'The world needs w88 casino more than ever'

(Note: Below is text of School of w88 casino Work Dean Shadi Martin's December Commencement remarks.)

I am honoured to have been invited to speak to w88 casino this evening on this very special occasion of your graduation.

w88 casino zoom graduation is both heartbreaking and wonderful.

Heartbreaking as it reminds us and makes us painfully aware of the cost of w88 casino global Pandemic – from loss of thousands of lives – to loss of human connections.

My 14-year-old daughter reminds me daily that she feels w88 casino pandemic is stealing her teenage years. We have all been robbed of time to be together to celebrate special occasions or mourn losses of loved ones.

I am well aware of the magnitude of the loss from w88 casino pandemic and I believe it has spared non of us.

But this zoom graduation is also wonderful; wonderful because it shows your strength, creativity and it is uniquely w88 casino - uniquely the graduates of 2020.

w88 casino zoom graduation not only marks w88 casino historic moment of your graduation, but it marks a historic moment in human history. A moment that will be remembered for generations to come. w88 casino video of your graduation may be studied by scholars and historians; it may even end up in a museum.

It not only marks a moment of great significance to w88 casino and your loved ones but also a moment of global significance in human history.

w88 casino pandemic has also confronted the world with the many social justice issues – issues that social workers have long been tackling.

We have all wondered why certain populations are being impacted by w88 casino pandemic more than others. After all, we believed w88 casino virus did not discriminate – well it looks like it does or perhaps it is not the virus that discriminates but the inherent intuitional racism that persists in our society that perpetuates inequalities in health outcomes. As we see the disproportionate toll w88 casino pandemic is taking on minority populations.

w88 casino pandemic has helped the world see that many of those who we call front line workers, essential workers, and now rightly Heroes are minorities and immigrants – the same minorities and immigrants that just before the Pandemic there were calls for their “return to where they came from.”

I believe w88 casino pandemic still has much more to teach all of us, but these lessons will not come without pain. But sadly, perhaps pain is what is needed in order to see the kind of systemic changes needed at the roots of our society.

I believe in w88 casino generation, after all, w88 casino generation showed the rest of us that things are not binary –

w88 casino rejected being defined by others or boxed into categories that do not fit w88 casino. w88 casino showed the world the importance of self-expression of identity rather than being boxed into categories that are neither biological nor real but simply there to advance political agendas ---like race and gender.

w88 casino generation has inspired us to see things as not black and white or binary – for example:

The health w88 casino economy and the health w88 casino individual is not binary

Being a patriotic American and wearing a mask is not binary

Having faith and believing in science is not binary

Like w88 casino, this graduation is authentic - as it is defined by w88 casino. I am honoured to be a part of it and be invited in to celebrate who w88 casino are and who w88 casino have become – and to be here to be proud with w88 casino!

So now, I want to ask w88 casino to look around the screen at your family and friends - the people who have come to share this proud moment with w88 casino. This is a time to stop and recognize the many sacrifices that w88 casino and your loved ones have made to make this day possible.

This moment is as much about them as it is about w88 casino. Feel the presence of those who couldn't be here - but w88 casino know there is no other place they would have rather been.

Remember this day - this is your moment - this is your day of harvest - it has not been simple or easy but w88 casino have persisted - be proud of what w88 casino have accomplished -

My hope is that we will emerge from w88 casino pandemic with more compassion and appreciation for what is truly essential in life.

As social workers w88 casino are front line workers and w88 casino are essential. This pandemic has helped the world to see w88 casino for the heroes that w88 casino truly are. The world needs w88 casino more than ever and I believe in w88 casino and your generation to have the moral courage to lead us into a better tomorrow.

Congratulations!