On Saturday afternoon, June 21 — which also happened to be International Yoga Day — and amid a sea of gold and white caps and gowns, 802 students received MIU degrees: 163 bachelor’s degrees, 592 master’s degrees, 24 Master of Fine Arts degrees, and 17 doctoral degrees.

It was a truly international event. The graduating students represented 58 countries. Apart from the US, the countries with the most students graduating were Ethiopia (79), Nepal (64), South Africa (45), Bangladesh (33), Eritrea (29), Vietnam (27), Uganda (24), Pakistan (17), Mongolia (17), and China (11).

What a change from MIU’s very first commencement, held exactly fifty years earlier, in 1975. MIU’s first graduating class consisted of 51 students who received one of the two available degrees — a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies and a master’s in education.

The commencement address by 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, punctuated throughout by applause, brought the audience to its feet in a rousing standing ovation at the end.

Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize for his life’s work rescuing children from slavery, trafficking, and forced labor and for inspiring similar movements worldwide. His organizations and movements have a global presence in 140 countries, including the Global March Against Child Labor, a coalition of over 2,000 social-purpose organizations and trade unions operating across these countries.

In his address, he explained how his life’s work emerges from a powerful sense of compassion.

“Compassion is not a soft emotion,” Satyarthi said. “It is not kindness, sympathy, empathy, or reverence. No. These are all great human traits. But compassion is different. Compassion is the sense of being responsible for each other. Compassion is the force born from the deepest feeling for the suffering of others as your own suffering, that drives one to take action to elevate that suffering.”

“We have to feel for others that they are your own sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, children. That feeling is a must in the world which is lost.”

— Kailash Satyarthi

“We have to feel for others that they are your own sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, children,” he said. “That feeling is a must in the world which is lost.”

Consciousness and compassion go hand in hand with each other, he said. “Compassion is something which we have to take forward along with elevating the level of consciousness. Both of them go hand in hand for your inner growth and outer growth.”

“We talk of interdependency and interconnectivity,” he said. “The world has never been so interconnected as it is today, but we don’t feel responsibility for others. We cannot live without each other. The nations cannot survive. That [sense of responsibility] is compassion.”

“Compassion is biological, it’s neurological, it is innate,” he said. “We are all born with it. This is the time to globalize compassion.”

Then he called on the audience. “Who will do it?” he asked. “Who will do it? Who will raise the consciousness of the world?” As one, the audience proclaimed, “We will!”

At the close of his address MIU President Dr. Tony Nader presented Mr. Satyarthi the degree of Doctor of World Peace honoris causa.

Dr. Nader also presented the degree of Doctor of Education honoris causa to MIU Trustee Josephine Fauerso, who has served as a member of the board since 1972, when the board was first formed.

“It’s been an inner and outer transformation – valedictorian and salutatorian addresses and class gift

Marta-Kristi Pold, who was graduating with a bachelor of arts in Consciousness and Human Potential, gave the valedictorian address.

“How lucky we are to be here to learn in peace and to receive an education that nurtures both intellect and spirit,” she said.

“At MIU we’ve cultivated something AI can’t replicate: consciousness,” she said — “that quiet, steady presence within. Because the most powerful intelligence isn’t artificial. It’s inner. AI can encode your apps, write your papers, even design your slides. But it can’t feel joy, imagine dreams, follow intuition, realize wisdom, or express love. We can.”

“We’re not just walking out of here with degrees. We are walking out with the ability to stay calm in chaos, grounded in change, and creative in complexity.”

— Marta-Kristi Pold

“So no, we’re not just walking out of here with degrees,” she said. “We are walking out with the ability to stay calm in chaos, grounded in change, and creative in complexity. That comes not from machines but from stillness.”

Courtney Beth Fenek, graduating with a bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences with a specialization in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, gave the salutatorian address.

“When I look back on what allowed me to take the leap when returning to school, the answer is clear — MIU,” she said. “The faculty and staff saw the potential in me and all of us, often before we could see it ourselves. Their guidance and belief in our growth has laid the foundation for futures filled with purpose and possibility.”

“It is through their hard work and support that our education has gone far beyond just knowledge,” she said. “It has been inner and outer transformation.”

On behalf of the graduating class, Ms. Fenek presented the class gift, “a scholarship fund which will support future students who embody MIU’s mission values and potential.” “This will lay the foundation for incoming students who need this in order to flourish at MIU,” she said, “so they can take their own leap into a new journey of enlightenment.”

Charge to the graduating students

At the close of the event, after hundreds of diplomas had been presented, hundreds of pictures taken, hundreds of cheers and rounds of applause, MIU President Tony Nader delivered the traditional charge to the graduating students.

“It is an honor and a profound joy to stand before you today at this momentous commencement ceremony, to feel your vibrant energy, to witness your joy, and to perceive the deep sense of purpose you carry with you,” he said. “It is truly inspiring. You are ready to step out into a world eagerly awaiting your contributions.”

Reflecting on Kailash Satyarthi’s address, President Nader said, “At MIU, compassion is not mere sentiment, it is a dynamic force for change in the world. A higher level of consciousness naturally embraces all life as part of oneself. This makes the injunction to love thy neighbor not a contrived effort but a natural, spontaneous outflow of your being.”

“I charge you to always go for the highest good, to think big, and to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you can contribute to happiness, flourishing, and well-being, not only for yourselves, but for all society.”

— MIU President Dr. Tony Nader

“This expanded identity, where others become part of yourself, is a glorious and inevitable outcome of cultivating higher consciousness,” he said. “I charge you to always go for the highest good, to think big, and to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you can contribute to happiness, flourishing, and well-being, not only for yourselves, but for all society. You are equipped to foster peace and harmony for the entire world family, this world.”

“A peaceful, prosperous, thriving, sustainable, regenerating, enlightened world is possible,” he said. “It is doable. It is practical. You deserve to live in that world. And who better than you to bring it about?”