College degree confers special obligations upon its graduates
Harold Andersen, retired publisher of the Omaha World-Herald, was the speaker at UNL's December 21, 2002, graduation. Following is the text of his remarks.
About seven weeks ago, Chancellor Perlman invited me to give the commencement address today. Now when you're looking for a commencement speaker to fill what the chancellor referred to as "the important role" of speaking to some 1,200 graduates and you wind up seven weeks from this important date without a speaker, it raises a question, which I put to the chancellor: "How far down the list was I, Harvey?"
Chancellor Perlman, whose many admirable attributes include a quick wit, replied, "I contacted you just after President Bush turned us down."
Whatever my place on the invitee list, I enjoy any opportunity to play a role in the activities of this great university. Adding to my pleasure, of course, is the fact that a woman named Marian Battey Andersen today received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. I'm not quite sure yet how this will play on the home front. Perhaps "Is breakfast ready, Doctor Andersen?" That sound properly respectful, Marian?
More seriously, Marian has been a full partner in anything I have been able to accomplish this past half century, and I am very proud and very happy that she is receiving this recognition from a university which we both attended and to which we owe so much in terms of our preparation here for whatever we have accomplished since graduation.
I want to talk first about you, the mid-year graduating class of 2002, and what you have brought to the university. A quality university must have a quality student body, including a goodly portion of the "best and the brightest" of high school graduates in Nebraska and those we can attract from other states and other countries
I'm told that among those receiving degrees today, approximately 79 percent are Nebraska residents, 11 percent are residents of other states and 10 percent come to us from other countries. About 27 percent of you are receiving advanced degrees.
All of you have been a part of that quality student body which a quality university must have. By your persistent effort, you have become what might be called survivors of the rigorous process which leads to a college degree. When I speak of survivors, keep in mind this fact: In the case of you who arrived on the campus five years ago, more than half of the students who were freshmen with you are not graduating with you today. Incidentally, I'm told that the retention rate of students from year to year is going up - an encouraging development.
Nationwide, on average, only about 24 percent of students starting out as kindergartners wind up receiving college degrees.
This might be an appropriate time to ask how many of you are the first in your family to receive a college degree. Please raise your hands. Special congratulations to you and your families.
I was the first in my family to receive a college degree, and I remember what a source of pride that was to other family members as well as, of course, to me.
As you start to enjoy the special status that goes with a college degree, give thought and thanks to those who have helped you to achieve that special status: parents, spouses in some cases, taxpayers of the State of Nebraska and the faculty of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in all cases.
And think also of the special obligations that go with that special status of college-degree holder - obligations you can best meet by using all that you've learned here in a way that brings credit not only to yourselves but also to the University. Nothing is more rewarding to a university - and nothing is more important to a university - than to see its alumni pursue life paths of which both the alumni and the university can be proud.
There are, of course, other ways you can repay your alma mater: by being active in the alumni association, by financial support as your economic resources allow (the kind of financial support which has made possible a good measure of the quality education which is available on this campus) and in the political arena.
Early in January, the Nebraska Legislature will convene in a session in which, one legislator has predicted, difficult economic conditions will require "cutting into the heart and soul of the state government and the university." You simply cannot cut "into the heart and soul" of the University of Nebraska - the most important public institution in this state - without causing serious immediate as well as long-term damage.
I would suggest that all those assembled here today, those in the audience as well as graduates, give thought to the budget problems facing the university in the coming legislative session and that you consider contacting the state officials who will be involved in the budget-setting process - including your state legislator - in urging that they give very careful consideration to the university's funding needs. Some of you might feel persuaded to recommend, as I do, that in addition to necessary spending reductions, the Legislature consider increasing some tax rates and extending taxes to some items and services currently exempt.
I realize that talk of a possible tax increase is considered politically incorrect in some circles, but it is a possibility I believe we must talk about.
You probably expect a commencement speaker to offer some words of advice. I'm not going to put that proposition to a vote of approval or disapproval by a show of hands, but I will try to be brief.
Perhaps the most heartfelt advice I can give you: Remember that Nebraska is a splendid place to build a career and raise a family.
Many Nebraskans, including those who grew up here and others who have moved here, can testify to the fact that one can enjoy a rewarding life here, living among some of the nicest people to be found anywhere and, in some cases, using a Nebraska base for meaningful involvement in national and sometimes international matters of some importance.
Some of you will seek advanced degrees in other states or choose a career path which starts in another state. I urge you to keep open the option of returning here, and I offer as a splendid example of successful return a native Nebraskan named Harvey Perlman. Raised in York, Nebraska. Earned his bachelor's and law degrees at UNL.
After nine years on the faculty of the University of Virginia Law School, he returned to Nebraska to become dean of the University of Nebraska Law College. After outstanding performance as law college dean and in other important positions on the Lincoln campus, native Nebraskan Harvey Perlman now serves as the 19th chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Additional advice: I hope and would expect that most of you have a high standard of ethics. If not, adopt a personal code of ethics and stick to it unflinchingly.
The other day I asked two leading Nebraska businessmen what message I should deliver today. Both quickly replied that my remarks should include emphasis on ethics. One of the businessmen, Walter Scott, chairman emeritus of Peter Kiewit Sons' Incorporated, observed that you can spend a lifetime building a reputation and destroy it in a figurative or literal minute.
Walter Scott said it's "not just a question of protecting your reputation." Important also is the personal satisfaction, the inner glow, that comes from a belief in, and the practice of, absolute honesty and fair dealing.
As a final piece of advice, some words from Warren Buffett. Buffett, as I think most of you know, is perhaps the most respected business investment expert in the United States if not the world. What you may not know is that Warren Buffett is a proud graduate of this university. He said he was happy to respond to my request for some help with this commencement address because, he said, "I love the university, and I love Nebraska."
So some advice from Omahan Warren Buffett to this graduating class:
Let's assume that a genie appears and tells each of you that as a graduation gift, he is going to give you any car you want-Rolls Royce, Ferrari, whatever.
Of course, you would say, "What's the catch?"
The catch is that this is the only car you are ever going to get in your lifetime. That inspires you to read the owner's manual a dozen times, get the oil changed regularly, take very good care of your one-and-only lifetime car.
Remember that you get exactly one mind and one body that must last a lifetime. At age 60, if you didn't take care of that little dent a long time ago - it will have started rusting.
Take at least as good care of yourself as you would of your once-in-a-lifetime car.
Good advice from a fellow UNL graduate named Warren Buffett.
Let's close on a celebratory note, with special congratulations to those who have earned advanced degrees or are honors graduates.
You've worked hard to get to this day. Celebrate it and what it represents with family and friends, then prepare to embark on a journey even more challenging than the one you have just completed.
My congratulations and my very best wishes to each of you as you start that post-graduation journey.
