CEDAR CITY — Southern Utah University graduates were urged on Saturday to believe in themselves and be generous with those less fortunate.

"There are enormous inequities in our world," Dr. Mario R. Capecchi, a 2007 Nobel laureate, told SUU's graduating Class of 2008 during a ceremony held at the Centrum Arena Saturday morning. "This is true whether you are discussing conditions that are global or around the country. You are already in a privileged position as a graduate, so be generous. We cannot have a secure world unless we somehow learn to reduce this enormous disparity of wealth and opportunity that exists."

SUU's graduating class of 1,535 students is the institution's largest with 346 master's degrees, 951 bachelor's degrees, 235 associate degrees and three certificates awarded.

"You are graduating at a time of transition into a new universe whose boundaries are yet to be determined," Capecchi said. "Embrace the change, find problems you would like to work on and help solve."

One worldwide problem he urged graduates to consider is climate change.

"One reason we haven't faced this climate crisis is because it is not in our faces. Carbon dioxide is invisible, odorless, tasteless," he said. "Today we will dump 70 millions tons of CO2 into our atmosphere and more every day until we come to our senses. Global warming is a real problem."

SUU graduates can help solve some of the world's greatest problems, Capecchi said.

"The reason I am discussing problems such as global warming is to encourage you to be well-informed, global citizens," he added. "We should take a leadership role rather than lagging behind others. It will take moral courage. I hope future generations can look back on us and be proud."

SUU celebrated Capecchi's achievements with a video presentation of his accomplishments before awarding him an honorary doctorate in science. A similar video presentation was created to honor the work of Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine M. Durham, who received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters.

Graduates came to SUU from 10 countries, 35 states and 27 Utah counties. Female graduates (935) outnumbered males (599), while 50 married couples earned their diplomas together this year.

The most popular majors on campus were accounting, biology, communication, criminal justice, elementary education, family and consumer sciences, marketing, nursing, physical education and psychology, according to SUU.

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