'Bleeding Orange' means more than ever on graduation day

For more than 6,000 college students, years of classroom lectures, life lessons and newfound friendships culminated Sunday at Syracuse University's 159th Commecement.

The annual ceremony brought thousand of family members and friends to the Carrier Dome to cheer on students from SU, the school's College of Law and SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times provided the commencement address that incorporated anecdotes, words of encouragement for students and a charge that each one find an atruistic pursuit they can be passionate about.

"Go out and change the world just a little bit," Kristof said as he concluded his speech. "And as you bleed orange go one step further and become bleeding hearts, orange bleeding hearts, and go and be like Syracuse University itself, a public good."

University Scholar Jaime Bernstein, a dual chemistry and Spanish major who was selected as the student speaker, said her peers must remember the connections made during college as they start their professional lives.

"Wherever our futures may take us, even if our paths never cross again, we will always be a part of something incredible," Bernstein said.

Degrees were conferred for more than 5,500 students from SU, 196 from SU's College of Law and 676 from SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.