To the class of 2023, 

You have done it!

After hours in the library, and the cafeteria. After time with your roommates, classmates, and all of your other friends, you have done it…

Some of you have been active on the field or on the court on the diamond or on the course. You have won, and you have lost, but you have performed as champions along the way…

Some of you have engaged in creating great new pieces of art, written new code, solved some of the most complex mathematical equations, and participated in scientific experiments that will lead us to understanding more of the world around us…..

Some of you have delved into the histories of humankind, reflected on the great pieces of literature, and participated in the moving pieces of music and theater that have stirred emotions for all who have enjoyed your performances.

And many of you have discovered your voices from civic, and political, and social perspectives…

All while completing your degrees at Guilford College. 

You have done it - and for that all of us faculty, staff, administrators, partners, friends, and others gathered here, are immensely proud of each and every one of you.

Might I ask that everyone gathered here today gives all of our graduates a round of applause.

Founded in 1837, Guilford College….very soon to be your alma mater… is a place where change happens, and where we aim to provide you with the skills to create such change. Our size as an institution enables us to walk with you during your academic journey - and not only watch you as students learn and grow, but also enables all of us to learn and grow with you. Those of us working here recognize that the journey of education is a life-long one, and it is one that is best done when in partnership with others. We are grateful that we have been able to be on that journey with you for the past several years.

Now, I have a little bit of a confession to make to all of you. A few days ago, while working on this graduation speech,  I found myself trying to recall what my college president said when I graduated thirty-one years ago. I thought long and hard, and I realized …that I wasn’t able to remember anything that he shared. Not…One…Single…Thing.

So I asked around…colleagues, friends, relatives….and no one seemed to remember what their president said at their graduations either. This is not to suggest that their words were of little importance, but the truth of the matter is that today is about you and your families, and your friends. So with that acknowledgement, let me share 2-3 brief thoughts with you today - and I promise to keep them brief…and I will hope that maybe, just maybe…you’ll remember them at some point.

First, look around. See who is sitting next to you. Find a roommate who you lived with at some point over the past few years. Take a photo with that person. Exchange emails. Give a hug or a handshake. Most importantly, stay in touch…This community you have created over the past few years, the community of Guilford College, class of 2023 is yours and yours alone. Each of you has a bond with one another that no one else can share, please use that bond for the rest of your lives.    

Second, please take some time to appreciate those who were the loud and the quiet champions for you. Your mentors, and parents, and professors who spent that additional time with you, your coaches and conductors, anyone who proved that through word and deed that they believed in you. As you move forward, continue to reach out for guidance and advice. Continue to draw upon their guidance, and continue to make them proud to know that the investment of time and love that they put into you will have a payoff for generations to come.

There is a poster in the living room of Ragsdale House, which is the house on campus where I live with my family. The poster has a quote from Robert Kennedy, made during a visit to Apartheid-era South Africa in 1966. I share a mildly adapted quote from it:

“.... Each time a person stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against an injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Which brings me to my third and final thought, Create ripples of hope. I think about all of the issues of concern when I graduated in the early 1990s: rising xenophobia, increasing rates of poverty, concerns of global warming and environmental sustainability and I think about some of the optimism that my classmates and I had. We were going to go out and fix all of these issues, and then fix a whole lot more.

As I look at the big issues of today, which sadly are many of the same that my classmates and I encountered, I sometimes think that the ripples my generation of graduates created were not big enough or creative enough to create the world that we wanted you to experience. I realize that there is much work that the graduates of the 1990s still have to do, but I am thrilled that we now have the graduates of the early 2020 as collaborators, and willing partners to continue to build those ripples. I am personally excited that you, members of Guilford College’s class of 2023 will be with us to continue to build those waves and make this world a much better place for all.

I’m looking forward to continuing our journeys… together.

To this class of 2023, Guilford College’s class of 2023 I offer you my deepest congratulations. We are all very proud of you, and we are expecting great things from you.