Nearly 1,300 undergraduates and a crowd of more than 20,000 friends and family gathered at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles May 8 for an undergraduate ceremony featuring Academy and Emmy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn as the keynote speaker.

Jesuit Father Robert B. Lawton, LMU president, introduced Hawn to the animated crowd by first noting her many humanitarian endeavors. "Goldie Hawn has dedicated herself to helping people, especially the nation's children, to develop their potential and become more fully alive. In doing so, she herself has been a person of warmth, generosity, humor, joy and intelligence."

Hawn accepted a degree of Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa from Father Lawton before stepping to the podium to a rousing welcome from the multitude. The actress opened her address by talking about life's changes.

"Life is made up of transitions and changes, and it's not always easy," said Hawn. "Don't worry about the endgame right now. There are many beginnings and endings in life, and that's a given. Let your passions rise without the pressures of those around you, and take time to find out who you are really going to be."

During her address Hawn also gave graduates some heartfelt career advice: "Society tells us that the perfect cocktail for life is a good job, becoming successful, making lots of money. But studies have proven this wrong. Perhaps we don't take enough time to assess what will really make us happy. Take time to find and nurture the joy in your hearts. Be awake to your mind and your heart. Learn to find peace, because you are the peacemakers of the future. Be vigilant to the laws of cause and effect. You can change the course of events with right thinking and right action."

Closing her speech to a swell of cheers, Hawn imparted a few final words of wisdom: "Play, laugh, love fully. Open your hearts and feel the joy of cultivating more compassion in your lives --- that is the true cocktail for happiness. And when you lay your head on your pillow at night and run through the events of your day, first ask yourself the big question --- 'How many times did I laugh today?' My wish for you is that you live fully and with joy, and that you never lose yourselves along the way."

Joseph G. Jabbra, LMU's academic vice president, who served as Master of Ceremonies for the 2004 undergraduate commencement, delivered the graduate commencement address May 9 on campus at Gersten Pavilion. Jabbra, a professor of political science at LMU since 1990, recently was named president of the Lebanese American University in Beirut, effective June 1 of this year.