WATERVILLE, Maine _ 480 graduates of one of the state's top schools received their degrees at Colby College Sunday morning, with two-time Academy Award winner Robert Redford bringing a little star power to the commencement address.
"You're stepping into a world that's pretty divisive. You've got climate change, you've got debt, you've got wars." said Redford in his address to the class. But that story, he says, needs to change. "And I really believe you're the ones to do it. You're the ones to re-tell the story. If we're going to have any kind of future at all, it has to be retold."
The 78 year old actor, director, and activist was also presented an honorary degree for his services to film and art, as well as conservation.
Other honorary degrees were bestowed upon Deborah Bial, president and founder of the Posse Foundation; Andrew Davis ’85, an arts, education, and environmental philanthropist; Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and CEO of TIAA-CREF; and Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist, filmmaker, and founder of Define American. Senior Class Speaker was Margaret Bower of Cumberland, Maine, chosen by her classmates to address the assembly.
The Class of 2015 comes from 34 states and 32 countries.
