President Bristow, distinguished platform guests, faculty, students and friends, Thank you for the special honor of addressing this Commencement exercise. It is a genuine pleasure for me to be back on the Alcorn campus.

Every time I have been here I've been impressed with the warmth of the welcome I have received, but today you may have overdone it. There is always a courteous and friendly atmosphere here. I like the way everyone smiles and speaks to each other. It is refreshing and distinctive, and it helps make this a special place.

It is also special because of its unique history, and it is special because of its importance to the present generation, under the very capable and impressive leadership of President Clinton Bristow.

The last time I was here for a commencement, President George Bush was the speaker, and his presence attracted much favorable attention to Alcorn. Today, I am interested in talking not just about Alcorn's history but about the future, and the role this University can play in making the future better than the past.

Two examples of the potential for a brighter future come to mind. . . . The Alcorn debate team that won first place in the National Tournament sponsored by the Association of African American Honors Program; and the Basketball Team that won the Southwest Athletic Conference Championship. These examples are evidence of a competitive spirit on this campus, and the willingness to work hard to achieve your goals.

I believe other successes will follow for Alcorn students and for this University. There is the potential here of becoming a national center of excellence in biotechnology research to improve food production, agriculture techniques, and environmental quality.

The word is reaching the Congress and the executive branch of our government in Washington that at Alcorn there is an atmosphere of innovation and new opportunities for research that need to be explored. I intend to see that the University is included and not excluded.

The high standards that were set when this University was begun in 1871 are reflected in the Alcornites of the year, the people of Alcorn who are the most distinguished and are so honored each year. Alcorn's students and faculty have to be inspired by the University's distinctive history and the accomplishments of its alumni. Alcorn is a university of distinction not because it was the first in so many categories but because of its first rate people.

In a 1938 book entitled, Pushing Forward: A History of Alcorn A. & M. College and Portraits of Some of Its Successful Graduates, author Milan Davis reminds us of the numerous businessmen, educators, doctors, and college presidents who have been educated here at Alcorn.

Though the historic Chapel, built in 1830, suggests an even older academic foundation at this site, it has been the faculty, students, and alumni of Alcorn that have created the true Lorman legacy. Alcorn is well known because of this legacy and the contributions made by many talented people who have been associated with Alcorn.

Included in this legacy are United States Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels, who resigned his seat in the Senate to become the first president of this University, and United States Congressman J. R. Lynch, who, as Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, signed the bill creating this University.

Included in this legacy are distinguished educators, such as Dr. Levi J. Rowan, the first Alcorn graduate selected to be president of Alcorn, who was born about four miles from here, and spent 12 years as an English instructor, served 25 years as president, and presided over the most ambitious facilities expansion and student body growth in the early history of the university.

Included in this legacy are civil rights pioneers, Medgar and Charles Evers, who are well known to us all for their courageous leadership.

Included in this legacy is author, Alex Haley, whose father was on the faculty here and whose brother George Haley is now United States Ambassador to the Republic of Gambia.

Included in this legacy are student athletes like National Football League quarterback Steve McNair; 1968 Olympic Gold medalist in track, Mildred Netter Bell; and The first Black pro football player from Mississippi, Jack Spinks, for whom this stadium is named. The Lorman legacy is more than a source of pride.

It is an inspiration to the members of this graduating class and a source of confidence in the possibilities for your future. I have every confidence that your future as graduates is much more promising than it was for the graduates in Mr. Milan Davis' book, and that the future of this University is brighter today than it has ever been in its illustrious history.

I remember when my parents were about to drive away after dropping me off at my dormitory to start my first year of college. My mother said, "Now remember, Thad, you can be anything you want to be." Well, I thought I wanted to be a chemical engineer, and when I got my first semester grades and I had made an A in English and a D in chemistry, I knew my plans had to change.

There is some advice in this story. Don't be afraid to change your mind about what you want to do. There is so much opportunity in our society today, you can find a pathway to fulfillment. Just don't give up.

That was Winston Churchill's admonition. Remember? He said, "never, never, never, give up." You are not guaranteed to achieve great success just because you are receiving a diploma today, but you are guaranteed that you will have a chance to achieve your goals, the ones you set for yourself, to be what you want to be, because of the legacy of success others have achieved who have graduated before you.

I'm particularly pleased that one of the members of this graduating class, Kaeita Rankin, is coming to Washington to serve as a summer intern in my office in the United States Senate. This is an honor for her to be selected but it is also another example that the Alcorn legacy is continuing to be enlarged to include new opportunities that are exciting and fulfilling.

Such is the reality of this new day of hope and promise for this graduating class, their families and this fine University. Thank you and Good luck! Go Braves!!