You did it, grads! No one can take this away from you.
The all-nighters; the last minute additions to that final presentation; the highlighted pages of books, outlines and notes…An hour lost here or there scrolling Facebook and…six wins in four years over Duke!
What you’ve done, in the years leading to today’s ceremony, took hard work and self-discipline and sacrifices.
So today is an important day for you to celebrate that hard work and self-discipline that got you here. Celebrate with your friends and families who, I’m certain, are as proud of your achievement (and deserve as much credit) as you.
You’ll look back on pictures of today and see a younger person looking back.
…But always remember, when you look back, that today is only the beginning, one picture in a scrapbook that is ready to be filled with other memories and grander accomplishments.
Members of the faculty, staff, alumni, members of the board, family and friends, distinguished guests … and The Class of 2007… Thank you for the honor to share this special day with you. On behalf of Governor O’Malley, his family and mine, let me say, “Congratulations!”
By now, you’ve heard from your professors, from your parents, you’ve probably even said it yourself:
Today marks an end of one chapter and the start of another. This is, truly, a new beginning. This is Page One—a new opportunity to choose where you fit into this world and where this world fits into your life.
It’s an opportunity for you to define, or for some of you to redefine your goals in life; to take the steps to simplify your life as you prepare for the seeming complexity of the months and years ahead; to focus on yourself and that which motivates you; an opportunity to reflect upon your purpose.
I remember when I was sitting where you are sitting today.
1984. It was the Orwellian year. Ronald Reagan was serving his first term as President of the United States. Our country was at the height of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union. You couldn’t download music onto an MP3, but rather listened to it from a vinyl record. (Parents, remember the 33-rpm, 12-inch?)
I started my freshmen year in college with a Brothers manual typewriter, cordless phones weren’t on the market (let alone cell phones), and the words “bad,” phat,” and “nasty” actually meant bad, fat and nasty.
The Orioles started the 1984 season as the reigning champions of Major League Baseball and Washington didn’t even have a big league ball club…
And here we are today…2007. And the Orioles … well … let’s just be glad that there are plenty of games left this season to turn things around…and, I’ve heard some say Washington still doesn’t have a big league club. (Go Nats…)
Since you began your studies here at College Park, many significant and historic events have occurred.
We’ve witnessed humanity at its most generous, as the world responded to a tsunami that ravaged a vast area within the Indian Ocean region.
And we had a glimpse at human behavior at its worst, in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
We watched with disbelief as our federal government ineffectively responded to the devastation and destruction of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Lower Mississippi River Delta, while at the same time heard story after story of great professionalism, courage and compassion by Americans from all walks of life.
China demonstrated its emerging economic and competitive potential as one of its PC manufacturers acquired IBM’s global PC business, ranking it third behind Dell and Hewlett Packard.
And we sat back and helplessly lost a planet . . . or at least demoted one, as we relegated Pluto to dwarf status.
Much has happened in the world during the past few years. Most disturbingly, you’ll have the distinction of being the first graduating class whose entire undergraduate experience was marked by the United States’ military presence in Iraq.
Generation X, Y … the New Silent Generation … the Millennial Generation. They’re all labels that in and of themselves say very little, if anything at all, about who you are and what you are capable of doing.
You’ll never be called the Greatest Generation, but only because we’ve already given that label away.
It was Dr. Martin Luther King who said: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve…You don’t have to have a college degree to serve; You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace … a soul generated by love”
You certainly have an opportunity to be as great as you possibly can…And this world needs greatness.
No generation before yours has ever been called so suddenly, so tragically to a reawakened conscience. Your call came on September 11, when most of us least expected it. That day, our world changed … and we are still in the midst of a rapidly changing world.
No generation has ever before seen their world shrink so quickly. Where “global terrorism” and “global economy” have become a common language and in the broadest sense now define the challenges and opportunities for us as a nation.
Where in the United States, we can experience the culture of South Africa over YouTube or where college students in India can enter your classrooms here in Maryland from their living rooms in New Delhi.
Where we can interact financially, culturally, socially and personally with a person in Singapore almost as readily as with a person in Atlanta.
We live in a world that is marked by technological advances that are bringing down old walls … that is marked by social and cultural evolutions that are transcending generations of division.
History will look back on your generation, and ask, “Did your world change you, or did you change your world?”
Today we’re calling upon you, as the inheritors of the world that we’ve both readied for you, albeit not to perfection, and readied you for. We call upon you to turn your values into expectations — values that draw upon the lessons of the past and expectations that will shape your behavior and the behavior of those around you.
We value diversity …And therefore we should expect all of us to promote and celebrate all its forms.
You’re entering a workforce that recognizes a good idea…as a good idea…no matter who thought of it first. You are of a generation that understands that our world continues to be molded by the different backgrounds, customs, culture and languages of a multi-cultural society.
We will look to you to continue tearing down those manufactured divisions of race, gender, religion, nationality and sexual orientation.
Advance that diversity…advance the belief that true progress requires people who see the riches offered by our differences.
We value individuality … And therefore we should expect each of us to cherish and respect the dignity of every individual within our society.
Just as a digital photo develops as millions of individual pixels come together into focus, forming a clear picture, our world is only clear when we embrace the individuality that rests within each of us…and accept each individual as an essential part of the larger picture.
We value hard work … And therefore we should expect each of us to champion a strong work ethic.
Our world rewards hard work, and smart work — that’s been true for generations. It’s certainly a fundamental spirit and character of the American culture.
Today’s workers are more skilled and better educated than ever before…And today, it’s the creativity of the workers, not access to raw material, that is driving America’s economy to thrive.
Now it’s up to you to advance a merit-based society that extends beyond the office buildings and factories that support our economy.
Recognize your contribution…the unique difference that only you can make. But also witness the benefit of your work through the eyes of others. And be witness to the good works of others…The neighbor who mows the elderly widow’s lawn…The father who sacrifices his weekends to coach the local soccer team…The soldier who put her life on hold and delayed college, to serve her country.
In September of 2004, I deployed to Iraq with 800 patriotic men and women. We were enthusiastic about doing our part to rebuild a war-torn country. We went to Baghdad with big plans, to make a big difference: to rebuild hospitals and schools, to reestablish government and civil society. Yet, we met with marginal success.
Since returning from Iraq, I’ve been asked many times to describe my experience. I’ve been asked, “What lesson did you learn?”
Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned was a lesson articulated years ago by Dr. Marian Wright Edelman who said, “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
It was a lesson that I learned from an Iraqi woman whom I met. And I wrote this letter to my wife retelling the encounter:
I wrote:
“Dear Patty,…
I met a woman today from Fallujah…She was dressed in black with the traditional hijab head covering. Her eyes were swelled up with tears.
It was difficult to tell if she was an older woman who looked younger than her years or whether she simply looked older than she actually was. Either way, I had little doubt that her life has been difficult.
She was at the ministry searching for a way to be compensated for a great loss in her life.
In April, U.S. Army tanks rolled across her farm in Fallujah and, within a few minutes, had opened fire on something, someone, somewhere. When it was all over, her twin daughters were both lying dead on the ground in front of her. Her farm was ruined; her life was shattered.
Today, after the second major military offensive in Fallujah, this woman is now homeless in Baghdad. I told her that I would look into her claim for compensation that she filed with the military in September.
Since the deaths occurred as a result of combatant operations, it is doubtful that she will receive any compensation from the U.S. government.
I didn’t tell her that. The only thing that I could really do was give her the $18 that I had in my pocket. I acknowledged that this could in no way serve as compensation for her loss but that I wanted her to have it to help her from me personally. My translator had 100,000 dinars ($60), which he gave to her.
Our small sum of money will last her five weeks in Iraq.
As I did all that I could to hold back my own tears, I expressed my deepest sympathy for the loss of her twin daughters.
I couldn’t help but to think about Rebecca and Jonathan.
My translator, an Iraqi American who grew up in Baghdad, commented, “War is a terrible thing.”
Love, Anthony…”
I did pursue her claim…And I can’t describe how proud I was when, on my last day in Iraq, I learned that our government had agreed to compensate this woman for the death of her two children.
That money won’t end a war, it won’t build a hospital, it won’t bring back two little girls. But I believe in my heart of hearts it will make a small but lasting difference for that woman from Fallujah
And I don’t know if I made a big difference in rebuilding Iraq, but I do know that she made a big difference in my own life.
Today, we’ve conferred upon you a degree but it’s up to you to reach into your heart for grace and to search your soul for love to serve your neighbors and those around you. And remember that acts of selflessness, of service and the pursuit of the common good are not wholly divorced from our individual pursuits.
Adam Smith said, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, or the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but – rather – from their regard to their own interest … It is rare that he intends to promote the public interest … but even more rare when he knows how much he has.”
In this new economy, where ambition, hard work and creativity…individualism and diversity are revered, your self-interest and the common good are not mutually exclusive pursuits.
But in those pursuits don’t ever allow who you are to be lost to what you do. Never let the definitions “lawyer,” “politician,” “nurse,” “plumber” “journalist” erase the titles of “mother,” “father,” “brother,” “sister,” “neighbor” … “friend.”
So what will it be Class of 2007? What will history remember? Did the world change you or did you change the world?
Now I’d be remiss to leave this podium without offering one last piece of personal advice.
Life’s short…don’t forget to take time for yourself and for your family.
Explore your interests. Learn to cook (or marry someone who can…). Sing… in the shower, or in your car … or in a Karaoke bar. Travel. Explore your past and imagine your future…
Remember the American poet, Robert Frost. Think about the road not taken and take it.
Reflect on your pixel. Know that who you are defines how history will view our picture...
I leave you with this, graduates: As you prepare to embark on your journey into a world that is waiting to be molded, at its very heart, it is a journey that brings you closer to realizing your American Dream.
A dream, as my parents taught me, that you can accomplish anything with hard work and determination.
A dream that recognizes that success can only be realized through our willingness to seek the common ground; to promote diversity; to respect individuality; to stand up for a society that rewards the same hard work that has been expected of you.
A dream that compels us to act on the convictions of our heart, and the content of our thoughts…thoughts that are shaped by shared values and expectations and not by the changing world in which we live.
Good luck Class of 2007.
Walk good my friends and may good walk with you.
Thank you.