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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


A conversation last week about the remarkable talents of community college faculty made me think about the poet Kay Ryan.

For over 30 years, Ryan taught remedial English at a California community college. In 2009, she was named U.S. Poet Laureate. She was a surprise pick for laureate and elected to use her two terms to advocate for the nation’s underfunded and under-respected community colleges and the students we serve. Inspired by the talented faculty, staff, and students she had worked with for three decades, Ryan partnered with the Community College Humanities Association to establish a student poetry contest. The winning entries were collected in a lovely and powerful online book,
Poetry for the Mind’s Joy

After serving as Poet Laureate, Ryan went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur “genius” grant in 2011 and the National Humanities Medal in 2012. She has always indicated a distinct separation between her writing and teaching lives, but something about her poem “Party Ship” makes me think about the bittersweet transition of commencement.

Party Ship

You are a
land I can’t
stand leaving
and can’t not.
My party ship
is pulling out.
We all have
hats. I try to
toot some notes
you’ll understand
but this was not
our instrument
or plan.

Shortly after being named Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan told an interviewer: “I simply want to celebrate the fact that right near your home, year in and year out, a community college is quietly — and with very little financial encouragement — saving lives and minds. I can’t think of a more efficient, hopeful or egalitarian machine, except perhaps the bicycle.”  As we near commencement, it is a perfect time to thank you for using your many talents — year in and year out — to save lives and minds. Share your thoughts about our transition to commencement on the
blog.

Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
05/21/2014