Following is the complete text of President Leo M. Lambert’s remarks to the Class of 2008 at New Student Convocation, Aug. 28, 2004:
“On behalf of the trustees, faculty, staff, and alumni of Elon University, I welcome the Class of 2008, transfer students, parents, family members, and guests. My name is Leo Lambert, and I am Elon’s eighth president. This ceremony is one of the most meaningful occasions of the academic year. It’s an emotional day. From the perspective of a dad who dropped his oldest child off for her freshman year at college just last year, I can identify today with the tear in mom’s eye and the lump in dad’s throat. I know what they are thinking….How could this childhood have passed so quickly? I know how proud they are and what a privilege it has been for them to help you students reach this day.
“Students, most of you are filled with nervous energy and anticipation. Try to set aside your anxiousness to savor this special morning. All that surrounds you — these historic buildings, the faculty and staff who are about to become your mentors and teachers and even friends, your classmates — all of this will become a part of you. This school, and your experiences here, will be an important chapter of your life. You will leave Elon someday, but Elon will never leave you. Welcome. We are pleased that you are here.
“I ask you to reflect for a few moments on your good fortune. Let’s make the Class of 2008 into a human bar graph and imagine that your class represents the approximately 6.4 billion people in the world. Each of you students, therefore, represents about 4.8 million people. If you are in the front three rows on my right (61 students) and have a piece of blue tape on your chair, please stand; proportionally, you represent the citizens of the United States. Now, I ask that all U. S. citizens be seated except for the nine people in the front row closest to the center aisle. You represent Americans with four-year college degrees. And now, only the three of you closest to the center aisle remain standing. Jillian, Andy, and Christina, you represent Americans who have had the opportunity to attend a private college or university. Please remain standing as we compare your situation to that of others in the world.
“Would those of you in the first thirteen rows on my left please stand and remain standing? These represent people of the world who live in poverty, by U.N. definition, on less than $1.00 per day.
“Would students in the back ten rows on my left please stand and remain standing. Jillian, Andy, and Christina, these ten rows represent people of the world who have not had the opportunity to learn to read or write a simple sentence in any language.
“Would the seven U. S. citizens in the second row who have yellow tape on the backs of their chairs, please stand. You, too, live in poverty, but by the U.S. definition of poverty. Some live here in Elon and Burlington.
“How about your neighbors in the fourth row on my right? Would the eight of you who have green tape on the backs of your chairs, please stand. You represent the world’s estimated 37.5 million people afflicted with HIV/AIDS. Nearly six of you are from Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Jillian, Andy, and Christina, and the Elon Class of 2008, consider your fortunate circumstances. By God’s grace, or your parent’s hard work, or your hard work, or good luck, or some combination of the four, here you are. You live in the world’s wealthiest democracy and enjoy freedoms and liberties that are the envy of billions of others. Your presence here places you among the most privileged people on the earth. And on top of that, consider that there are four thousand eight hundred other students who wanted to sit where you are sitting and were rejected or wait-listed. Today might be a good day to whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for all the blessings in your life that have brought you to this grove of oaks. It’s also a day to contemplate the question, ‘What am I going to do with the gift of an Elon education?’ Please be seated.
“I asked you to form a human bar graph for a second purpose. You came to Elon to acquire knowledge, to pursue studies that will prepare you for fulfilling lives and to enable you to become independent, thoughtful adults. The transmission and creation of knowledge are the central reasons universities exist. But I believe universities have another purpose—a civic purpose—to contribute to the betterment of our communities, our nation, and our world.
“Elon students reach out to others. We have an established campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity which works to build decent housing for deserving folks. Students involved with Project Pericles are working to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Namibia. These are but two examples. I could give dozens of others. Elon’s mission inspires us to prepare ‘global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.’ I ask you to think this morning how you are going to use your unique gifts and talents to make a contribution to the common good. The world needs you.
“This morning, I want to keep my message focused. It is built around this question: ‘What do you really need to know on your first day at Elon?’
“An Elon education is structured in such a way that each student, no matter what his or her major, is grounded in a great liberal arts tradition. The term ‘liberal arts’ translated from Latin means the arts worthy of free men and women. The most important aspect of your undergraduate education at Elon is the foundational knowledge you will acquire, skills you will hone, and dispositions you will cultivate through your exposure to the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences.
“I have two principal hopes about your readiness for the world before you walk across this stage in four years to receive your diploma. First, I expect that you will be prepared to be a participating citizen in a 21st century democratic society. Your generation will face hugely complex questions at the intersection of ethics and biotechnology, for example. You will face, as no other generation has before, issues of personal freedom and privacy in the face of invasive technologies and new challenges for national security and world peace. An educated person must know something about science, and government, and philosophy to be a good citizen. The liberal arts will teach you to challenge assumptions, to question, and to analyze critically, talents which are fundamental to an educated citizenry.
“I hope you will leave Elon having given serious thought to the question, ‘What does it mean to live a good life?’ I want you to grow beyond your desire to be served in order to realize the true sense of fulfillment that comes from serving others. And again, the liberal arts will be your guide, for you will learn much about goodness and true fulfillment through theater, literature, religion, psychology, and the arts.
“So my most important message to you this morning is to savor your experiences in the liberal arts and sciences. Don’t approach them as requirements to be met or hurdles to be cleared, but rather as the bedrock upon which all your other learning at Elon will be based. And finally, do not underestimate the practicality of the liberal arts. You will become a better writer. You will learn to solve problems as a team member. You will be able to present ideas persuasively. These are skills that have value in the marketplace and will prepare you for graduate and professional degrees in virtually any field.
“I now want to spend a few minutes talking with you about a subject that may save your academic career at Elon — or maybe even your life. We have experienced our share of tragedy at Elon related to the grossly irresponsible use of alcohol, nearly always due to the consumption of a great deal of hard liquor in a very short period of time. Every incidence of sexual misconduct reported to Student Life and Campus Security last year involved use of alcohol on the part of either the victim or the accused. Fifteen students were transported to the hospital last year because they had consumed a large quantity of alcohol very quickly — and a few were dangerously close to death. Approximately 50 students had citations for DWI’s. Today you will begin to take much more responsibility for your own choices in life. If you put yourself in the position of not being able to make wise choices for yourself because of alcohol abuse, you may find yourself a victim, or one who has caused irreparable harm to another human being.
“Elon is a caring community, one in which we help each other learn from mistakes that we inevitably all make. But if you act with reckless disregard for your own life, or jeopardize the safety and welfare of others because you drink yourself into a state where your actions are beyond your control, then Elon is not the place for you.
“Let me be clear about this: the large majority of Elon students make wise choices. Most students who choose to drink do so responsibly. A significant portion of students choose not to drink at all. Most students at Elon seize positive opportunities and they blossom. I do not want to lose a single one of you to poor choices. Think about this as you assume a great deal more responsibility for your own decisions and choices — beginning today.
“Today you become a citizen of the Elon University community. It’s very difficult to be anonymous at Elon; we’re going to get to know you. Faculty here are nationally renowned for their commitment to active and engaged learning and for transforming lives through their personal commitment to students’ development. This is a friendly place. This is also a place where you will encounter many people who are different from you and people with whom you can have honest and civil disagreements. This is as it should be. As I’ve said, Elon is above all a caring place and, without a doubt, the most wonderful academic community of which I have ever been a part.
“Healthy communities require a common set of shared values. Because we are an academic community, we believe in the idea of academic citizenship: that an Elon student’s highest purpose is giving first attention to learning and reflection, developing intellectually, connecting knowledge and experience, and upholding Elon’s honor codes. Make these your priorities. The honors codes, about which Professor Levesque will say more in a minute, speak volumes about our common commitments in this academic community, and you are accountable to them, effective immediately.
“Healthy communities require active citizen participation. If you don’t like something, talk to President Morse or his SGA colleagues and work positively through Student Government to make it better. (Our library, for example, is now open 24 hours per day, five days per week, because students asked for longer library hours.) Participate in the life of the campus. Come to College Coffee and chapel. Join the growing excitement at Elon in cheering the Phoenix!
“Finally, students, I have a gift for you: Most of you know by now that Elon is the Hebrew word for oak and that the University was named for the beautiful oak trees which graced the campus. To celebrate that heritage, we have a wonderful tradition: we give each Elon graduate an oak tree seedling at commencement. We ask them to plant the seedlings, water them, and watch them grow throughout their lives. Those seedlings are planted across the country, providing inspiration for future generations.
“And today, on this day of new beginnings, we have Elon’s traditional gift of an acorn for each of you, a symbol of the promise of an Elon education. Today, we plant the seed — symbolically — that will germinate and grow into that small tree you’ll receive at commencement. Keep your acorn as a reminder that you have within you everything you need to grow and become strong.
“When you leave this convocation, you will pass by the assembled Elon faculty. You will enter the world of college and become academic citizens of Elon. On your commencement day, you will again pass through the assembled faculty line, having accomplished so much. You will have completed your time at Elon and you will be changed in ways you cannot now imagine. On that day — a day that will come much more quickly than you expect — you will exchange your acorn for an oak seedling and go out into the world with the assurance that your Elon education has prepared you for life’s journey. So, we have a date, all of us, to meet under the oaks in four years at commencement.
“May God bless and guide and inspire you on the wonderful journey ahead.
“Long live Elon!”
Leo M. Lambert
President