Before I begin, I want to enlist your help with something. In February, at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Senator Sessions—who went to the University of Alabama law school—leaned over and whispered something in my ear. I've been thinking about what he said ever since, and I still don't know what he meant. Maybe you can help me figure it out. He said, "Roll, tide, roll!"

The Crimson Tide has been on the winning side of the scoreboard many times. As graduates, today is your day on the right side of the scoreboard. And, just like your great football, basketball, baseball, and gymnastics teams marching to victory, your arrival here today required a team effort. Congratulations on your achievement.

I also want to recognize those who helped you along the way: parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and friends. Academic achievement requires a committed team, not just a committed student. When you think about it, hundreds have served so that you could receive your diploma today and the opportunities that come with it.

I wish I could say that all of the students in our country had the advantages and the support that helped most of you get here today. I wish I could say that they all had access to excellent schools and a quality education. I wish I could say that the states and the federal government were fulfilling their obligation to our children. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. At the same time that we sit here as products of the finest system of higher education in the world, nearly 70% of inner city and rural fourth graders cannot read at even a basic level. An achievement gap between minority and disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers divides our classrooms and our communities. It's not the kids' fault; they depend on adults to help them learn, and we've failed too many of them.

But there is cause for optimism. President Bush's Administration and Congress have been working hard on a bipartisan bill to change the culture of education by making our schools accountable for results. In Washington, members of the House and the Senate are working to settle their differences over the legislation. If the House and Senate can resolve their differences properly, they will give school districts more flexibility, parents more options, and teachers more effective methods.

But the real work will be done not in Washington but in Tuscaloosa and Mobile and Birmingham and Huntsville and every other city and town in America. It will be done by teachers and principals and parents working together to make sure that every child learns.

All of you, whether you like it or not, are adults now. Because you are adults, the children of your community will depend on you for a sound education. And you can help all of them have the benefit of a good education. As citizens and community leaders, you can ensure that the schools in your communities leave no child behind. As parents, neighbors, church leaders, Big Sisters, scoutmasters, foster parents, social workers, volunteer tutors, or school board members, you can help ensure that every child has advice, discipline, and positive role models.

Now let me urge you to do something very specific. This applies to all of you, and it is based on the latest research in cognitive development. Children begin to develop cognitive skills long before they start school—even in the first year of life. They need to hear the sound of words, especially words that are enunciated clearly and slowly. So here is what you can do.

Take the time to talk and listen to a child. Read with her. Surround her with books. Help her put names on things in her environment. Do these things, and she will build a firm foundation of skills and knowledge that will help her learn to read and be a success when she does enter school. Make reading part of your everyday life. Show children that you enjoy learning. Seeing adults who read or visit the library makes a positive impression on a child. If we value reading, so will our children.

Help a child develop vocabulary skills by talking to her, even in infancy, about what is going on in her environment. Tell her about your work and about things happening in your household, and help her learn about both reading and writing at home. Listening to a bedtime story, scribbling notes to family members, reading a cereal box or sign—these are ways to nurture a love of learning in a young child.

I know most of you don't have kids of your own yet. But you can still put this information to immediate use. Read to your nephews. Ask your neighbors' children to tell you a story. Engage the kids in the ice cream parlor in a conversation about the virtues of rocky road versus vanilla. Teach a kid the alphabet, and show him how you can use the letters to form words, like "Beat" and "Auburn."

This is my challenge to you today: Think about how you can use your education to serve others. As graduates of this great university, successful students and high achievers, you can make your success here mean something more than personal accomplishment. You can use it to improve the lives of children, the homeless, the sick, the elderly. I challenge you to put the interests of others alongside—or even before—your own. Use your education to enhance your own life and career, but also use it to help others.

I want to leave you with a verse from the Gospel of Luke:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

From your earliest days, you were given much, and that allowed you to make your way here. Today, you are given even more—a degree from the University of Alabama. You have been given a world of opportunity, and the tools to make that opportunity your own. And you have also been entrusted with much: an understanding of the world you live in, and the power to change it for the better. As you start the next phase of your life, think of what you have been given and what has been entrusted to you, and now think of how you can give it back.

Service doesn't have to be the centerpiece of your career. You may not be cut out for running a charity or a shelter. But service can still be the centerpiece of your life. You have a calling and an honorable one. It may take you a few years to discover it, and then it will take your whole life to satisfy it. Do your work well, and don't apologize for that. As long as you don't let your job become an excuse for hurting people, you should make no apology for doing what you love. But your responsibility to your community does not end with the workday. Be active in your neighborhood. Be faithful in your house of worship. Be loving to your family. Be on the lookout for those who need your help, or those who can't help themselves. Remember the talent, the strength, and the opportunity you have been given, and never forget that it has been entrusted to you for a purpose. Share it.

Thank you.

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