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Brown Bag Series

2009 August 9th Summer Graduation Commencement Speech by Interim Provost Don S. Rice

Don S. Rice Interim Provost

Introduction
Thank you Dean Teitelbaum, I really enjoyed your introduction.
 
Let me add my heart-felt greetings to those of you who have joined us on this day and I appreciate the opportunity to offer a few words of welcome, if not wisdom.
 
First though, could we give our graduates another round of applause?

Thank you, that loosens you up … makes you feel good!

Who I Am
When I grew up, I was an only child of parents who never went to college.  My father did not finish high school.

Relatively speaking, we had few books in the house, except for the obligatory Encyclopedia Britannica, and I didn’t read much at home.  

I was more drawn to pictures in my mother’s magazines.  I wasn’t allowed to see my father’s magazines.

As a result, I had a fear of reading, writing, and being in or near libraries throughout my young life.

When it came to contemplating going to college and having a career, however, my strategy for dealing with these fears was really quite simple … to become a professional bowler.

Seriously, as a result of a number of strange circumstances, I helped manage a bowling alley when I was a junior and senior in high school, and at that time I was good enough at the game to turn pro.

My parents didn’t see things that way, however, and the issue of a college education was an all-consuming debate in my family.
 
My parents didn’t know what the experience would be like, but they were quite sure it would bring better things than strikes, spares, and trophies.
 
Ultimately, they tied me up and paraded me across a number of campuses in the mid-Atlantic states.  It is the literal truth that it rained all day at every college and university we visited, save one … and when the sun came out there, it seemed a sign of the inevitable and I relented.

Financial proceeds from my bowling in high school helped put me through school, and helped me court my wife (who was somewhat disappointed when the money ran out), but as a result of the concern and intervention of my university’s Faculty, I’m clean.  I haven’t touched a bowling ball since.

Who You Are
Graduates, I don’t know many of you personally and I don’t know if you faced similar crises and decisions in your high school years, but there are some things I do know about you as college graduates:

I know you went to class … at least some of the time, and that you listened to your teachers and mentors ... at least some of the time.
 
Not doing so is a primary reason why students fail and I have never understood why anyone would pay for an education and then ignore it.

I know that you wouldn’t be here if you had not caught on to at least some of the great lies in higher education:

• Now that's an interesting point of view!
• I’ll have to consider that!
• I'm always available!; and one of my favorites …
• It doesn't matter what I think; write what you believe!

What I also know about you is that you have excelled in some of the most difficult and most important fields of study a college student could choose – childhood  development and education, education administration, health education, special education, teacher education, workforce education, kinesiology, rehabilitation, social work, and the study of communication disorders.

Through your studies, you have become national assets.

The Value of Your Professions
I do not have children, by choice.  I have cats … for me, they are more affectionate, communicative, insightful, and predictable than kids, and their life-long education isn’t anywhere near as expensive.

Nonetheless, I know we have an education crisis in this country.  In 2005, the National High School Alliance noted that, nationally, approximately 69% of all high school students graduate, and the percentage is dropping.
 
In 2005, USA Today published that 64% of high school graduates go on to college and that only 29% of the American population had a bachelor’s degree.
 
Even if these percentages aren’t quite accurate, the orders of magnitude indicate that our children and our educationally-deprived need help, and graduates, you are the ones who must do so.

In our human-built environment, with its health hazards, complicated technologies, combative behaviors, and rapidly changing economies, the ratio of people, age 5 and over, with at least one disability, was said to have been nearly 1-in-5, or ca. 20%, in the year 2000 and the percentage is growing.

These individuals may have a sensory, physical, mental or self-care disabilities; they may have difficulty going outside their homes; or they may have employment problems.  They need help, and graduates, you are the ones who must do so.

And we are an aging society.  In 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the number of American citizens over the age of 65 will rise approximately 6.5% between 2010 and 2030 … while the percentage of our population between the ages 5 and 45 is projected to drop by 7.5% in this 20-year period.
 
My generation is learning that our bodies and minds are not the perfect instruments they once were, and we need help.  Graduates, I hope my colleagues have trained you well, because you are the ones who must do so.

So, how do I assist you in your efforts to move me gently into old(er) age?

Advice
Someone once wrote that advice is like old trash, recovered from the disposal, cleaned off a bit with the ugly spots covered up, and offered in a tone of relevancy.   Regardless, I am now going to give you some advice, whether it’s relevant or not:

There has never been a day or year in my life, from the time I entered kindergarten ‘til now, that I haven’t been in or associated with a school of some sort.  If you can, travel without the pressure of continued education or research.  I regret having done so little.

Take care of yourselves.  You will never be happy or fulfill your dreams if your health is bad.

Every day, do something good for yourself and for someone else.  It’s that balance makes you whole.

You can worry about finding a job, particularly in our current economic situation, but please don't feel guilty if you do not yet know what you want to do with your life.  These are two very, very different things.

An observation once attributed to the late author Kurt Vonnegut, but something he never said, is that:  ome of the most interesting people you will ever meet didn't know at your ages what they wanted to do with their lives.   Some of the most interesting Faculty you’ve worked with at Southern still don’t.

By the way, if you’ve never read any of Vonnegut’s novels … shame on you and shame on your professors.  They are incomprehensibly liberating.

With or without Vonnegut, please understand that from an academic perspective, it’s unlikely you will ever know more about your chosen field than you do at this moment.  From here on out, you’re only going to fall behind.  Get used to it.

Despite that, be ambitious!  Why would you not want to be the best, regardless of what you do?  Your clients, friends, relatives, and students will deserve nothing less.

Finally, in the end it’s not the one with the most toys who wins, it’s the person who puts those toys to best use.

Remember that hardware and software come with manuals for a reason.  People too have manuals.  Listen to their innermost thoughts and concerns, try to understand, and try to give better advice than the bartenders at Booby’s gave you.

Congratulations
In conclusion:

Parents – relish in the celebration of this day, it may be all you have until the loans are paid.
 
Graduates – As Kurt Vonnegut also didn’t say:   “Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.”

  And, should you ever find yourselves moving back in with your parents, be kind and helpful, because it’s likely that one day they’ll be moving in with you.

My congratulations to all of you, our graduates and those of you here to honor them … and, sincerely, I hope we’ll have a chance to meet in a bowling alley one day and reminisce.

Thank you!

DSR, Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor