President Emeritus Earl Danieley delivered the following address at Commencement on May 22, 2004.
When I look at this great graduating class, and see the many parents and friends on this glorious day, I am tempted to repeat the words of the old spiritual made famous by Marian Anderson:
“My Lord, what a morning!!!”
I really enjoy graduations….everyone is so upbeat… The successful students, the happy faculty, the amazed, overjoyed parents – It is a time for hearty congratulations to all…
So, let us enjoy today, savor its victory and celebrate its satisfaction as long as we can. You seniors have reached a significant milestone on the road to knowledge and accomplishment. You have learned to use new information and technologies and have been introduced to critical thinking and I congratulate each of you.
As I prepared this address I was reminded that Sydney Schanberg, Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist once wrote “commencement speeches are required by law to contain a maximum number of clichés, truisms, platitudes, banalities and boilerplate … and they are the least remembered events on the planet.”
I am deeply grateful for this honor and this opportunity to have a few words with you before you leave this campus.
First, I would like for you to go back with me to establish our perspective. Elon College was 52 years old when I entered as a freshman 63 years ago. I have been here in one capacity or another since then. There were 161 of us in the freshman class and a total enrollment of 600 students in the college. That was approximately 2/3 of the number in this graduating class.
There were 30 faculty members, 8 of whom had doctoral degrees. Elon was not an accredited institution. Now we have 252 faculty and 85% of them have terminal degrees. Not only is Elon accredited by the regional accrediting agency, but our School of Education has NCATE accreditation, the Love School of Business has AACSB International Accreditation, our Physical Therapy Program is accredited by the Council on the Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education, and our chemistry program is approved by the American Chemical Society.
In the fall of 1941, there were no international students on campus. This year we have had 59 students representing 44 countries. Sixty-three per cent of this year’s graduating class has studied abroad. No other master’s level institution in the nation has a higher percentage of students studying abroad.
In the fall of 1941 we had 11 major fields of study; now we have 50. The total cost of tuition and fees for the 1941-42 year was $165; now it is a bit more than that. There were 33 graduates in my class in 1946 and there are 889 of you graduating today.
The contrast between the years is dramatic. The progress during the past 6 decades has been greater than one can imagine. So, I want to congratulate each of you on your choice of this institution and I want to urge you to spread the word — we are justly proud of Elon University…
An institution which ranks among the best colleges and universities in this nation….
An institution ranked in the top 10% of nearly 500 institutions participating in the National Survey of Student Engagement;
An institution ranked #9 among 130 southern universities by the U S News and World Report;
An institution listed among the top 10% of the nations colleges and universities by the Princeton Review;
An institution named one of the 328 “most interesting colleges” in the nation by the Kaplan College Guide;
An institution named one of 16 of the nation’s top colleges by Time magazine in its special college issue;
I could continue…but the point is clear. You have studied at one of the nations premier institutions. Don’t you forget that and don’t let your family, your friends or your neighbors forget it, either.
But, that does not mean that your education is complete. Hopefully, you have a solid foundation upon which you can build as you continue your education. I urge you to continue to read and to study and to truly become an educated person. Learning is an exciting and continous process. Life’s experiences will teach you along the way as you confront the changes and challenges of life. Isaac Asimov said that “self education is the only kind of education there is..”
Most of you have decided upon a vocational choice. May whatever you do give you a deep sense of satisfaction and permit you to give yourself fully in service to others.
I call your attention to the conversation in Robert Bolt’s classic story, “A Man for All Seasons.” It was a discussion between an esteemed public servant, Sir Thomas More, and Richard Rich, an ambitious young man who was hoping for a job which would make him wealthy and well-known, and lead him to fame on earth. Singularly unimpressed with More’s view that teaching in a public school might be a good career he asked Sir Thomas:
“if I become a teacher, who would know?”
Sir Thomas More replied,
“If you become a teacher, Richard, you would know. Your family would know, and God would know. And that is not a bad audience.
Let me earnestly urge you with every fiber of my being to establish and uphold the very highest standards for yourself, your living and your work.
Standards of quality are not relative, they are absolute. The keys to excellence are courage and honesty, creativity and originality, applied intelligence and genuine effort. Treat your own standards as unalterable…be willing to defend them with all that you have and are. To do less than your best is to cheat yourself and those with whom you live and work.
Each of you has a vitally important role to play in the overall scheme of things and each of you must do your very best.
There is a story that in a tiny French village, the peasants decided to honor their parish priest by each one bringing to the parish house the next Sunday a bottle of wine for the pastor’s empty wine barrel. The pastor was delighted with their thoughtfulness and their generosity. He asked them all to join him in a glass of wine from the now full barrel.
But when the tap was opened, only water came out. You see, each of the peasants had brought water instead of wine thinking that all others would bring wine and that one bottle of water would never be noticed.
The bottom line for you is that no one else can be depended upon to make your contribution. Society will indeed be impoverished if you fail in any way to do your best.
Now, just a word about the times in which we live. There is no doubt but what we are faced with tremendous problems at every level of our common life. Problems abound from the community to the most distant parts of the world. However, even the most difficult and the most complex problems can be solved by men and women of good will.
President John F. Kennedy expressed that kind of confidence at American University on June 10, 1963 when he said:
“No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly insolvable…and we believe that we can do it again.”
So, on this day which is a highlight in your life, I salute you, welcome you into the ranks of Elon alumni, and urge you to go forth prepared to do whatever you are called upon to do in the service of humanity. We are proud of your attainments and are confident that you will be a credit to your alma mater and that you will make notable contributions to society. God bless you everyone.
May 22, 2004
J. Earl Danieley
President Emeritus
Elon University