{"id":7992,"date":"2022-05-25T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=7992"},"modified":"2022-05-31T08:59:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T12:59:24","slug":"commencement-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/commencement-wisdom\/","title":{"rendered":"From Big Red Presidents, Commencement Words of Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unlike most universities, Cornell has a long tradition of sending its grads off into the world with an address by its own leader<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Linda Copman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While campus would be almost unrecognizable to Cornell\u2019s earliest graduates, some things haven\u2019t changed\u2014including a beloved Big Red Commencement tradition. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike many of its peers, the University still sends its newly minted alumni off with an address by its own sitting president, rather than a celebrity speaker. Here are some of their words of wisdom from over the decades.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note: Some speech excerpts have been edited and condensed. Biographies of these and other Cornell presidents <\/em>can be found here<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graduates
Grads in Schoellkopf at Commencement 2016. (Photo by Cornell University)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Praise of Humility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou came to Cornell through the advice of parents, friends, school associates, Cornell alumni, or through some inner compunction of your own. In any event, you came here to overcome your own inadequacies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have not completely succeeded, I hope\u2014for a humble quality is an evidence of greatness, and Cornell could scarcely have provided the answers for all of the dilemmas and quandaries of one’s inner self. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A certain sense of inadequacy will follow you always, if you are to strive and to grow in mind and character and leadership. But at least the urge to overcome your inadequacies is one of the great and enduring earmarks of the educated man or woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Deane Waldo Malott, 1953<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Ends Don\u2019t Justify the Means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe temptations of moral tunnel vision are everywhere we look. Think, for example, of the soldiers who, in their efforts to defeat a dangerous enemy, are tempted to slip into torture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of the campaign workers who want to help their candidate, and are tempted to caricature the opponent unfairly. Think of the business leaders who are tempted to be stingy about workplace safety in order to improve their price position in a competitive marketplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temptations of moral tunnel vision are everywhere we look.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the world of action you will find that it is surprisingly easy to become convinced of the paramount importance of your cause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a short step to see those who oppose you as evil or immoral, or maybe just stupid or naive. And another short step to tell yourself that the harm you inflict on them is necessary to promote a greater good\u2014or might even be, in some way, for their own good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Jeffrey Lehman \u201977, 2005<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Words to Live By<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst, be honest. Second, be zealous. Third, have faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have faith in man. Far better to have too much faith than too little. Have joy. Cultivate the genial side of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hand-written
The speech, in A.D. White’s own hand. (Image courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Give yourself to your calling. Be true to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And do something for the public. Some of you will have greater\u2014some less\u2014opportunity, but all will have some chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Andrew Dickson White, 1873<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Power of Goodness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThough knowledge is a great thing, goodness is greater still. Each of us must make himself true, just, brave, temperate, kind, gentle, and pure. These homely virtues were never more in demand than they are today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men talk of heredity, manifest destiny, and the force of circumstances, as though intelligence and conscience were not the governing powers of national and personal life. It is not the bigness of our territory, but the character of our people that is important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it is only by growth in individual intelligence and righteousness that we can fulfill our mission as a nation. The individual is the beginning of all. And the individual in the twentieth century will be tested by what he is and does, not by what he says, professes, or pays for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Jacob Gould Schurman, 1898<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Only Connect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have made it through Cornell because of your skills and drive, but also because of the connections to those who care about you, here and at home. As you go forward, keep those connections strong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that there is more to life than completing your next work assignment, planning your next experiment, writing the next chapter in your novel, or making the next judgment on a matter of professional concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have made it through Cornell because of your skills and drive, but also because of the connections to those who care about you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Success depends on more than the strength of your analytical abilities or acuity of your professional skills, no matter how formidable they might be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A satisfying life is grounded not just in individual achievement, but in the strength of the connections we forge with others\u2014working with others toward shared goals, personal, professional, civic, societal. Find ways to build human connections in your life after Cornell.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 David Skorton, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Defending Democracy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo democracy can endure solely upon the strength of the principles on which it was founded\u2014even though we are ready to fight that they may survive, as did our fathers. The real test is their ability to meet constant human pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornell’s last message to you as you go out from her halls is that you play your part as citizens of the commonwealth. Give of your service freely, devotedly, and unselfishly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order your lives as to inspire those less privileged than yourselves to act in such a manner that the democracy shall live.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Livingston Farrand, 1922<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

All You Need Is Love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout love, life is futile and arid. Only love redeems life from repetitious triviality. Only love humanizes and tempers our convictions. Only love preserves judgment from being judgmental. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without love, conviction can run to excess and knowledge can be arrogant and selfish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Rhodes at Commencement 1989. He often ended his addresses with the blessing, “May the road rise up to meet you …” (Photo courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Taste may be refined\u2014but after all, the butchers of Buchenwald enjoyed Mozart. Only love can transform knowledge to wisdom, which is the way in which knowledge is held. Hang on to one another tightly today. Hang on to your families and your classmates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t forget. Don’t neglect one another. It’s a tough world out there, and Robert Fulghum was right when he wrote that all you really need to know you learned in kindergarten: \u2018When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Frank H.T. Rhodes, 1990<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Protest\u2014Peacefully<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA concern for the oppressed or the forgotten\u2014be they a racial minority; a citizen of Vietnam, north or south; or a university undergraduate\u2014is a proper concern of democratic man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we have learned that you cannot push around your fellow man, even in good causes. I hope we have learned that the threat of violence or worse is not the proper response to those who have transgressed the boundaries of democratic style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A breach of that style is not to be handled by counter-violence, but by reaffirmation of the requirements of the democratic decencies. Time will tell if we have mastered the art of democratic response as well as democratic protest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 James Perkins, 1965<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Educate Thyself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUp to this time you have had the constant assistance of professors and teachers giving of their knowledge and experience that you might learn. In a sense, the race starts now again from scratch. The licenses of campus leaders expire on Commencement day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question now becomes, \u2018Have you learned how to learn on your own?\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sense, the race starts now again from scratch. The licenses of campus leaders expire on Commencement day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The danger in your present situation is that you will not sufficiently understand how your growth in personal competence during your years on this campus has been accomplished, and your personal responsibility for its continuation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further accessions of power are within your reach if you will but apply wisely the lessons of self-education which lie, possibly more or less hidden, in your experiences here. Get clearly in mind the fact that the most valuable education has to be self-administered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Edmund Ezra Day, 1938<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll Get Through It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI very much hope that this is the last time in your lives that your world will be turned upside down by a pandemic. But I can almost promise you that it will be turned upside down by other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The email will come, or the text message, or the conversation, or the news report\u2014that will draw a new line between what was and what will be, a past you knew and a future without a map. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you\u2019ll face a decision that\u2014whatever path you take\u2014will change everything for you, or the people closest to you, or the people you\u2019ll be there to lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when that happens\u2014the next time your world turns upside down\u2014I want you to remember something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that you\u2019ve been there before. Remember that you got through it. And remember how.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Martha E. Pollack, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Pollack addresses the Class of 2017 at her first Big Red Commencement. (Photo by Lindsay France \/ Cornell University)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Top image: President Schurman presides over the 1906<\/em><\/em> Commencement ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published May 25, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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