In his commencement address at Lehigh University, filmmaker Ken Burns told cap-and-gown-clad collegians to be wary of “a worrisome fundamentalism we rightfully decry in the larger world that has been creeping into our own normally tolerant and progressive society. Be on guard.”
Finally, he exclaimed, “Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within this favored land. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothing to do with the actual defense of our country—they just make our country worth defending”; and, “Thankfully, you will become a vanguard against this new separatism that has infected our ranks, a vanguard against those who, in the name of our great democracy, have managed to diminish it.”
Burns ended his speech with a story about his daughter’s acceptance essay to college. When asked what she would bring to the college, she responded; the Beatle’s album, Abbey Road. Hence, Burns told the grads to take heed and comfort in this album because, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Listen carefully children; don’t forget to grow a beard, smoke some pot, don some bell bottoms and purchase a VW bug. These actions will all make you a marketable job seeker in the year 2006. Moreover, certainly “be on guard,” but do the right thing!
In sum, Lehigh University is a stalwart academic institution whose students are pushed academically and where grade inflation is non-existent. Unequivocally, most students who attend love the school. Moreover, while Lehigh leans to the left as an institution by subsidizing typical liberal malcontents like Michael Moore and Al Sharpton, they also open their campus to conservatives such as David Horowitz. Nevertheless, for the astronomical tuition, the grads deserved a more meritorious address on their big day. Not a tiresome, gratuitous caterwaul. Burns certainly had the talent to stimulate, entertain and cajole the grads.
Sadly, President Bush couldn’t be there; the one whom academics revile. If he were, the graduates would have heard a historically accurate and compelling oration, like the WestPoint cadets were privy to. Following is a part of that address, “Now the Class of 2006 will enter the great struggle—and the final outcome depends on your leadership. The war began on my watch—but it’s going to end on your watch. Your generation will bring us victory in the war on terror. My call to you is this: Trust in the power of freedom, and be bold in freedom’s defense. Show leadership and courage—and not just on the battlefield. Take risk[s], try new things, and challenge the established way of doing things. Trust in your convictions, stay true to yourselves—and one day the world will celebrate your achievements…May God bless you, and the Class of 2006.” Thank you President Bush!
Michelle Natale is a teacher, member of AIA and resides in Northern Virginia.
