Beloit College Commencement Address

by

Jim Lehrer

Delivered on May 16, 2004

Thank you very much. I am delighted to be here and to be in such distinguished company. I am honored to receive an honorary degree from a school that had the good sense and wisdom earlier to bestow an earned degree on my good friend, and long-time colleague, Peggy Robinson, class of 1974, who is now, as you know, a distinguished member of your board of trustees.

photo by Bob Rashid

Commencement speaker Jim Lehrer advised Beloit's Class of 2004 that "...this moment in history belongs to us, and I believe every one of us has a right and responsibility to be involved in how we seize the moment, how we exercise this historically monumental power that has come to us at this particular time in history."

If Peggy is any measure of the quality of graduates that come from Beloit College, you all—you, the class of 2004—are all winners. Brilliant in mind, excited in spirit, with great futures and lives ahead of you. Applications for employment on the NewsHour will be available at the end of the commencement ceremony!

And I must say also, that this place, your place, your college, your location, are all right down my alley. I grew up in towns in Kansas and Texas that make me feel right at home here this morning. On the one hand, I have never been to Beloit before now. On the other hand, oh yes, I have. I attended a junior college in south Texas my first two years of college that was one third the size of Beloit.

And Beloit makes me think of buses. That's right, buses! I worked as a ticket agent in the Continental Trailways Bus Depot while going to that junior college, and while I never actually went anywhere myself, I did travel all over the country in my mind as I sold tickets, and even with my mouth. That's because one of the things I did at the bus station was call the buses over the P.A. system. It was the first time I was paid money to speak into a microphone. Listen to this:

"May I have your attention please, this is you last call for Continental Trailways, 8:10 p.m. Silversides air-conditioned thru-liner to Houston now leaving from lane one for... Inez, Edna, Ganado, Louise, El Campo, Pierce, Wharton, Huungerford, Kendleton, Beasley, Rosenberg, Richmond, Sugarland, Stafford, Missouri City and Houston. Connecting in Houston for Huntsville, Corsicana, Dallas, Denton, Ardmore, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Kansas City, Peoria, Rockford, Beloit, Janesville, Madison and Milwaukee. All aboard. And don't forget your baggage, please."

It proves that, learn something early and well, even if it 's totally insignificant, and you'll never forget it. I dare say there are not many commencement speakers who can do that.

And speaking of commencement speakers. I am well aware that the least relevant person involved in this enterprise this day is the commencement speaker. I have attended many graduations, hundreds, maybe thousands as a graduate, a parent, a friend, a reporter. Not only can I not remember what any of the commencement speakers said, I can't even recall what most of them looked like. I stand here before you assuming the same will be the case for all of you today. I fully understand that you're here to graduate or to witness the graduation of a loved or cherished one, not to hear me. So I promise not to keep you long.

First, let me say something about journalism... my life's work and the reason, aside from my skill at calling buses, that I have been awarded an honorary degree this morning. I want you to know that I know that the honor is not so much personal as it is for the kind of journalism I have the opportunity to practice.

For the record, a few years ago, I was asked by the sponsors of an Aspen seminar on journalism if I had guidelines I used in my own practice of journalism, and if so, would I mind sharing them. Here is part of what I sent them:

Do nothing I can not defend.

Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.

Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.

Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.

Assume the same about all people on whom I report.

Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise.

Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label everything.

Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.

And finally, I am not in the entertainment business.

Second, I have a few messages and some advice to deliver to you, the graduates, my fellow and sister members of this class of 2004. The messages are related to the news of the day, to our times, to the world we find ourselves living in at the moment: the post 9-11 world of terrorism, military and political power and conflicts, economic and social unrest here and elsewhere.

To begin with, do you notice the ages of most of the young Americans who are doing the fighting and the dying in Iraq? 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. Your age. In other words, your generation.

Each of us makes decisions about what to do with our lives. Those young men and women chose a career in the military. That makes them no better, no worse than you or anyone else who chooses to do something else. But they are risking their lives, and they do so in your name, my name, our names, in the name of our country and our democracy.

So if you like what's happening in Iraq, cheer them when they come home. And if you hate what's happening in Iraq, also cheer them when they come home. That's message number one.

Message number two:

Serve. Find a way to also serve. I don't mean necessarily joining the Marines to fight in Iraq or in the next war or two. I mean no matter what you decide to do with your life, also serve. Go ahead. Be rich, or poor, draw pictures, write novels, make movies, be single, be married, make babies, raise babies, try cases, treat sick people, teach people, drive buses, play ball, act, sing, play an instrument, bank, invest, invent, manufacture, experiment, compute, cook, research, pray. Whatever, wherever, but also find a way to serve. To serve your neighborhood, town, city, state, and country. To serve a common purpose beyond yourself and your immediate family and/or interests. You are graduating at a time when there are enormous opportunities to do great things, but also to do terrible things. The possibilities for good and evil have seldom been so limitless.

Everything from the way we educate our children to how we use our enormous military power is up for grabs, debate, and decision. We have, at the personal and political levels in our society, wrenching conflicts over race, healthcare, poverty, violence, as well as how we employ our military and diplomatic muscle. Yes, those conflicts and others have always been there, but the difference now is that we, you and me and our respective peers, have a chance to solve them if we are willing to simply accept that as a given and get on with it.

We are the most powerful nation in the world. There has never been one nation so powerful in so many ways at one time when compared to all others as is the case for us now.

And it's not just about our smart weapons and our money. Look and listen to the people of all ages and beliefs throughout the world. They are wearing American clothes, listening to American music, watching American movies. They are talking about us. Some in the language of fear and loathing, some with words of admiration and envy, some with expressions of warmth and love, and gratitude. But whatever they're saying or thinking, it's about us right now.

This moment in history belongs to us, and I believe every one of us has a right and responsibility to be involved in how we seize the moment, how we exercise this historically monumental power that has come to us at this particular time in history. We elect people to serve us at city hall, the state house, the congress and the White House. We hire people to serve us in embassies, departments and agencies, in police cruisers, in courtrooms and classrooms, on fire engines, on battlefields. I believe each of us owes it to each of them as well as ourselves to do our part, to also serve, each in our own way.

One way to serve, of course, is by staying informed. By forming and expressing opinions. By questioning the opinions of others, particularly those others who hold public office or who otherwise exercise public power, including those who write and edit the newspapers and magazines you read, report on and produce the radio and television programs you listen to and watch. Complain about things you do not like, praise those you do. Ask questions about matters you do not understand, be part of the dialogue, the debate, the decision-making in our democracy. They are decisions that could literally set the course for our nation and our society for years, if not centuries to come. They are too important to be left to the experts, as smart as most are, to our public officials, as dedicated and honest as most are. We must all serve, with our minds, and our voices, and hearts. I hereby implore you to do so.

Now to my advice... I know you can hardly wait.

First and foremost, let me tell you what I tell all graduates of every college or university I have or have had the pleasure of addressing. Don't make a mistake about what is happening here today. The fact that you are receiving a diploma from one of America's finest institutions of higher learning does not mean you are educated. Some of the dumbest people I know have degrees from some of America's finest institutions of higher learning. They took diploma in hot little hand, pronounced themselves educated and proceeded to never read another book, entertain another fresh or new idea. And most tragically for their society and country, never again paid attention to much of anything other than themselves, to much of anything that was happening around them or to others.

Please, please do not do that!

It goes back to what I said about serving. And please, please, be civil, be gentle, be fair. One of the most serious losses we as a society have suffered in recent years, in my opinion, is that of civil discourse. There is meanness of communication alive in the land right now. I see it in the mail and in the e-mail we get at our program. I hear it on television and the radio and read it in the newspapers and magazines.

The controversies involving Iraq and the presidential election have definitely heightened the passion of the rhetoric and the discourse at the moment. But there will always be differences because there must always be differences in a free and open democratic society. We are civilized people. We should disagree in a civilized manner. We should acknowledge the right of others to disagree with us. We should acknowledge the possibility that sometimes, some very rare times, we might be wrong. And, strange as it may seem, we might learn more from listening than from talking. More from talking than from shouting.

And finally, let me pass on something that comes in the form of the ultimate recycled quote. It is what a fictional lieutenant governor of Oklahoma said in a commencement speech to a fictional graduating class at a fictional state college in the fictional town of Hugotown, Oklahoma. He said:

"As you search for your place in life, I hereby advise you to take risks. Be willing to put your mind and your spirit, your time and your energy, your stomach and your emotions on the line. To search for a safe place is to search for an end to a rainbow that you will hate once you find it. Take charge of your own life. Create your own risks by setting your own standards, satisfying your own standards. Take charge. It is unlikely that any of you will have occasion to remember either me or my commencement address. I don't blame you. But if by chance something does linger, I hope it's just that there was a guy up here who kept saying, risk, risk. The way to happiness is to risk it. Risk it."

It is the ultimate recycled quote because it is from a novel published in 1990 called The Sooner Spy. I wrote that novel. I stole those lines verbatim from a real commencement speech I made myself to my oldest daughter's college graduating class. So it's a quote of a fictional quote that began as a real quote. Like I say, the ultimate recycled quote.

But I mean it as much today as the day I said it the first time in real life in 1984. My fictional lieutenant governor of Oklahoma asked me to tell you he still feels that way, too. He joins me in congratulating each and every member of the Beloit College class of 2004. He also joins me in adding the word "Serve" to the word "Risk." "Serve."—"Risk."

I'll see you at our class of 2004 reunions. And please remember what I said at the very beginning: wherever you go, don't forget your baggage, please. Thank you for the honor you have done us and congratulations to all. Thank you.

RELATED LINKS:

Beloit Celebrates Commencement, Beloit College Magazine, Summer 2004

View more pictures taken during Commencement 2004.

EMAIL:

Susan Kasten - Editor, Beloit College Magazine