Compassion in difficult times focus of 2011 commencement address

Barbara Kingsolver presented the 2011 Commencement Address for Emory & Henry College May 7. The college is located in Emory, Va., very near where a deadly tornado struck in Glade Spring, Va., on April 28, and near where Kingsolver lives. She said to the new graduates, who had responded to the tragedy in large numbers the night of the tornado: “Now you have seen what a world of agitated molecules can do and how a community of compassionate individuals can respond.”