Christopher J. Dodd, U.S. Senator (D-Conn.) and
former Congressman (D-Conn., 2nd Dist.),
received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
during the ceremony.
The
Text:
President Austin, fellow honorary degree recipients, distinguished faculty and trustees,
staff, alumni, and families:I am deeply honored to be with you today, and to receive
the degree that has just been conferred upon me.
To today's graduates, I offer heartfelt congratulations.
You deserve to feel tremendously proud of your achievement.
You have come so far. When you first arrived on
this campus, you struggled with the profound questions of
human existence: nature or nurture?Free will or determinism?Individualism
or community?
Eventually, you boiled those questions down to just one: Ted's
or Husky's? I commend you.
For many years, I have dreamed of appearing before
a large audience such as this here at Gampel Pavilion.
But in my dreams I'm wearing basketball shorts rather
than a cap and gown. At five feet nine inches, though,
I doubt that dream will come true any time soon.
Still, it is a privilege to share this day of
reflection and celebration with you here in this
building that has been the site of so many wonderful
memories for the members and supporters of this university.
I remember the first time I was asked to speak
at a commencement. I was a young congressman from
New London, and I was nervous. A friend of mine,
an Irish priest, shared a piece of advice that I
have never forgotten. He said,"Now, Christopher,
a commencement speaker is muchlike the guest of honor
at an Irish wake. They need you in order to have
the party, but nobody expects you to say very much."
I will try to take his words to heart today.
Some of you may ask: "Why do commencements require
commencement speakers?"A fair question. In an attempt
to answer it, I did a bit of research into the history
of commencement addresses.
I make no claims to complete accuracy. But I found
a few interesting pieces of information:
Apparently, the first commencement address was
delivered early in the 12th century, in the Italian
City of Bologna. That may explain why a derivative
of the word bologna has been the single most common
reaction of commencement audiences to so many commencement
speeches over the centuries.
I also found that the longest commencement speech
was delivered at Harvard University in the early
19th century. It lasted 6 hours. The first three
hours were in Latin; the other three were in Greek
- and at the conclusion of the remarks, the students
were given a test.
At the other extreme, the shortest commencement
address in history was reportedly delivered by the
film maker Woody Allen. He stepped to the podium,
recognized administrators, faculty, alumni and alumnae,
then turned to the students and uttered two sentences. "We
have given you a perfect world. Please do not screw
it up. "
An equally succinct graduation speech was evidently
delivered by the comedian Bob Hope a number of years
ago. He, too, began by recognizing the distinguished
members of the audience.
Then he said to the students: "As youprepare to leave
these hallowed halls of learning, these bastions of
knowledge, these citadels ofscholarship, I have just
two words of advice: Don't go. "
Those two words may reflect how many of you feel
today, at least in part. There's a lot of enthusiasm
about graduating, but I suspect that there's a certain
reluctance, as well. You've had the time of your
lives here.
And you know that you have not just gotten a degree
from this place. You have received an education -
in the fullest sense of that word.
You have been fortunate enough to spend these
past few years at an outstanding school - the flagship
university of the small and remarkable corner of
the world we call Connecticut.
This has always been a state of men and women
who conceive of a world that can be, rather than
curse the world that is. More than any other, ours
is a state of firsts:
The first written constitution in the world -
the fundamental orders - were written here in 1638;
The first public library in America was established
in new haven, in 1656;
The first law school, the first trade school,
the first women's school, and the first school for
people with disabilities in America - all were founded
here.
The first automobile factory, the first computer,
the first helicopter, and the first television station
in the world - all brought to life in Connecticut.
This university is in keeping with our state's
tradition of leadership. It rose from truly humble
beginnings.
Only 119 years ago, in 1881, it was launched with
70 acres of land, a few wooden buildings, and five
thousand dollars to support a faculty of three and
a student body of twelve.
And only 63 years ago, in 1937, the elected representatives
of this state committed two and a-half million dollars
to improve and expand the university - a sum that
was then the largest single commitment of resources
for any purpose in the state's history.
That was a stunning act of faith in the future
by the people of our state - carried out not in a
moment of abundance and prosperity, but during the
darkest days of the Great Depression.
They performed that act because they shared a
collective vision of a great public university that
would prepare generations of Connecticut students
for life as educated men and women.
You are the beneficiaries of their noble vision.
Today, in so many respects, the words "University
of Connecticut" are synonymous with excellence -
in areas like health care, business, education, agriculture,
the arts, literature, science, and yes, athletics.
If this university, and the state it calls home,
are to continue to lead the country in the 21st century
- as we have led in centuries past - then we must
act as our predecessors have acted - with vision
and with hope. That means, I believe, taking action
on three fronts:
First, we need to find a way for each and every
one of us here to continue to support this university
in its mission of excellence.
Please understand: I am not here to make a pitch
on behalf of the alumni association, as important
as its efforts are. The members of the association
can do that very well on their own!
I am here, rather, to ask you to find a way to
give back to this place which has given so much to
all of us.
A century and a half ago, Americans supported
something called the Morrill Act. That act used our
abundance of land to establish the great land-grant
colleges and universities that exist throughout America
today - of which UConn is one.
I believe that it is time for us to enact a new
Morrill Act - a Morrill Act of the 21st century -
one that will harvest the abundance of the airwaves
to underwrite technology-based learning at this and
other public universities.
But we must do more than enact new laws for these new times. As you know, I
am not a graduate of this university - although I am, today, proud to call myself
an honorary Husky.
Nevertheless, I feel a deep debt of gratitude to this institution. It has done
so much for our state. It has embraced my father and my family.
I will always be grateful for the contributions
that UConn and its graduates have made.
And that is why I am committed - during whatever
time I have remaining in public life, and in whatever
way I can - to upholding and building upon the reputation
of this wonderful university. I ask all of you to
pledge to do the same.
The second thing we must do for our state to be
a leader in the 21st century is to strengthen the
backbone that has made Connecticut a leader in centuries
past: our public elementary and secondary schools.
Our world is rapidly changing. Things are happening
that we could scarcely imagine just a few years ago.
The Internet now brings the world to us on a laptop
computer, and in devices that can fit in the palm
of our hands. Automobiles are equipped with satellite
technology that gives us directions to anywhere we
want to drive.
Where did the people who invented and developed
these new technologies come from?Mostly from our
public schools - where nine of every ten children
go every school day. Our public schools, then, have
by and large spawned this remarkable period of change
and progress.
But the great irony of this moment - which we
must urgently address -is that the change and innovation
spawned by our public schools have in many respects
bypassed the public schools themselves.
Our communities struggle - daily and mightily
- to produce students who will thrive in the global
economy - and they do so with a system of education
funding rooted in the 19th century.
Despite these shortcomings, most of our schoolchildren,
thank goodness, receive a superbeducation. But far
too many do not. Far too many attend schools where
the roof leaks, where computers are scarce, and where
classes are held in broom closets.
In the 19th and even the 20th centuries, we as
a state could get away with an education system that
allowed the children of one town to get the best
education - while children in a neighboring town
got something less.
We can't do that anymore. We can't ask individual
towns to foot almost the entire bill for their children's
schooling. We can't allow the federal government
to dedicate just one-half of one percent of its budget
to educate our children - and then pat itself on
the back for doing enough.
We can't continue on this path - not if we want
our state and nation to thrive in the global economy.
And not if we believe that every child deserves a
chance to obtain the best possible education.
There are some who say that change in our elementary
and secondary schools is not possible. They say it
can't be done, that we should abandon our public
schools and try something else.
In my view, these naysayers don't know their history.
And they don't know Connecticut.
As I said earlier, ours has always been a state
of firsts. And so today, I ask you, I implore you
- the first class of the 21st century - to add another
first to the long list of firsts for which we are
known:
Make Connecticut the first state in the 21st century
that provides to each and every child an
equal opportunity to achieve a world-class public
education - from kindergarten to this, our flagship
public university.
Tutor. Mentor. Coach. Teach. Join the P. T. A.
Do something -anything - to support the children
who attend our public schools.
The third and final task that I believe you must
- and will - accomplish in order for our university,
our state, and our nation to succeed is to find success
in your own personal lives. That may sound esoteric,
but it's really very simple. We can't be successful
as a people if we don't consider ourselves to be
successful as individuals.
That said, what constitutes personal success defies
easy definition. It is elusive.
Yet, the successful people I have known have shared
several qualities in common _ qualities that I would
like to share with you today.
Many of you may believe that your graduation today
is proof of your success. I humbly submit that it
is not.
The southern writer Walker Percy once wrote "You can
get all A's and flunk life. "Success is, firstly,
a journey, not a destination. The diploma you will
receive shortly does not make you a success, or even
guarantee it in the future.
It is not simply what you do, but how you do it,
that will determine whether or not you succeed. The
honesty of your effort, the decency with which you
treat others, your determination to solve problems
rather than surrender to them, and the other qualities
of heart and mind that you bring to bear in your
daily activities - these are the important mileposts
of life.
So as you go forward from here, I urge you to
resist the notion that your job, your salary, your
address, or the car you drive will determine whether
or not you are a success. They will not.
Success is, secondly, the capacity to dream, and
the determination to live in obedience to those dreams.
An important but little known American poet, Delmore
Schwartz, once wrote,"In dreams begin responsibilities. "
Many of you here today understand very well the
meaning of these words. You set a goal for yourself:
to earn a college diploma. Then you set about to
do what was necessary to achieve it _ despite your
own moments of doubt, and at some sacrifice to
you and your loved ones. Imagine where you might
be today if you didn't have that dream and if your
friends and family didn't support you in achieving
it?
Indeed, where would any of us be if we didn't
dream - if we allowed ourselves to be defined by
limits instead of possibilities?
I have often marveled at how history's deft hand
can make the dreamers of today the realists of tomorrow
- and expose today's realists as terribly short-sighted.
Consider these statements:
In 1899, the Commissioner of the
U. S. Patent Office said: "Everything that can
be invented has been invented. "
In 1943, the president of IBM was
asked about the prospects for something called
the computer. He said: "I think there is a world
market for maybe five computers. "
In 1977, the president of a leading
computer company said: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer
in their home. "Needless to say, that company is
now out of business.
These statements remind us never to confuse what
is, with what can be. The only sure thing is uncertainty.
As one of the great philosophers - and baseball players
- of our time, Yogi Berra, once said,"It's tough
to make predictions. Especially about the future. "
Think about all that has happened just in your
brief lifetimes, and you will surely know that you
are inheriting a world with virtually limitless possibilities
for progress. Things that were unimaginable
just a few years ago have now come to pass. Changes
that no one could have dreamed of.
Such changes remind us that America truly is a "land
of becoming" - a place where the only constant is
change, where the future belongs to those willing
to imagine it and work for it.
So I urge you: do not accept the limitations of
the here and now. Dare to dream.
A third quality of success is endurance. Someone
once said that half of doing well in life is showing
up - keeping appointments, honoring commitments,
and answering when called.
Pace yourself. Life is not a sprint; it's a marathon.
You will need a cool head and a pair of fresh legs
for those inevitable moments of trial and tribulation.
The legendary entertainer Sophie Tucker was once
asked: "what's the secret of life?"She answered: "Keep
breathing. "
Sometimes all you can do is do what you can. Do
your job as best you know how _ at home and
at work. Eventually, things will break your way,
the road will straighten out, and the future will
again burn
brightly before you.
A fourth quality of success is failure. Yes, failure.
Bob Dylan, the finest poet certainly of my generation,
once wrote that "There's no success like failure,
and . . . failure's no success at all. "
The most successful people are not those who make
the fewest mistakes. They are the ones who learn
the most from the mistakes they make.
So when failure comes _ and surely it will _ accept
it _ not as a comfort, a crutch, or an excuse, but
as a moment of instruction. And then go on.
The fifth _ and final _ characteristic of success
that I want to discuss with you today is this: success
must be shared to be enjoyed.
Gore Vidal, the talented and sometimes sarcastic
author, once said: "It is not enough that I succeed.
Others must fail. "During the course of your life,
you will invariably stumble upon people who believe
they can only raise themselves up to the degree that
they put others down.
Resist the temptation to retaliate. Revenge may
be sweet, but it leaves a bitter after-taste.
Instead, treat people the way you would like to
be treated. When all is said and done, the Golden
Rule is still a good one to live by. Treat others
as you would like to be treated - including, as I
mentioned earlier, those who will come after you.
Theylook to you to look out for them.
Encourage others. Applaud their achievements.
Overlook their fumbles. Above all, find time for
family and friends. In the end, it is the quality
of your relationships with them that, more than anything
else you do, will give your lives depth and meaning.
In closing, I wish you all a successful journey,
full of dreams, responsibilities, endurance, and
high purpose. And if all else fails, remember: keep
breathing.
