It's always wonderful to hear the names of legendary figures from COA's early days - teachers like Dan Kane, Dick Davis, and Bill Drury who always seem larger than life and truly immortal in this community as they are re-embodied in the recipients of these awards. In my own capacity as living fossil the question most often asked is 'how do today's students compare with the students of the Cretaceous period?" Surely such iconic teachers must have mentored equally giant students; and they did, and they were, and I usually reply that you can't make generalizations about groups; but after seeing today's senior project presentations and working with many of the award recipients, I can categorically state that there has never been a COA generation that could surpass the ones in this room today. Just to count from the award recipients I've worked with this year where I have first hand knowledge, Tawanda Chabikwa has written a fictional study of Zimbabwe which is so observant and penetrating we will be using it in Turn of the Century when it comes out. Katrina Zarate created a multimedia installation that transported the reader into the dark mysteries of dysfunctional vision and brought us through eye damage to new levels of sight and insight. Charles Bishop, who got last year's Davis award, crafted a display of stunning, painstakingly glazed ceramics which you will never see because during the opening, Charles asked the audience  to smash every one of them to pieces on the cement floor of the shrine.

I mention Charles' project because it was a lesson for us all in non-attachment. Those of us who wanted to purchase and own and keep one of his gorgeous creations had our hearts broken along with the works themselves. And I think it is a lesson for those who have won honors today. I can't think of any more deserving group in the history of the college. But individual recognition, though it makes the heart race and can elevate your self-image and change your life, can also be a distraction and an addiction. For a long time COA resisted individual honors, because of our non-competitive belief in human equality, and the humility and team effort involved in transforming the world. But COA also resisted changing the clocks to Eastern Standard time those early years, and it is no longer possible to practice human ecology as if we were living on an island. Individual recognition is one of the major currencies of the world, and if you go on as artist or scholar or activist, you will find that your true creations can't help harvesting awards. And I hope for many more from this group. But always remember that though the world hands out the prizes and recognition, we must not allow it to set the standards, or creativity will become fashion and imitation. You have to get the medal or book, pocket the money, thank the donors for their generosity, turn your back and walk away into your own country where the work gets done.

It is a small step from the bravery of Charles Bishop's enlightening destruction of his term's labor to the words of the lord Krishna in the Bhagavat-Gita, addressing Prince Arjuna on the field of battle, when Arjuna has a moment of self-doubt before a day of slaughtering his relatives. First Krishna reminds him he is of the warrior caste and it's his duty to fight. Any creative person knows what that means. For our caste, this is our work, the blank paper, the blank canvas, they're our battlefield. We have to act because it is our caste and calling, it is genetic, we now say, it's in us. We must not let shyness about competition lead us into inaction. But Krishna then says you must pay no attention to the fruits of your action. This is the key. Winning or losing, honors or standing, recognition or obscurity, it doesn't matter; the creative struggle is not with others, it is with ourself, it goes on till we drop no matter if we get the Nobel prize or if nobody but our mother reads a word we write. 

Fare forward, Krishna would say to our honored juniors and seniors, fight endlessly, get on American Idol if that's what your caste is, but regard this assembly and all the acclaim of the outside world as the illusion of an island in the fog. 

And now, everyone is invited down to Turrets where you are to eat and drink as much as you want, paying no attention whatsoever to your weight.