Here’s a little secret, grads: It doesn’t matter who is standing up there. The words that truly mattered have already been spoken; that’s why you’re in that seat today.
I always enjoy this time of year, as universities recruit commencement speakers to offer sage wisdom to graduates on their way into the real world. It’s fun to see who takes the stage. Some universities embrace thinkers. Others embrace celebrities. Many embrace potential donors.
I didn’t get any of those for my graduation. Eastern Illinois University didn’t exactly demand ‘star’ power from its commencement speakers.
I think the class directly following mine landed Judy Frasier, a semi-senile weather forecaster for the local CBS affiliate. Tonight Show regular and celebrity zookeeper (it was the 1970s, and there was such a thing) Joan Embery, an EIU alumna, spoke once, but she was not nearly as interesting without her animals in tow. I know Burl Ives, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer narrator and alumnus, promised to speak at some point, but never showed up.
And I once lobbied for EIU alumna and former champion of ladies professional wrestling The Fabulous Moolah, but my calls went unanswered by university officials.
In the end, the university still came through with a speaker and on my graduation day I sat in the audience and listened to David Jorns, EIU president.
Let me repeat that: My university’s search for a commencement speaker started, and ended, with the man in charge. Yes, a guy whose office I could have walked into at any point during my university career was the keynote. (I still wonder if I was expected to take advice from a man who ended up working in a town I desperately wanted to escape.)
Looking back, David did a great job filling those awkward 15 minutes between the official welcoming of friends and family and our marching across the stage.
But I have no idea what he said.
Years later, when I earned my master’s degree from Western, the wonderful Marlene MacLeish, a Morehouse School of Medicine professor and space travel/brain expert, delivered the address. Admittedly, I had to look her up to remember what she said as well.
Trust me, grads, it’s no big deal. Most of your parents don’t remember who spoke at their graduation.
From a student standpoint, it’s an odd tradition really – to be sent out into the world with the last words you hear from your university delivered by someone you haven’t seen during your time there. Really, when you get down to it, a commencement speaker is basically filler in a robe.
It’s a nice day for the speaker, and quite an honour. But the good ones know they are not the star of the show. In fact, they know the real stars are behind the graduates, a cast of thousands who deserve to deliver those final words far more.
So, if you are not interested in the address in front of you, I ask you take that time to remember those who have been behind you all these years.
Remember your family, who sacrificed so much for the last two decades to see you where you are today. Remember your friends, who supported you throughout and whose gifts you will carry for a lifetime. Remember your professors and the entire university support staff, who worked tirelessly in front of the class and behind the scenes to help you succeed.
And don’t forget to remember yourself. A university degree is not achieved without a certain amount of personal dedication and sacrifice. You could have been doing something else, perhaps something far more fun, but you chose a difficult, yet rewarding path. Today is your reward, and tomorrow your promise.
Sure, on this Big Day you’re facing the one getting the applause, but many of those who deserve it are sitting behind you. Take a moment to remember that.
And congrats to you, Class of 2012.