On a warm June morning perfectly suited to outdoor leisure, the Class of 2004 took to the Stanford Stadium field and indulged their recreational impulses. Never mind that Commencement was moments away; for these graduates, the Wacky Walk was one last chance to frolic under the sun.
Some brought wicker baskets and set up elaborate picnics, quietly munching on tortilla chips or ginger snaps. A few male graduates—less than fully clothed—hurled themselves down a makeshift slip-and-slide. Others jousted with swimming-pool floaties, swing-danced to the beat of a boom box, or meandered under bright yellow parasols. One group of friends dressed as bollards—complete with flyers stapled to their faux-wood costumes—planted themselves at random intervals. An unlucky “bicyclist” crashed into them repeatedly.
As the processional approached, many in the crowd and on the field burst into cheers for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, ’50, JD ’52. In her second Commencement address at Stanford, O’Connor encouraged graduates to enter a life of public service and to “build bridges” for the good of the nation. As an example, she invoked the legacy of Ronald Reagan, “a public servant of the highest order,” who nominated O’Connor—a self-described “cowgirl from Eastern Arizona”—to be the first woman on the Supreme Court. And she recalled the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, saying the young lawyers who worked on the case promoted justice. “Commit yourselves today, as you embark on your new life as a Stanford graduate, to being a bridge builder,” she said. The estimated crowd of 25,000 gave her a standing ovation.
Then, as President John Hennessy conferred 1,788 bachelor’s degrees, 2,055 master’s and 890 doctorates, the graduates chimed in when he bestowed the “rights, responsibilities and privileges” of a Stanford degree. One of which, obviously, is a sense of playfulness.
