Source: The Telegraph
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050612/asp/nation/story_4857489.asp
On June 11, 2005 The Telegraph reported, "five years after a Hindu priest gave the opening prayer on Capitol Hill for the first time in the history of the US Congress, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has followed suit. The 139th commencement ceremony of MIT, which has produced 59 Nobel Prize winners in all, began this year with an invocation in Sanskrit and English. 'May we come together for a common purpose. Common be our prayer, common our goal,' prayed Swami Tyagananda. 'May the one and the same Divine Reality lead us. May we be granted clear understanding and the courage to pursue the goals of social justice, non-violence, harmony and peace.' The swami, who belongs to the Ramakrishna order and heads its Boston branch, is MIT’s Hindu chaplain. He has been in Boston since 1998, assigned to the Vedanta Society there. The presence of Swami Tyagananda apart, India was all over the ceremony, reflecting the dominant presence of Indian and Indian American students at prestigious US educational institutions. Among the speakers was Barun Singh, president of the Graduate Student Council, who saluted the Class of 2005."