Valedictory Address

“Valedictory Address” (28 May 1988):1-4. (UA Case 68, Box 1)

The Challenges facing today’s graduates have never been greater, early in this century people looked at earth and saw it as a planet for the taking. Today we must change our view and see it as a planet for the saving.

Acid rain, the depletion of the ozone layer, pollution in the ground water, industrial, toxic, and nuclear waste, the destruction of the rainforests. All these things threaten the delicate balance.

When you combine the environmental problems with such social dilemmas as unemployment, terrorism, racial intolerance, AIDS, starvation, poverty, rampant crime and the continuing build-up of and proliferation of both conventional and nuclear weapons then the future of this island earth looks bleak. There is a real danger that the highest form of life on this planet may become the cockroach by default.

The question we must answer today is what are we going to do about it. Are we going to march out of this field house, strip off our caps and gowns, get down into the mud and grime and wrestle these problems into submission. Are we going to devote our careers, our futures, our lives to ensuring that this weary water planet, third from the sun keeps right on spinning long after we’re gone. Are we?

No we’re not, a few might, but face it, this kind of work doesn’t pay a lot of money, it won’t pay the mortgage on the house in the suburbs, it won’t get you that new car every three years and you’ll never own a Rolex watch.

So instead of actually doing something we’ll pretend, and pretending is something we humans do very well. When we drive by a pulp mill and see the pollution fill the air and pour into the sea, we’ll pretend it’s not the smell of the environment dying, we’ll say it’s the smell of men working.

And when the government tells us that we need 12 billion dollars worth of nuclear submarines to protect our sovereignty in the North we can all pretend that we really do need them because one never knows when the United States might lose the formula to ice and want to steal ours.

And when we see the faces of starving children on the T.V. screen we can pretend that we don’t throw away millions of tons of food every year, and we can pretend that the aid we do give doesn’t get through because the corrupt governments of these countries won’t allow it even if though we know in our hearts that it might take all of a week to over-thrown them if we wanted to.

So we’ll keep right on pretending but remember – sometime, maybe soon, the pretending is going to have to stop. If the ozone layer disintegrates, it’s going to be hard to pretend that skin cancer was something you really wanted your children to experience first-hand.

If the oceans die its going to be hard to pretend that you really thought there was too much fish in your diet anyway.

And if someone, somewhere, triggers a nuclear war, whether by design or by accident, it will be excruciatingly difficult that you wanted to spend your retirement vaporized into a gas puddle.

Yet, there remains room for optimism. We’re young, we’re educated, we’re capable but are we willing? We could turn away from the greed that permeates our society, we could turn away from the lies we tell ourselves and we could search for a new way. We could achieve so much, a lasting peace, we could shelter the homeless, and protect the weak. We could feed the hungry and cure the sick but enough of us have to want it and we have to want it badly. The desire for change must replace our passion for money.

In closing I would like to thank the entire class of 1988 and Melanie Bell in particular for allowing me the honor of being their valedictorian. On behalf of the class I would like to thank all the professors who have made our stay here so enjoyable, what you have given us we can keep for a lifetime.

Finally, as a fare-well I give you the words of Prince:

“It’s 2000 zero zero,
The party’s over,
Oops we’re out of time,
But tonight we’re gonna party
Like it’s 1999”