MUNCIE, Ind.- They may have come from different backgrounds to earn different degrees in different majors, but 2,219 men and women now have at least one thing in common; they are all graduates of Ball State University.

Ball State held its 137th commencement ceremony May 3 on the Arts Terrace of the Old Quad. Several thousand onlookers, mostly family and friends of the graduates, filled the lawn around the graduates' seating area.

Ball State President Blaine A. Brownell told the graduates it is cliché to say that they will face challenges in the world, but he called the challenges the graduates, and all of us, must tackle in the next 30 years unprecedented in human history.

"The widening gap between rich and poor both in our country and elsewhere in the world, the accelerating pace of environmental degradation, the steady depletion of traditional energy reserves and a national economy beleaguered by exploding costs and the huge demands of an aging population just over the horizon. Any one of these issues would make our future most challenging indeed. Taken together, they are truly breathtaking," Brownell said.

The president said coping with these challenges will take the use of the latest knowledge and technology. Even more though, society needs to recommit itself to the values and principles of America's forefathers, Brownell said.

"These values include the protection of individual rights and civil liberties, the tolerance of diverse ideas and other faiths, the separation of church and state which is essential to preserving freedom of religion, a commitment to a society of laws that curtails arbitrary power (even in the name of security), and -- as Thomas Jefferson wrote in our Declaration of Independence -- "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind."

Brownell ended his remarks by saying the graduates' education will continue in a thousand ways.

"I hope you will realize even more in time the excellence of the educational foundation you have received here. Use it. Do not be content solely with the comforts and routine of work and family life. Get involved, ask questions, have high expectations, and do not shy away from the big problems -- and the big solutions. We are all counting on you."

During the ceremony, Ball State bestowed honorary degrees upon Brian Gallagher and Theodore Caplow.

Gallahger, who earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Ball State in 1981, is president and chief executive officer of United Way of America. He received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Caplow is one of America's foremost sociologists and a major contributor to the research centering on Muncie as "Middletown." He built on the work of Robert and Helen Lynd in the 1920s and 1930s, directing the Middletown III and IV studies. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.