Commencement 2004 Message: Build On The Dream

The University of Cincinnati class of 2004 celebrated UC’s 185th commencement on June 11, the first UC graduates to receive a sendoff from President Nancy L. Zimpher. President Zimpher told the 3,923 graduates that the occasion is one of the most rewarding events of the year – a transformation as the graduates enter a new stage of life as UC alumni and join more than 200,000 living UC alums.

“You have pulled your last all-nighter, and hopefully eaten your last slice of cold pizza for breakfast, you’ve procrastinated on a class assignment for the last time by watching “American Idol,” you’ve dropped off that long overdue library book you discovered under your bed, you’ve made your last detour around UC construction,” she said to rousing applause, adding that the transformation of campus gave graduates a great foundation for dealing with change.

President Zimpher said the class of 2004 represented 37 different states and 52 different countries, and that although they came to UC from near and far, they’re welcome to make Cincinnati their home.

In his greeting to the class of 2004, Phillip R. Cox, chairman of the UC Board of Trustees, advised students to take risks and to take chances. “Understand if you’re not living on the edge you’re probably taking up too much space. Understand that security, as Helen Keller tells us, exists nowhere in nature. The thought of it is mere superstition. The fly that doesn’t want to be swatted is safest when it’s on the fly swatter. The idea, the concept of seeking security, can enter the house of your mind as a guest, it becomes a host, and ultimately it can become your master.

“Regret for the things that we do can be tempered over time,” Cox continued. “Regret for the things we do not do is ultimately inconsolable. I wish each of you the courage and the character to do what you ought to do, the wisdom and the judgment to do it when you ought to do it, and the tenacity and fortitude to live with whatever it is that you’ve done.”

Human rights activist Coretta Scott King delivered the commencement address, asking graduates to keep their eyes, ears, hearts and minds open to new opportunities but to also remember their conscience and compassion. She asked the graduates not to be swayed by the temptations of a materialistic society, but to remember that building on a commitment to serve will be as personally fulfilling to the giver as those being served.

King asked graduates to “always speak out against bigotry whenever it emerges,” telling them that if they make that commitment, their lives will grow in meaning, purpose and mobility. She called for the graduates to get involved in efforts to reduce violence in society, explaining that nonviolence was not just a behavior, but an attitude that “we bring to the breakfast table, keep throughout the day and take to bed at night.”

She asked the UC graduates to become global citizens and work toward policies to benefit impoverished people around the world. In what she called a crucial election year, she told students that young voters have the potential to make history, and she asked the graduates to “never forget that people have sacrificed and suffered and bled and died so that you can vote. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem.

“And as you go forward and make your mark into the world, I would ask you to remember the dreamer and to become dreamers yourselves,” King continued “The torch of leadership is being passed to your generation, and the world is counting on you to light the way forward to a brighter future. Rise up now and lead our world to a greater destiny.

“Rise up and create a new world community in which people of all races, religions and nations can live in peace and natural harmony as our creator intended. When this glorious day dawns on humankind, we will not only be sharing the dream, we will be living it.”

Watch a Webcast of Commencement 2004

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