05/15/2020
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2020 SOCIOLOGY MAJORS AND MINORS! Including to BLYSS CLEVELAND, this year's recipient of the Sociology Prize, for demonstrating excellence in empirical sociological research. Please enjoy this poem, made by us faculty, and come back one day to see us again!
*****
EVEN GOODBYES ARE A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
We are delighted today to see your bright faces!
Strewn, as we are, in such far flung places!
Poor Eaton Hall is all doom and gloom,
Abandoned for classes on WeBex and Zoom.
We sadly left seminars for Canvas and clicks
“Lectures on screen?” “I wanted Netflix!”
But you carried on, and we want to applaud
All you’ve accomplished at home and abroad.
You devoured Intro, and conquered Soc Theory
Attended our classes on days bright and dreary.
War and Peace, S*x and Gender, Criminology, Law,
Health Policy, Urban -- you’ve taken them all!
You wrote papers on race and gentrification,
Presented on politics and misinformation.
Immigration, epidemics, nation versus state,
Globalization, violence, and digital hate.
Some days felt long, through our basement you’d roam,
Though Vicky, Kathy, and John helped you feel right at home.
Exams and reading kept you up late at night,
But there was work to be done, and you did it right.
That’s why you understand Weber, explain Bourdieu with poise,
And would never let anyone gloss over DuBois.
You do not mistake correlation for cause.
Though spelling nonspuriousness still gives you pause.
For all this and more, we raise a glass
To our one-of-a-kind 2020 class.
Today is a day to celebrate with libations
But we’ll miss you in class and office hour conversations.
So, come back to the Hill—it’s our last instruction
Even goodbyes are a social construction!
