ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 28, 1990                   TAG: 9005280077
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


STATE COLLEGES CONFER DEGREES

The president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund told graduates of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland on Sunday that they should take an active interest in the struggle for freedom in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

"The history of mankind is one long tale of struggle towards freedom, with many bitter defeats as well as sweet victory," Colin Campbell said.

"Fortunately, as we have seen in this past year in Eastern Europe and in China, there continue to be those who, for whatever the cost, are willing to keep on struggling not just for themselves but for others as well."

In Staunton, the Mary Baldwin College class of 1990 was sent into the world by commencement speaker Elizabeth Pfohl Campbell.

A former dean of Mary Baldwin, Elizabeth Campbell is vice president for community affairs of WETA-TV in Washington, D.C., the third largest producer of programs for the Public Broadcasting System.

"There is a great vision of the future - there is a great world out there where we can make a difference," she told the 220 graduates.

Colin Campbell told the 225 graduates at Randolph-Macon that the "task of democratization is awesome, but so are the fruits of democracy. Those in East Central Europe, particularly the young people who are determined to play an active role . . . will, in fact, continue to change the course of history as they have already begun to do."

However in China "the government seems determined to force the youth of China . . . back into the ranks of mere objects rather than subjects of history.

Such events should matter to Americans because "the world has become increasingly interdependent, economically, technologically and environmentally."

Global interdependence means the quality of American life will be affected by events and conditions occurring a great distance away and beyond our control, he said.

Union Theological Seminary in Richmond conferred 62 degrees.

The commencement marked the 178th anniversary of the school, which is run by Presbyterian churches in Virginia and North Carolina.

The school awarded five doctor of philosophy, three doctor of ministry, 42 master of divinity and 12 master of theology degrees.



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