President Bassett's Speech

Those of us who are remaining in Worcester after today look forward to seeing you graduates take the meaning of Clark University out to the larger world. We know that you and Clark are inseparably bound. Your memories of Clark University will always be sources of inspiration, renewal, and rededication for you. Remember to visit Clark; send new students to Clark; remain loyal to a university that made a big difference in your life.

But also demand the best from this university.

The world will need you to "make a difference," to make our planet a better place for all who live in it. I challenge all graduates, first to build on your education productive careers in which you make the most of your natural gifts; but secondly to build a richly satisfying personal life with room for laughter but strength to confront sadness; and third to make a commitment to grow and continue learning for the rest of your life; and fourth to engage with your own community to make it a better place for your neighbor and yourself.

You go forth with plenty of opportunity to challenge convention and change your world for the better. Go forth also with Clark's original motto, "Fiat lux, or let there be light" as a challenge not only to bring the light of truth to others but also as a humble reminder that you, like your teachers and like your President here, still have new things to learn, new ways to understand your world.

For the last few years, my closing comments have focused on a world made politically unstable by 9/11 and the Iraq war. Today the world seems just as unstable politically but more unstable economically than it has been for 75 years, since your grandparents were young. You leave college with the same challenges your older brothers and sisters had five years ago, but with seemingly fewer opportunities to start your careers and lives, and challenge convention.

But you also go forward much better prepared to succeed in that world than most other people in America or in the world. If you've truly taken ownership of your education at Clark University, you not only have the broad knowledge, the communication, quantitative and analytical skills to be successful. You've also, if you have seized opportunities to work closely with faculty members, you know how to identify, define, and research a problem; and to design and implement a solution. Clark graduates are becoming known as those people who bring all the values of a liberal arts education together with the ability to solve problems outside the university.

We hear about our neighbors losing jobs in corporations and governments-and they are, but we also hear about young people at the same time-Clark graduates who are young innovators-who have successfully started a new theater, a new software firm, a microlending initiative. I have great faith in Clark students. To be sure I sometimes remind them that after leaving Clark they will have to be able to get out of bed before ten o'clock. But Clark students are resourceful. When they serve as interns and do projects for local companies and local agencies, I get glowing reports on their work.

What is it that makes Clarkies special? What at Clark prepared a Matt Goldman to start "Blue Man Group"? What prepared Hugh Panero not only to be a pioneer in satellite radio but at the same time, because of his solid commitment, to lead in the rescue and rebuilding of the poorest section of Washington, DC? What was the connection between Clark and Bishnu Pariyar when she started a wonderful microlending initiative in Nepal? How did Clark help prepare our own chairman, Bill Mosakowski, to his creative vision of a firm to provide consulting for the public sector equal to that for so long available for profit companies, and how did Clark prepare Bill and Jane to be so philanthropically generous in so many worthy places?

One thing that connects Clarkies is their passion. My first advice for all of you is follow your passion and develop the skills and knowledge to make a living and a life from your passion. Not every person passionate about music can be a Yo-Yo Ma or Wynton Marsalis, but he or she can build a life around music. Not every person passionate about international affairs can be Secretary of State, but she or he can build a life around international policy. You need to be flexible; you need to be innovative; you need to be an aggressive learner and a listener.

While making that living and that life, you will have opportunities to make your world a better place. Make your corner of the world a better place when you leave it than when you arrived. Speak truth to power. Have the courage to stand up for what is right, and the courage to change your mind if you learn you are wrong. Connect your passionate idealism with constructive action, but remember that the wrong you are trying to correct may not be about you but about those who are suffering. Don't confuse your own ego with their plight.

I don't need to remind you again you enter a world crying out for solutions to crises in health care, education, environmental degradation, social justice, hunger. You know that, even as you know that you have a life to live and a living to make. Keep your own health; keep your sense of humor; keep your fundamental values of fairplay and decency.

Warren Buffett once said that when he hires people he looks for brains, energy, and integrity. He also said that when someone does not have the third one, integrity, watch out for the first two. They're dangerous. We have seen too many gifted Americans full of brains and energy lose their integrity and without that they can challenge convention all they want but they won't change the world for the better. Like health, integrity is not replaceable by anything else.

Finally remember that success will depend not only on hard work, listening, and learning, but also on relationships. Whether your marriage and your family, your clients and your customers, your colleagues and your team members, or any other interaction, your capacity to build trust and confidence with other people will make a huge difference in how well you navigate through your living and your life. Success in living your career and your life will not only depend on being able to build healthy relationships with others-that is, it will not only depend on that-those relationships themselves are a great deal of what life is all about. I wish all of you well and I thank all of you for what you have given to Clark University while here as students. Thank you!