May is graduation month and, along with high school, college and university graduations, come the traditional, memorable or forgettable, interesting or boring, sometimes controversial, sometimes funny, often motivating, rarely short enough (for the anxious graduates), but always unavoidable — if you want to personally collect your diploma — commencement speeches.
Many of the speakers try to, as Kenny Herzog says at Rolling Stone, “Convey a message of humor, pathos, wisdom and humility, and above all, use this opportunity to collect an honorary diploma in case they need something to fall back on.”
Some succeed, some fail — miserably.
“Experts” in these matters will soon tell us who succeeded and who failed this year.
One just needs to Google “best/worst commencement speeches [year]” and voilà.
Just to list this year’s commencement speakers and their topics would fill several pages. To give an opinion, many more.
Thus, I will just focus on what, in my humble opinion, are the most memorable lines in this year’s commencement addresses given by military leaders or by those with a connection to our military.
Addressing Virginia Military Institute (VMI) graduates and drawing on the Civil War Battle of New Market that took place 150 years ago — where ten of 257 young VMI cadets died and 84 were wounded — Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized trust and duty.
Referring to a combination of courage and fear, confidence and uncertainty whether they will measure up, Dempsey said, “What overcomes all of that is the power of trust—trust in the man or woman to your left and right, trust in your leaders, trust in this institution, and trust in our exceptional nation…We can’t do the things we do as a military without trust. It binds us together and without it, our profession is nothing.”
Referring to the New Market cadets, Dempsey said that in the hundreds of journals and letters of the New Market Cadets, “there’s one word that appears more often than complaints about the bad food at the time or the perennial pleas to parents for money, and that one word is ‘duty.'” Dempsey urged the cadets whether they “become a baron of industry or lead an infantry battalion, [to] live that sense of duty.”
Finally, Dempsey recalls the inscription at a monument honoring New Market VMI cadets:
“Not for fame or reward
Not for place nor for rank
Not lured by ambition
Or goaded by necessity
But in simple obedience to duty
As they understood it
These men Suffered all – Sacrificed All – and Dared all”
General Dempsey also delivered the commencement address at Duke University in Durham, N.C., May 11, 2014. Below, the General “fist bumps” a graduate from Duke University’s Class of 2014.
Admiral William McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations who led Operation Neptune Spear, which brought about the killing of Osama bin Laden, delivered the commencement speech at the University of Texas, drawing heavily on his training, experiences and lessons learned at Basic SEAL training in Coronado:
…six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable.
In his post, co-blogger Kevin Purcell lists the ten lessons Dempsey learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to the graduates as they “move forward in life.”
Finally, referring to the brass bell, hanging in the center of the training compound “for all the students to see,” a bell that all you have to do is ring if you want to quit, McRaven admonishes the graduates, “If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell,” and tells the graduating class:
Start each day with a task completed.
Find someone to help you through life.
Respect everyone.
Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often,
but if take you take some risks,
step up when the times are toughest,
face down the bullies,
lift up the downtrodden
and never, ever give up
He adds, “if you do these things, then next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today and— what started here will indeed have changed the world —for the better.”
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke of “soft power” and “hard power” to the graduating class of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service’s (SFS) Class of 2014 as he urged the graduates to pursue careers in public service in order to serve the U.S. global roles and responsibilities and cautioned against isolationism.
Gates, a Georgetown graduate with a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history, spoke directly to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis:
Starting a little over 20 years ago after the collapse of the Soviet Union … a lot of people began to think that Americans didn’t need to learn about the Russians anymore, much less worry about what their government and military were up to…The SFS graduation speaker of last year –the president of Lithuania [Dalia Grybauskati?] – would, I suspect, beg to differ, as would the leaders of the other Baltic states…Ukraine, Georgia and others which have the misfortune of being located next door to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Gates told the graduates that, although he has been an advocate of soft power — “I have been a strong advocate of soft power, of the critical importance of diplomacy and development…” — he recognizes the importance of “hard power” emphasizing that the ultimate guarantee against success of aggressors, dictators and terrorists in the 21st century is a strong American military.
Enlisted Vietnam War veteran John Kerry — who now happens to be Secretary of State — spoke at his alma mater of Yale University of people all over the world courageously fighting back against tyranny and for human rights:
…the lonely human rights activist who struggles against tyranny and against a dictator until they are defeated…the democracy activist who goes to jail trying to ensure an election is free and transparent…the civil rights lawyer who suffers scorn and isolation for standing against bigotry, racism, and intolerance.
…the courage that ordinary, anonymous people demonstrate in the most difficult circumstances imaginable – in a dank African jail, a North Korean gulag, a prison in Syria or Central Asia, facing the cruelest persecution and lonely isolation.
… [they] just quietly disappear. They lose their lives. They never become an international cause or a global hero. Courage is not a strong enough word for what they do every day, and all of us need to think about that.
He continues, “What all these people have in common – and what I hope they have in common with you – is that they refuse to be complacent and indifferent to what is going on around them or to what should be going on around them.”
As Gates did at Georgetown, Kerry also warns against isolationism: “We cannot allow a hangover from the excessive interventionism of the last decade to lead now to an excess of isolationism in this decade…I can tell you for certain, most of the rest of the world doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about America’s presence – they worry about what would happen in our absence.”
The following day, at Boston College, Kerry focused on climate change:
Two major recent reports, one from the UN and one from retired U.S. military leaders, warn us not just of the crippling consequences to come, but that some of them are already here. Ninety-seven percent of the world’s scientists tell us this is urgent. Why? Because if crops can’t grow, there’ll be food insecurity. If there’s less water because of longer droughts, if there are stronger and more powerful storms, things will change in a hurry and they will change for the worse.
Climate change is directly related to the potential of greater conflict and greater stability – instability. I’m telling you that there are people in parts of the world – in Africa today, they fight each other over water. They kill each over it. And if glaciers are melting and there’s less water available and more people, that is a challenge we have to face. And guess what? It is the poorest and the weakest who face the greatest risk…
But he also offered a solution, one that “is actually staring us in the face. It is energy policy. Make the right energy policy choices and America can lead a $6 trillion market with 4 billion users today and growing to 9 billion users in the next 50 years.” But, “supposing I’m wrong,” Kerry says, “or scientists are wrong, 97 percent of them all wrong – supposing they are, what’s the worst that can happen? We put millions of people to work transitioning our energy, creating new and renewable and alternative; we make life healthier because we have less particulates in the air and cleaner air and more health; we give ourselves greater security through greater energy independence…”
Kerry continued, “But if we do nothing, and it turns out that the critics and the naysayers and the members of the Flat Earth Society, if it turns out that they’re wrong, then we are risking nothing less than the future of the entire planet. This is not a hard choice, frankly…”
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, another enlisted Vietnam War veteran, delivered the commencement address at the United States Naval Academy offering the graduates suggestions for success from his own experiences as an enlisted Army infantryman and from his discussions with enlisted sailors and Marines.
According to Naval Academy Public Affairs:
• “You must connect with people on a personal level,” said Hagel. “With new technologies and social media making our relationships sometimes seem less relevant, it is more important than ever to be personally invested in your people and build relationships face-to-face. Get to know them. That earns respect.”
• Hagel urged the new officers to make an effort to understand different perspectives.
• “Humility is about respect. Someone else will always have something to teach you.”
• Hagel called on the graduates to be careful with the power they have as role models, particularly when feeling the pressure “to succeed at any cost.”
• “Small actions can reverberate in large ways,” he said. “You have the power to inspire and encourage others to do the right thing. Do whatever it takes to make sure everyone is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. That’s what leaders do.”
• “If you stand together and face your challenges head on, you and your fellow sailors and Marines will be a force for good throughout the world. May you always be officers worthy not only of the people you lead, but the nation you serve.”
Newly commissioned officers from the Naval Academy Class of 2014 celebrate the conclusion of their graduation and commissioning ceremony with the traditional hat toss at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Armando Gonzales
General Colin Powell, Former secretary of state, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and national security advisor, delivered the commencement speech at High Point University in North Carolina.
Some of the highlights, courtesy High Point University:
• We complain a lot today about politics and politicians and often for good reason. But we can’t sit around waiting for superman or superwoman to come in 2014 or 2016. We the people are the supermen and the superwomen. We are the deciders.”
• “As you go through life, listen to the other side. Have your eyes and your ears and your heart open to counterviews so we can get back what makes this country great in the political sense – the ability to compromise with each other and not just freeze ourselves on a spectrum of political desire from the right or from the left.”
• “ Don’t stand on the sidelines complaining and moaning; speak out and vote. If you’re going to be a responsible citizen in this country, get qualified and make sure that you get registered and vote every single chance you get.”
• “If you don’t like what your elected representatives are doing, vote them out. If you do like what they are doing, then vote them in.”
• “Go forth and raise strong families remembering that all you can ever leave behind is your reputation, your good works and your children for the next generation.”
• “Let your dreams be your only limitation.”
The commander-in-chief is slated to deliver commencement addresses at three educational institutions: West Point Military Academy, Worcester Technical High School and the University of California, Irvine.
The First Lady, in a commencement address to Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, reminded students of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, commended students and residents on their resilience and determination to rebuild their school and their community but, most of all, she focused on the history, obstacles and challenges faced by and the importance of education to African Americans — how “it was illegal for a slave to learn to read or write”
The First Lady recalled the words of “Emperor,” a man born into slavery, but who went on to educate himself and become a freeman. According to the First Lady, when the cornerstone to New Orleans University was laid, Emperor said:
For twenty years I was a slave on these streets. It was a penitentiary offense to educate a Negro. I have seen my fellow-servants whipped for trying to learn; but today here I am [am I], speaking where a building is to be erected for the education of the children of my people…I wonder if this is the world I was born in.
The First Lady admonished the graduates to pay back the sacrifices made by their parents and ancestors, by “making those same kinds of sacrifices and investments for the next generation. And I know sitting here right now, that task could seem a bit overwhelming. I know it could seem like the deck is stacked way too high against our young people. And the truth is that some of the problems we face — structural inequality, schools that lag behind, workplace and housing discrimination — those problems are too big for one person to fix on their own.”
She continued, “But that’s still no excuse to stand on the sidelines. Because we know that today, education is still the key to real and lasting freedom — it is still true today. So it is now up to us to cultivate that hunger for education in our own lives and in those around us. And we know that hunger is still out there — we know it.”
“No dream is too big, no vision is too bold,” she said “As long as we stay hungry for education and let that hunger be our North Star, there is nothing, graduates, nothing, that we cannot achieve.”
Lead Photo: Midshipmen cheer as the U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, fly overhead during the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2014 graduation and commissioning ceremony. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nathan A. Wilkes)
All photos, unless otherwise indicated: DOD
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.