More Than 6,000 Students Graduate From UNC - Chapel Hill During Spring 2016 Commencement

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As more than 6,000 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students prepare to enter the next phase of the lives, they were urged to focus on others as much as their budding careers.

Caring, Anne-Marie Slaughter said, is as important as career.

"Strive and struggle and work really hard, but invest in others as much as you invest in yourselves," she said, speaking under Carolina blue skies. "And always, always make room for the indispensable, precious, priceless work of care."

Slaughter, a foreign policy expert and public commentator, delivered the Commencement address as Carolina celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2016 on May 8 at Kenan Stadium.

The ceremony was presided over by Chancellor Carol L. Folt and drew approximately 35,000 of the graduates' family and friends, as well as Board of Governors member Ann Maxwell, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Haywood D. Cochrane and General Alumni Association Board of Directors Chair Dan Myers.

The degrees of more than 6,000 Carolina students were conferred during the two-hour ceremony. They included 3,721 with bachelor's, 1,383 with masters, 251 with doctoral and 651 with professional degrees.

"You'll need all your skills, determination and integrity to tackle complex issues of your day like war, environmental degradation and climate change, inequality, global food and water shortages, as well as to adapt quickly to emerging opportunities, and to create vibrant communities for your children and their children."

Slaughter was one of five honorary degree recipients, which were presented by Secretary of the Faculty Joseph S. Ferrell for his 20^th and final year.

In her commencement address, Slaughter discussed the importance for graduates to invest in others as much as themselves. Caring for children and family members, Slaughter said, is critical to the future prosperity of society. By doing so, this generation can create the change required for gender equality.

"It is time for men, alongside women as equals, to be bold and to break the mold of traditional expectations for how men should lead their lives just as we have broken those expectations of how women should lead their lives," she said. "Some things will always be the same. The sky will always be Carolina blue. But change is eternal and it falls now to you to change the world for the better of the course of your lives."

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SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill