Alda, famous for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on TV's "Mash," had a personal reason for attending Saturday's ceremony: His granddaughter was among the 121 graduating seniors at the Easthampton prep school.
Alan Alda gave the commencement address at The Williston Northampton School's 170th graduation ceremony Saturday in Easthampton.EASTHAMPTON -- He's perhaps best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H, one of television's longest-running TV shows. But Alan Alda was playing the role of "grandfather" Saturday, when he gave the commencement address at The Williston Northampton School.
Alda, the five-time Emmy Award-winning actor, best-selling author and all-around nice guy, turned in a heartfelt performance during his address to students, their families and faculty members of the prestigious Easthampton prep school, eliciting strong laughter and applause from the appreciative audience.
However, Alda wasn't acting like an adoring grandfather, he was an adoring grandfather: His granddaughter, Emilia Alda Caligiuri, was among the 121 seniors who graduated from Williston Northampton on a picture-perfect Saturday morning.
Williston Northampton School held its 170th commencement ceremony Saturday.The commencement, which began at 9:30 a.m., was held on the school's spacious quadrangle in front of Reed Campus Center and marked the school's 170th graduation ceremony.
Alda urged the Class of 2011 to be dreamers, but he emphasized the importance of dreaming with a purpose and having viable plans to make dreams a reality.
"If all you have is a dream, you're in trouble," he said, adding that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader, had a plan of action to go along with his dream of a more tolerant world.
"You gotta have a dream, but you gotta keep working on it. If you don't work on it, its' just a badge you wear and it doesn't mean anything," he said.
And it's important to not just dream for yourself, he said, but to dream for others as well.
"Do it for other people, too, and with other people," Alda said. "Solitary dreams are not only less fun, but less successful."
At one point during his address, Alda was interrupted by an airplane buzzing high above in the cloudless sky. Alda didn't miss the chance for an allusion to his TV days as Hawkeye, the wise-cracking Army doctor in a mobile army surgical hospital -- or MASH -- unit stationed in Korea during that Cold War conflict.
"Wait, there's wounded coming in," he said, looking skyward as the audience erupted with applause and laughter.
Toward the end of his address, Alda took stock of his own life and the still-emerging lives of the young students in the crowd.
"You'll accomplish things I'll never see. ...I don't know where you'll go, but I hope you go there with courage and a lightness of being," he said.
Alda also reminded graduates to bring their long johns along for the journey, and to always remember "that all of you are loved."
Besides Alda's address, the commencement program included the announcement of senior prizes, the induction of new Cum Laude Society members, the presentation of diplomas, and words from Caligiuri, the senior class speaker, who hails from Sag Harbor, N.Y.
Several graduates were honored with Senior Prizes, which are presented each year at commencement as voted by the faculty.
The Valedictory Prize, given to the senior whom faculty members deem to be "pre-eminent in academic achievement," was awarded to Sarah Claire Fay of South Hadley, who will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall.
Fay also received the The Sarah B. Whitaker Prize -- also known as White Blazer Award -- which honors the co-founder of the Northampton School for Girls, who was co-principal from 1924 to 1962. The White Blazer is "given to the young woman who has distinguished herself with the greatest contributions to the academic, athletic and community life of the school while exhibiting exemplary leadership and integrity."
The Archibald V. Galbraith Prize, given in honor of the school's eighth headmaster, is awarded to a male student deemed to be an exemplary representative of the school when it comes to "academics, athletics and citizenship." This year's award was presented to Jose Antonio Alvarez of Chicago, Ill., who will attend Northwestern University.
The Henry E. Donais Jr. Award, given to the senior "who has manifested a love of the natural world and who has taken an active interest in the protection and preservation of the world's environmental resources," was awarded to Dongyang Cheng of Houston, who will attend Harvard University.
Numerous other prizes were awarded to Williston Northampton students, many of whom are bound for some of the nation's top colleges and universities.
Alda was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994. He hosted the award-winning series, "Scientific American Frontiers," and was presented with the National Science Board's Public Service Award for his efforts to broaden the public's understanding of science.
Some of Alda's many film roles include "The Aviator," which earned him an Academy Award nomination, "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Everyone Says I Love You," "Manhattan Murder Mystery" and "Paper Lion." He also wrote and directed "The Four Seasons," "Sweet Liberty," "A New Life" and "Betsy's Wedding."
His first memoir, "Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, and Other Things I've Learned," was a New York Times bestseller, as was his second offering,"Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself."