Politics and Public Service Tinge Messages

At Trinity, more than 4,000 guests saw more than 400 degrees awarded.

"I want to leave you with one last piece of advice that I've benefited from my whole life: Give back!" Lang told the graduates.

GWU's ceremony, where 6,000 degrees were awarded, filled three blocks of the Mall. Babies were placed on blankets under trees, children unwrapped sandwiches and grandparents snapped photos of the stage, which had a dramatic backdrop of the U.S. Capitol.

At times it seemed like the weather had a faulty off-on switch, with powerful sunshine one minute, showers the next. University volunteers went from tossing water bottles to packaged slickers into the crowd.

"Folks, that is like life," Cropp, who received an honorary degree, told the graduates. "There will be constant changes. Just keep going. When you are confronted with pressure, learn from it."

The graduation was largely overseen by outgoing President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, who in a printed farewell handed out to attendees compared his feelings about the school to a love affair.

"We haven't been just hooking up -- we've been going steady, you and I and all the students who came before you," he wrote.

Staff writer Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.