On behalf of the University at Buffalo, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our 2005 University at Buffalo graduates.
Our students presume that this celebratory ceremony is designed such that their role is to listen for their name, to walk across the stage, to receive their well-earned diploma, and to respond with a rehearsed gesture of jubilation.
For those of you who have embraced this presumption, you are mistaken. For we - your teachers, mentors, and advisors - have a few words of unsolicited advice and counsel before we allow you to depart and begin your next journey.
In considering my remarks for our graduates, a question emerged: How will our society benefit from the education of our 2005 University at Buffalo graduates?
Although this part of your formal education has officially concluded, your learning must never cease. In order to contribute to the betterment of society - in which ever way you decide - you must first invest in yourself by making learning a lifelong pursuit.
The complexity of humanity demands to be understood through the thoughtful lens of an educated eye. The significant issues that confront humanity today must be addressed by first focusing on the history, subtleties, contours, and implications of such matters.
As a student and now graduate of UB, you have honed your abilities to think critically and to be creative and thoughtful in your exploration of the world. Use your abilities to learn and your powers of discernment to unravel the complexities that our world faces. In this way, you can contribute to the resolution of issues that once seemed impenetrable.
Secondly, an educated eye does not view an issue solely from one's own perspective. Through the course of your University at Buffalo education, you have come to appreciate that no situation is ever two-dimensional. Rather, you understand that the issue, circumstance, or problem that lies before you has many dimensions that must be acknowledged and understood.
Just as an artist reviews her own canvas from multiple visual perspectives to see the subtleties of her work, so must you approach the emergent issues of the day through seeking alternative perspectives.
The University at Buffalo is enriched by a student body and faculty who represent the true political, intellectual, cultural, religious, and socio-economic diversity of our world. Reflecting upon your experiences as a University at Buffalo student, I suspect that you will recall walking across campus to your next class or recitation and remember encountering students engaging in a conversation in Mandarin or French, passing by a class discussing the global economy and the inequitable distribution of wealth, or hearing a few notes from students preparing for their final recitals.
It is my hope that these types of recollections and experiences fuel your desire to seek out others who will assist you with laying down your personal lens so that you may see the world in all of its richness.
As it is your responsibility to actively seek out those who will expand your worldview, in turn, you are responsible for sharing your knowledge, perspectives, ideas, and excitement with those you call your colleagues, friends, and neighbors. As your third dictum, establish strong and supportive relationships with this cadre of individuals, so that when ready - together you can harness your intellectual and human resources to affect positive change.
Your UB education has prepared you to appreciate the dynamics of our global world, to discover the unknown, to apply a critical lens to what we think we know, and to contribute to the aesthetic quality of life. Your education has also contributed to your ability to work productively with your chosen colleagues, friends, and neighbors.
As a final thought for your consideration, may I suggest that you define for yourself those principles and values that will guide you in the next phase of your journey and throughout your life. I suspect that many of these values are those in which your parents and family members have imparted to you. The values you embrace will be your compass - they will provide you with unwavering direction, comfort when confused, discipline when undisciplined. It is your task to keep your values - in the forefront of your mind and heart - in all that you do.
With the fulfillment of these ideals, your abilities, talents, and ideas will benefit the communities in which we exist.
This agenda, perhaps, may seem rather ambitious.
But I ask that you take a moment and reflect upon your first days as a student at the University at Buffalo.
I suspect your emotions surged through its entire spectrum. Perhaps, you even felt for a moment -- or two -- feelings of apprehension and doubt.
Now, I want you take a moment to reflect upon all of your achievements. The successes you have had, the challenges you have overcome, the self-doubts you have extinguished.
As you enter your next journey, undoubtedly, you will have additional challenges to overcome, and moments of uncertainty that must be assuaged.
But as you sit here today, know that you have the intellectual resources, abilities, and motivation to make learning your lifelong pursuit, to consider the world through a global lens, to work collaboratively with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and to live a principled life so that you - through your life's work - may in some significant way benefit others.
Paraphrasing Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as he reflected:
We are not born to solve the problems of the universe, but to find where the problems begin, and then to take our stand within the limits of the comprehensible.
Again, my sincerest congratulations to our 2005 University at Buffalo graduates and I wish you fortitude and courage in your pursuit to challenge the limits of what we know for the betterment of humankind.
Last Modified: Friday January 04 2008