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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/32498/full/32498/usf-awards-jewish-dynamo-honorary-degree/ <br /><br /> <b>USF awards Jewish dynamo honorary degree</b> <br /> Friday, May 25, 2007 | by <p>joe eskenazi </p> <br /><br /><p>Rita Semel always wanted to go to graduate school. In fact, she had her eye on nothing less than the prestigious Columbia School of Journalism. <br /><br /> And then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and everything changed. <br /><br /> Semel — a former editor of the Jewish Bulletin, the precursor to the paper you’re reading; the director emeritus of the S.F-based Jewish Community Relations Council; and a tireless activist in Bay Area interfaith causes — finally got the advanced degree she always wanted. On Saturday, May 19 she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the University of San Francisco. It was a poignant moment for the 85-year-old and she’s still touched by the gesture. <br /><br /> “I guess I always hankered to do graduate work, which I never did. And, over the years, people who got honorary degrees were, in my mind, very important people. And I don’t consider myself one. I really don’t,” said the New York City native and Barnard College graduate. <br /><br /> “It was quite remarkable. I put on a cap and gown and I hadn’t had one on since 1941. I had to return those, but I got to keep the hood.” <br /><br /> Semel was given a chance to address the graduating seniors. Unlike so many speakers at convocations, she kept her speech short, but imparted a powerful message. <br /><br /> “It is a cliché, but I’ll say it anyway: I’ve gotten much more from anything I have done than anything I have been given,” she told the students. <br /><br /> “There’s a saying attributed to Rabbi Hillel that is as true now as when he said it. I know my friends are tired of hearing me quote it. But ‘it is not for you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.’” <br /><br /> Semel closed her speech with the strongest message of all: “Whatever you do, please, make a difference.” </p> <p> </p>

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