President's Column
WORDS FOR THE GRADUATES
Editor’s Note: In place of President Page’s regular column, we
print here the text of his May 17 Commencement Address to the Class
of 2009.
I am honored to
have been invited by the Senior Committee and the senior class to be
your Commencement speaker. I find myself today standing before you
to share a few thoughts that hopefully will be meaningful as you
move to a new venue of opportunity.
As I put these
few thoughts on paper, I could not help but reflect upon my 38-year
career as a senior administrator in higher education. During that
time, I have had an opportunity to teach at a major university and
to serve as dean of a small women’s college, provost at a small
state college, and president of a state university before coming to
Austin College almost 15 years ago.
I cannot help
but remember my first experience in the classroom at the University
of Georgia during the late 1960s — a time of turmoil, civil
disobedience, and cultural change. The civil rights movement was in
full swing, and significant controversy surrounded all aspects of
life as a result of the war in Vietnam. As I reflected on the deaths
of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, I
could see a picture in my mind of the changes that were taking place
in society. I distinctly remember early one morning as I left
Athens, Georgia, to drive to Kentucky where I grew up. I turned on
the radio, and the first thing I heard was that Robert Kennedy had
been killed. This stuck in my mind as a point in history that was
going to change the nature of all our lives in years to come. We
already had witnessed the assassinations of John Kennedy and Martin
Luther King, Jr. I realized during this early morning drive that the
structure of society and the values within community were being
challenged and would continue to be challenged more than ever
before.
Various points
in our lives can be categorized as life-changing experiences, where
we can definitely say that life will not be the same as it was
before. September 11, 2001, was one of those times in history. I
stood that day with the students at Austin College in front of the
Wright Campus Center participating in a candlelight vigil,
remembering the many individuals who were killed that day by a
terrorist act. This event changed your lives and has changed my life
significantly.
As you graduate
today and begin your quest for success in whatever opportunity you
have, you will some day look back over your life and remember these
turning points that can be categorized as society-changing or
life-changing experiences.
As I reflected
over my years of service in higher education, one theme continued to
surface. That theme was the impact of individual students and what
they accomplished while in college and what they are accomplishing
today. The fact is, our lives are shaped by those people with whom
we interact in society. You, the graduates of 2009, have intersected
with my life and with the lives of the students around you in a very
meaningful way. If I had the time this morning to name each student
and comment on what he or she has done over the past four years, it
would offer a great testimony to the impact that one person can have
upon a college or a community.
The
opportunities you have had to serve humanity during the last four
years are numerous, and many of you have taken full advantage of
those. Some of you have shared pictures with me of your internships
in third world countries, and in most instances, these pictures
involve you with a group of children. You have reached out to
children throughout the world, and in your brief encounters, you
have planted seeds of hope that will result in life-changing
experiences for them.
The faculty and
my colleagues in administration periodically are reminded that the
way we live our lives and the way we intersect in the lives of
others through teaching, advising, or casual conversations will have
an impact upon each of those individuals.
In a previous
position, I woke to the ring of the phone on a Sunday morning around
5 a.m. On the other end of the line was a friend who was an
administrator at another college, telling me that a student I had
sent to that university had died the night before in a fire. He
asked me to find this young man’s mother and father and tell them
about this tragic loss. I did, and ultimately visited with the
father who immediately responded to me, “Dr. Page, you must speak at
Leroy’s funeral service.” I said, “No, this is not necessary. I am
only giving you this sad news, and you do not have any obligation to
invite me to speak at his funeral.” After we went back and forth on
the issue for what seemed like an eternity, he said, “But Dr. Page,
I don’t think you realize you were Leroy’s best friend. You were the
only person he talked about when he came home.” That sad but
meaningful interaction told me a lot about life and about what is
important.
I hope this
morning as you prepare to leave Austin College, you will reflect
upon some of your experiences, and remember as you go into the
community, that the manner in which you approach your work, your
life, and your home is being observed by many people, and you, too,
will have an influence upon them. Many of you have had a great
influence upon me as I have worked with you over the past four
years.
I don’t mean
this commencement talk to be depressing or to focus on sad events. I
have shared this more personal side of my experiences to illustrate
that life is much broader than what is happening to you today. The
liberal arts experience you have had at Austin College has exposed
you to distinguished faculty members who have taught courses that at
the time may have seemed abstract to your area of interest or
outside your realm of comprehension, but that is what liberal arts
education is all about.
This was
illustrated beautifully by a freshman at our home one evening. I
asked Jennifer if she had thought about a major and she quickly
responded, “I have given a lot of thought to that and I think I will
major in classical studies.” I pursued the question, “Why?” Her
answer was on target when she said, “Because I know very little
about the classics.”
Attaining a
liberal arts degree is an opportunity to master an understanding of
new ideas that may not be consistent with what you have learned
throughout your young life, but ideas that challenge your thinking
and help you to become a person who can critically analyze an issue.
A liberal arts education today is one that introduces you to the
global perspective of life, and a very high percentage of you have
studied outside the United States for a period of time while you
have been a student at Austin College. You have been introduced to a
culture that may have been totally unfamiliar to you
Many of you
have had global experiences by living with individuals in the
residence halls who represent different cultures, and you have
learned from each other. You have supported each other in a wide
variety of activities. Your liberal arts education has taken you
through disciplines that introduced you to the past and the present,
and prepared you for the future. You have not been trained to do a
specific narrow job. You have been educated to continue your
learning experience in years to come.
Perhaps one of
the best descriptions of where you and Austin College are today is
seen in this quote from a newspaper article:
“We have
laid our foundations deep; and, I may add, the rapid increase of
scholars, and the very liberal subscription of nearly ten thousand
dollars in Texas alone, prove, beyond all doubt that Austin College
has the confidence of the people, and is winning golden opinions
every day. Surely, every friend of Education and Texas must say,
‘Heaven speed the enterprise!’ It is a noble one and we trust will
bless generations yet to come.”
“It is
truly great, but too great for our unaided effort. We must look
abroad. We have done what we could. We have hoisted our flag; we
have endeavored to nail it to the mast, but we want more nails. Will
not our Presbyterian brethren in the blessed old States furnish
some? Will not all the friends of learning, irrespective of name or
sect, give us a few? We want buildings; we want money, books, and
minerals. Many things are needed to crown the enterprise with full
success.”
These comments
by Daniel Baker, printed in
The
National Intelligencer
in Washington
on July 19, 1850, were about Austin College in its infancy, but in
some respects, describe the College today. The work today is a noble
one and it will bless generations yet to come, but it is too great
for an unaided effort. At the same time, this describes you as
seniors who are friends of learning, irrespective of name or sect.
As you hoist your flag in society, you will be dependent upon the
learning experience at Austin College and upon the help of many
people who have crossed your path on this campus. As Daniel Baker
concluded his comments, “Many things are needed to crown the
enterprise with full success.” That is true of the College as its
potential continues to expand, and it is true of you as you continue
this journey of life.
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