An Iowa Senator delivers MUM’s commencement address
by Laura Simon for KTVO News | Saturday, May 25, 2013
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin speaking at the M.U.M commencement ceremony. / Laura Simon
FAIRFIELD, IOWA — The Morales-Rivera family moved from Chile to Iowa in 1984 in pursuit of the American Dream.
“We wanted a consciousness-based education for our daughters,” Tina Morales-Rivera said.
That place for a Consciousness-Based℠ education was at Maharishi University. Tina is graduating with a master’s degree and her 26-year-old twin daughters are receiving their bachelor’s degrees.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Tina said. “It’s a great privilege. It’s really an honor to be with my daughters today.”
The Class of 2013 is made up of 334 students who represent 54 countries. This includes 251 graduates and 83 undergraduate degrees.
“They graduated their largest class in history which really underscores the trend the university’s going through right now,” Mayor of Fairfield Ed Malloy said. “They really are on a growth path.”
“I’ve been to a lot of commencements and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a platform where I’ve had as many different nations represented as there are here,” Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said.
Senator Harkin delivered a humorous, yet moving commencement speech. He says the most important thing to remember in life is to be apart of something bigger than yourself.
“Get involved in something,” Harkin said. “Think about the pebble you throw in the pond that makes waves that get bigger and bigger and bigger. Even if you’re a pebble, even if you’re not a senator or a governor, that doesn’t make any difference, you can start something in a community.”
The Morales-Rivera twins plan on taking Senator Harkin’s words to heart, furthering their media and communications education in the fall to obtain their master’s degrees.
“We’ve always loved movies and simply the world of media,” Coral Morales-Rivera said. “We want to change it and bring it to be more self-conscious of the beauty of life.”
For more information see the MUM press release announcing the MUM 2013 Awards Ceremony the night before and today’s graduation. An archive of it can be seen on Livestream. An archive of the graduation will be posted at a later time on the MaharishiUniversity YouTube Channel.
More coverage: Senator Tom Harkin gives Commencement Address during Graduation day at M.U.M.
See Iowa Senator Tom Harkin inspires M.U.M.’s Class of 2013 with his Top Ten Rules to Live By.
Tags: 2013 commencement, Commencement, Commencement Address, commencement ceremony, commencement speaker, commencement speech, communications education, Consciousness-Based education, Coral Morales-Rivera, Fairfield Iowa, Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy, iowa senator, iowa senator tom harkin, KTVO, KTVO News, laura simon, M.U.M., Maharishi University, Maharishi University of Management, Melodia Morales-Rivera, rivera family, senator harkin, senator tom harkin, tina morales, Tina Morales-Rivera, tom harkin, university graduation
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May 31, 2013 at 5:51 am |
[…] Ken Chawkin's articles & poems: Transcendental Meditation, consciousness & enlightenment « Iowa Senator Tom Harkin delivers M.U.M.’s commencement address—report by KTVO’s Laura&… […]
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June 2, 2013 at 11:22 am |
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