Summer 2002
A Call for Optimism
Brown University President Simmons Urges Audience
to Embrace Difference and Challenge Beliefs
An estimated crowd of nearly 20,000 graduates,
friends, and family gathered on the Ellipse and basked in the brilliance
of a lightsome, breezy morning to watch as The George Washington University
celebrated spring Commencement May 19. The serene morning matched a
message of optimism and understanding, a decided contrast to an academic
year earlier marred by horror and hatred.
Brown University President Ruth Simmons addressed the students eagerly
awaiting the conference of their degrees. In her address, Simmons suggested
that it is not the differences in the world that threaten the safety
and security of our lives. Instead, Simmons said that it’s the
fear of our differences that “endangers the future,” and the
terror of Sept. 11 only serves to reaffirm her belief.
This graduating class will forever be touched by the events in New York,
Washington, and Pennsylvania, Simmons told the crowd. She urged graduates
not to turn away from the world. Instead she counseled them to embrace
the differences and opposing viewpoints. Simmons suggested that in testing
their beliefs before opposition, they would discover truth.
To illustrate her point, Simmons recalled a classroom debate that steeled
her belief in testing her assumptions.
“As a college student, I was an ardent opponent of apartheid in
South Africa,” recalled Simmons. “One day in a Greek philosophy
class that I was in the discussion turned to the moral dilemma of apartheid.
Like you, when I was your age I was supremely confident that I had all
the answers, that I knew everything. In this class there was heated
debate, as one would expect, with the entire class taking the position
that apartheid was a bankrupt, immoral, and untenable practice.
“But suddenly in the middle of the discussion a quiet girl, speaking
very softly, who was a white South African, spoke up defending the rights
of white South Africans. She ended her comments by saying, ‘It’s
our country, too.’
“There was stunned silence in the classroom and my own silence
was the loudest of all. Today I cannot recall the names or words of
any of the students who held views similar to my own, but this young
woman and her words have haunted my memory since that vivid day over
30 years ago. I still don’t agree with her point, but I know she
forced me to dig deeper and to test more rigorously my assumptions.”
Simmons urged the audience to the remember that “some of the most
salient moments of learning take place in the presence of difference,
for it is difference itself that highlights truly what we know and what
we do not know.”
To conclude her remarks Simmons issued a call to the graduates. “Ours
is a fragile, but steely, humanity. Your lives, believe me, will reflect
that fragility. We look to you to understand and assert with exuberance
the joy and purpose of living and the possibilities of using this excellent
education to the best advantage. Go into your communities and fight
for the things we will need to secure our humanity. … I wish you
contentment and enduring peace, the deep satisfaction that accompanies
a life honorably, courageously, and joyously lived, and success in the
human arts.
The night before graduation marked Monumental Celebration, the University’s
traditional commencement eve party at the historic Union Station. Kicking
off the gala was the Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner, where James
Ziglar, Ruth Cooper Burg, Ya-Qin Zhang, Elliott C. Roberts, Kenneth
P. Moritsugu, and William A. Owens received this year’s honors.
Guests at Monumental Celebration grooved to the strains of Odyssey in
the great hall and GW’s own King James and the Serfs of Swing rocked
the house on the second stage. Professional swing dancers Tom Koerner
and Debra Sternberg thrilled crowds as King James pumped out the big-band
sounds of the ’40s.
In addition to the music and dancing, guests enjoyed caricature and
balloon artists, fortune tellers, and face painters.
The following week on May 26, before Law School graduates, former Senator
George Mitchell (D–ME) focused on the motivations that drive us
to succeed.
“For most human beings, life is in essence a never-ending search
for respect,” Mitchell told the crowd gathered in the Smith Center.
“First and most important self respect, then the respect of others.
There are many ways to achieve respect, but for me none is more certain
and rewarding than service to others. … Real fulfillment in your
life will come from striving with all of your physical and spiritual
might for a worthwhile objective that helps others and is larger than
your self interest. I hope that each of you is fortunate enough to find
such an objective in your life.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
