Commencement Addressmore than twenty years ago, a very wise man took me under his wing and would serve as my political mentor for the first seven years of my tenure on the Buffalo Common Council. His name was Delmar Mitchell and he remains a close friend and trusted confidante even to this day. Standing before you today, I am reminded of some advice he gave me just before I gave a graduation speech to a grammar school class. He told me that a commencement speaker was a lot like the corpse at an old-fashioned Irish wake. It was necessary for the party but it wasn't expected to say very much. I have kept that wisdom squarely in mind in determining the length of my remarks this evening. Actually though, there is quite a bit to say ... about both the accomplishments that bring you to this arena tonight, and the challenges that await you in the world tomorrow. First, about your achievements ... it is a rare privilege for me to be asked to provide appropriate remarks for what is surely the most important moment of your lives to date. It has been a quarter century since I graduated from Canisius College with a reputation more for what I did on the basketball court than in the classroom. And as hard as I worked to achieve that reputation, I had to work even harder to be counted among the class of '69. So I have a considerable appreciation of what it took for you to reach this moment. You have done much, overcome much, and sacrificed much to attain the recognition conveyed with your diploma tonight. Your reward for that dedication, that diligence, that determination will be the right and the responsibility to step out into a work that is going to demand even more of your talent, your courage, and your energy. You will soon learn the universal truth that to whom much has been given, more will be demanded. Some -- those who yearn and strive simply for an easy life -- might find that truth disturbing. Others, like me -- and I hope like you -- would rather strive to make a contribution, to effect positive change, to improve the human condition, no matter what the obstacles life places in our way. It is only in the life of challenge, in the pursuit of excellence, in the quest for quality -- that we can ever hope to find the personal satisfaction that will be the immutable fingerprint of our lives. There can be little doubt that the path of least resistance will give us lives of ease, and perhaps even lives of comfort. But the Eighties was one of the most destructive decades in this nation's history precisely because is was predicated on building lives of ease and comfort while ignoring lives of quality. It would be nice if the world could sustain us in such lives, but we know it can't. It would be nice if the world gave but didn't take. And it would be nice if the world conveyed and didn't require. But we know the world to be a much different place: much different from the beautiful ball of greens and blues and white swirls that the earth looks like from space. Here, there's a lot gray & black -- & too often blood -- mixed into the colors. There's a full measure of suffering mixed in with the joy; a lot of despair & disillusionment with the success; and a huge helping of pain with the promise. Guns ... violence ... hopelessness ... the American urban landscape shattered with senseless, random killing ... the future punctuated by the tragic stories of young girls sexually active at age 10, bearing a child at 12, and dead at 14 ... of teenage suspect in three separate murders himself the victim of another teenage assassin. That's the world into which you venture today, armed only with an academic education and your own will to not just survive, but hopefully, to help others survive as well. If that perspective of American life in the '90s scares you -- it ought to. Ours is not a perfect world. For every Mother Theresa, there is a Hitler or a Stalin. For each Nelson Mandela, we must endure a Saddam Hussein. We can only hope that we can continue to produce courageous, dedicated, determined people like you to provide our world with hope -- hope, certainly, for a better future, hope, certainly, for the promise of tomorrow, but hope, just as certainly & more importantly, for today, for now, to attack the problems that threaten to overwhelm us long before we realize any glimpse of the future. You probably need no reminder that the gains we make and the achievements we realize in any human arena are rarely without suffering or sacrifice and ever without effort & energy. For we live in a world increasingly populated by too many people merely along for the ride; people: who hear without heeding; who read without responding; who confess without changing; who worship without witnessing; and who seek without sharing. We can ill-afford for you to rank among the safe. Instead, we need you to be people of quality, of caring, of concern, and of commitment. That's the kind of opportunity that awaits you as you leave the shelter of academia to match wits with the demands of the world. That's what I meant earlier when I said it was a privilege for me to render these remarks. We witnessed a decade of avarice & superficiality of unprecedented proportions in the 1980s. Don't let those hard-learned lessons be lost on you. We live in an age when man has gained virtual domination over the mysteries of space & time, We live in a continuing period of conquest over the forces of nature, and the fulfillment of age old challenges. But none of those advances have helped us become happier or more confident. Across the broadest spectrum of American life, we have seen the failure of material success to provide even temporary satisfaction. Teenage suicide, particularly among affluent families, is epidemic. Professional athletes are paid huge salaries only to turn to the solace of stimulation of drugs and booze. Families realize the dream of wealth only to be split by divorce and desperation. Why does this happen? For thousands of years, the collective wisdom of the ages has echoed a constant tone to guide us toward lasting happiness and personal fulfillment. The voices have varied but the message has remained constant. That echo tells us simply we best serve ourselves when we serve others. This essence of religious belief has been spoken by voices across the entire spectrum of faith: from Buddha to Jesus, from Muhammed to Hillel. We have heard that message preached since childhood but still we question its application to today's world. You have strived long and worked hard; longer and harder than most other graduates. You have sacrificed and endured. You have proven something valuable and important to all who know you and, more importantly, to yourself by aiming, working for, and achieving an important goal. But the meaning of what you have done will be diminished unless your work is channeled into the broadest possible good. You needn't be told that today's world demands more than ever that we best serve ourselves in service to others. Statistics just released by the Carnegie Institute warn that half of all American children under the age of three are at risk of abuse, poverty or lack of care. One-fourth of our babies are born to unwed mothers. One half of all children will experience a divorce during childhood. One quarter of infants and toddlers live in poverty. Babies less than a year old are the fastest growing age group in foster care. Forty per cent of 2-year-olds are not properly immunized. And one third of victims of physical abuse are babies less than a year old. That's a snapshot of the state of care for just those under three. The fundamental function of civilized society is to provide for the well-being of its most vulnerable citizens -- its very young and its very old. If we are doing such a dismal job with our young, can you imagine the human wreckage spread across the entire social landscape? When I was campaigning last year, I made what I thought was a simple pledge. I wanted to make every street in every neighborhood as safe for our oldest citizens as it was full of promise for our youngest. Faced with the reality of urban life in the Northeast, I now realize just how ambitious that promise has become. And I'll be honest with you -- some days I leave City Hall wondering how I can solve all the problems facing Buffalo. The answer, of course, is that I can't. On other days, -- days like today, -- I come face to face with Buffalo's future and I understand that what I can't do, WE can and WE must do for ourselves, for our city, and for each other. We have always had talent & energy & drive in Buffalo. What has been lacking is some fundamental leadership to empower people and restore their sense of partnership in forging the plan for our collective future. That's my mission. Let yours be to use your talent and creativity to build a better Buffalo today and realize the promise of a brighter future tomorrow. In searching for a fitting close to these remarks, I thought it might be appropriate to end with something that I remembered from the commencement speech rendered 25 years ago at my graduation. In doing so, I came to a sobering conclusion -- I couldn't remember anything that was said. I hope you will carry something more from this auditorium, and if you do let it be this simple fact: to serve yourselves, serve others; for service is the rent exacted for living; the very purpose of our lives and not something you do in your spare time or after reaching personal goals. Godspeed to you all and thanks for letting me be part of this special day. |