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As Delivered
Regent University Commencement Address Virginia
Beach, Virginia May 10, 2003
Thank you, Dr. [M.G. Pat] Robertson [President &
Chancellor of Regent University], for that warm introduction.
Good morning!
Graduates, parents, and especially motherslets not forget
that tomorrow is Mothers Daytrustees, faculty, friends and
family
I am delighted to join you today for the commencement of Regent
Universitys largest graduating class to date824 strong!
What started out as one small campus in Virginia Beach today has
expanded to Washington, D.C. and the world. I understand that you have 87
graduates from 30 foreign countries. And 26 graduates traveled all the way from
South Korea just to be here at todays commencement.
I want to recognize Dr. Robertson for his leadership in building this
great institution of higher education. I salute the administrators, students,
parents and supporters who have helped make Regent what it is today. And I want
to pay special tribute to the faculty. You do much more than impart knowledge.
You give your students something of your self, your experience and your
life.
The growth of Regent University shows just how hungry the world is for
scholarship that is founded upon faith.
Indeed, the union of scholarship and faith is as old as the oldest
universities in this nation and many of the oldest universities in the
world.
An anonymous author once noted that Socrates and Aristotle taught for 40
years. Plato taught for fifty years. Jesus taught for only 3 years.
Yet compare the reach and influence of Christs three years of
teaching to the combined 130 years of teaching by the greatest philosophers of
antiquity.
Both philosophy and knowledge speak to the mind. But faith alone speaks
to the heart. In Washington, they say that knowledge is power. But we know that
faith offers more than power. It offers strength, peace and
hope.
When scholarship and faith act in concertwhat a
powerful combination for good in the world!
This insight forms the basis of Regents curriculum. When people
enrich their faith with knowledgeand leaven their knowledge with
faiththey become more useful both to God and to their fellow men and
women.
They are able to better connect the ideal with the practical.
They are able to define and pursue the ethical imperatives of their
beliefsmuch like our Nations Founders did.
And they are able to bring human warmth and spiritual fire to the
ideology of the intellect.
The worldas we find it in 2003is in great need of people
like this
people like all of you.
You are about to enter a world that is hungry for spirituality and
truth, yet hesitant to embrace these qualities.
You can see this resistance played out in reactions to our
Presidents Christian faith. On the one hand, some find his expressions of
faith alarming and raise fears about the separation of church and state.
Others are frankly taken aback when the President says that liberty is a
gift from God. They seem to have forgotten that this view is part of the
Declaration of Independence.
Some find it strange that the first thing President Bush reads each
morning is not the Washington Post, but My Utmost
for His Highest.
And others are uncomfortable when the president articulates moral
judgments, such as describing terrorists as evildoers. They feel
such pronouncements have no place in the exercise of foreign policy.
Yet even those who dont understand the language of faith, find
themselves admiring the sincerity of the Presidents faith.
They appreciate the qualities that flow from faith: the Presidents
decency, his gift of compassion and his clear resolve.
The Presidents moral compass is clearly reflected in his
leadership on social issues, but also in his reforms directed against corporate
financial wrongdoing.
He meets with ex-convicts and former welfare mothers, who share their
feelings about how government-aided, faith-based programs changed their lives
through the power of God.
He made educationand the promise that no child will be left
behindhis number one domestic priority.
And he has spoken out forcefully for tolerance of other religious
traditions, and welcomed men and women of all faiths into the White House.
You might ask: how is all of this relevant to me today?
After you graduate and begin or resume your professional lives, many of
you will encounter skepticism about your faith.
What the world needs from you is the living expression of the
mercy that touched the lepers.
The integrity that removed the money-changers from the
Temple.
The inclusiveness that spoke to the Samaritan woman at the
well.
And the compassion that exhorted us to visit the sick and the
prisoner.
I dont want you to think, however, that in order to make a
difference you have to aspire to be President of the United States or a cabinet
member.
Every calling is equally important and every act of kindness or goodness
is equally great.
The wonderful thing about individual acts of kindness and goodness is
how they combine to produce unexpected results.
Let me give you a personal example.
I am standing here today as a Cabinet Secretary because of the courage
of my parents, the kindness of many strangers and the generosity of a Christian
university.
My father, an American of Chinese descent, had left China in 1949 amidst
a civil war. In the chaos of leaving his homeland, he was unable to bring his
university transcript with him. In fact, he wasnt able to bring very much
with him at all. After he married, my parents decided to try to come to this
country because they wanted to give their children the freedom and opportunity
that America provides to everyone.
Education is very important in Asian culture. So when my father came to
America, he wanted to pursue an advanced degree. But a number of well-known
American universities would not admit him because he had no transcriptno
concrete proof that he had graduated from a university.
Then, one day, through some newfound acquaintances, my father met Father
Easterlya local Catholic parish priest who was also an Executive Vice
President of St. Johns University. He listened to my fathers story.
And even though my family was not Catholic, Father Easterly arranged for my
father to get an interview with the Dean at St. Johns Universitya
Catholic institution in New York.
Despite the fact that my father couldnt produce a transcript, St.
Johns believed in him and admitted him to graduate school. My father
worked very hard and went on to earn a graduate degree. That expertise was key
to building a better life for his family. My family and I will always be
grateful in ways that words alone cannot express. If St. Johns
hadnt been there for my father, I dont think Id be standing
here before you today.
St. Johns accepted my father because it understood that education
is more than a collection of facts and figures to be memorized and recited for
exams. Like Regent Universityit educates the
whole person and teaches that we are
all responsible to a higher power. That philosophy allows Christian
universities to go far beyond other institutionswhich like Doubting
Thomasneed proof before they will take a chance and believe.
As graduates of Regent University, you understand that faith gives us
the ability to trust.
You know that faith cuts through the fog of perception, to reveal what
is really there.
And you recognize that faith gives us the courage to keep trying, no
matter how many times we fail.
After you graduate today, one thing is certain: all of us will make
mistakes. But the important thing to remember is that in Gods plan there
is always a second chanceand many more if you need it. If you stumble,
pick yourself up and keep going.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You are already blessed in that you have received a great education and
a set of core values to guide you through life.
There is no more precious gift than that.
As you leave here today, I want you to remember one more thing:
whateveryou do, do it with your whole heart.
As someone who has climbed the ranks in the public, private and
non-profit sectors, I can tell you that success is in the details. Success is
doing each small task well, as if nothing else mattered.
So thank you for inviting me to share with you this special day of
commitment, renewal and achievement. God bless each of you as you embark on
your exciting new journey. And God bless America.
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