Wise Words

The UW System awarded approximately 8,000 degrees in winter commencement ceremonies in December. Many commencement speakers reflected on the Sept. 11 terrorism events in their remarks to graduates, while others touched on the road ahead for new graduates. Here is a sampling of those remarks . . .

Real Patriotism
September 11 offers a lesson for all of us. As you enter a new phase in your life, I ask you to think beyond your first professional job to your duty as a citizen-a member of this society who now bears a greater responsibility to this country ... This demands that we search deep inside ourselves to reinforce our fundamental moral and ethical values, to treat all people, regardless of race, color or creed, with love and respect.

-- Charles W. Sorensen, commencement speaker at UW-Stout. Sorensen is chancellor of UW-Stout.

What Can I Do?
Since September 11 people often ask me: What can I do? My response is: Go on a binge-a learning binge. That is the most patriotic thing you can do over the long haul. Become an involved citizen. Learn as much as you can about other religions, other countries, other societies, and learn a lot more about your own. Learn about the lives and the problems of people who are different from you.

-- David Obey, commencement speaker at UW-Stevens Point.
Obey has represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1969 and is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The World is Waiting
If any group of people can turn this world right side up, it has to be you. [Keep hope alive] not just for some, but for everyone, everywhere. The world is waiting for you with urgency. Go out there and do some good.

-- The Rev. R. Grace Imathiu, commencement speaker at UW-Green Bay. Imathiu, a native of Kenya, is senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Green Bay.

A Constant Education
I'll tell you something I learned along the way, and that's that you've only just begun, and you have to make sure that it's a constant, ongoing education. And that's how you stay young and very focused on things. So to this day, running this restaurant for the past 15 years, I still feel like I'm a student, and I base a lot of my drive and motivation on my experience here at this university-learning how to think critically, reading the great books, learning how to entertain multiple and even conflicting ideas at the same time, learning how to motivate people, learning about leadership.

-- Charlie Trotter, commencement speaker at UW-Madison.
Trotter, a UW-Madison alumnus and renowned restaurateur and master chef, owns and operates Charlie Trotter's, an award-winning Chicago restaurant.

Creating a Spiritually Rich Life
On the individual level, there is much you as graduates can do. The education you received is superb; more so because you were educated during a time when the Milwaukee Idea was conceived and implemented. Hopefully this has guided your thinking about the importance of involvement, of diversity, and of two-way learning, in creating a spiritually-in the broadest sense-rich life.

-- Jane Karadbil, commencement speaker at UW-Milwaukee. Karadbil is a former senior program analyst in the Office of University Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Reaching Back
Let me give you a piece of advice from a poet prince. Be humble. Begin your journey by reaching out to the people who sit here in your honor-the people who changed your diapers, paid your bills, rose at 5 a.m. for generations to take care of the livestock. When we dropped you off at college for the first time and faced an empty seat at the dinner table, and listened to the silence emanating from the same room where you annoyed us by perpetually tying up the phone, it was like a death in the family. And although some of us get second chances, there are no guarantees. Today-not tomorrow, today-search the caverns of your heart for the true musical prince. Throw your arms around the people who introduced you to those magical spots.

-- Geoff Scheurman, commencement speaker at UW-River Falls. Scheurman is a professor of teaching education and UW-River Falls' Distinguished Teacher.