More than 3,100 students received their degrees at Walden University’s winter 2009 commencement, including graduates from 15 countries, all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Approximately 300 graduates attended the ceremony.

Dr. Barbara Solomon, a social work legend, author and longtime Walden Board of Directors member, received an honorary degree at the University’s 41st commencement ceremony on Jan. 24 in Dallas. Solomon, a research professor at Hamovitch Research Center, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, has advocated on behalf of veterans, children and the mentally ill.

Dr. Solomon Rallies Graduates to Effect Social Change
At the commencement ceremony, the author of Black Empowerment: Social Work in Oppressed Communities spoke about the need for groups from different walks of life to reach out to one another in efforts to resolve conflict.

“In order for these conflicts to exist, it is almost always necessary for each group to consider the other evil or inferior. Is there an antidote? I believe there is an antidote.”

Solomon urged the Walden graduates to work toward that antidote through dialogue and action within their communities.

“How fortunate that the graduates of Walden University have been provided the opportunity to transform themselves into scholar-practitioners as they transform the nation,” she said.

See Solomon’s commencement address.

Watch the archived webcast of the Jan. 2009 winter commencement ceremony.

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