive ceremony in the College Center at Crozier-Williams on April 26.

Faculty, parents, staff and friends cheered as students stepped forward to receive citations and prizes from President Norman Fainstein.

It was a night for honoring not only students, but the professors, alumni and friends of the College for whom awards were established. “There is a story behind the name of every prize, ever honor, every award we bestow tonight,” Fainstein said.

He singled out Paul Fell, the Katharine Blunt Professor Emeritus of Biology, who retired in 2003 after teaching at CC 35 years. Fell died last December and the biology faculty offered a research award in his name for the first time this year.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Sunil Bhatia, associate professor of human development. He earned the honor by winning the College’s John S. King Memorial Teaching Award in 2005.

Bhatia warned students not to be seduced away from what truly matters in life. He urged them to speak up for what is right.

“Silence makes you complicit,” he said. “If you don’t take the time to correct the system, the system will correct you. My advice is to beat the system.”

He advised students to persist in asking hard questions. Being thoughtful, analytical and intellectual is what a liberal arts education is all about, he said.

“Look around you. Geeks rule the world,” Bhatia said. “The world needs an educated perspective so be ready to provide it,” he added. “Don’t wait for the gods to come and fix the system. You will be disappointed.”

Read Bhatia’s remarks, “Achievements and Awards: So What? Now What?”