The Justice

Humanities graduates listen to speakers during their mini-commencement ceremony Sunday. Sara Brandenburg/the Justice

A New York Times foreign affairs columnist who has garnered three Pulitzer Prizes for his news coverage and commentary on the Middle East delivered the keynote address at the 56th commencement ceremony Sunday in Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Thomas Friedman '75, a member of the Brandeis Board of Trustees, stepped in after the University's first choice, David Halberstam, also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, died in a car accident in Menlo Park, Ca. last month. He was 73.

"It's a treat, an honor and an obligation to be here today," Friedman said, addressing the 809 bachelor, 538 master and 93 Ph.D. recipients and their families.

Friedman himself graduated from Brandeis summa cum laude with a major in Mediterranean Studies.

Making fond reference to Halberstam in his speech, Friedman described him as "a true hero of mine … the best and the brightest in my business."

He divided his speech into three parts, "to cover all my bases; one brutal, one advisory and one sentimental."

His brutal advice included words from Charles Sykes, the author of Dumbing Down Our Kids. "The world

In a fast-paced and engaging tone, Friedman entertained the packed crowd with stories about how he got into journalism, and his experiences reporting in London and in Lebanon during the war in the early '80s.

"Do what you love," he said. "One-hundred percent of people who do what they love, love what they do."

This philosophy paid off for Friedman, whose interest in journalism was first sparked by his 10th grade teacher.

"She taught me that a journalist should always wear a tie, never use foul words and start your day reading The New York Times," he said. "By the time 10th grade was over I knew what I loved."

He advised the graduating class to follow their gut in a world that is flattening, meaning that because of globalization, industrialized countries are finding business competitors in countries they hadn't before. Friedman wrote about this topic in his 2005 bestselling book The World is Flat.

"The flatter the world the more important it is that you do what you love," he said.

He described the Internet's virtually universal impact in the flattening world. Anyone can be a filmmaker now by using their cell phone cameras or by posting short films on YouTube. Anyone is vulnerable to what is written about them on sites like Myspace and Facebook, he said.

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