Thank you, President
Kennedy, etc. It is an honor to be invited to speak to you, the
graduates, today and to “celebrate academia”. ... But, not being
too sure what this really means – this celebration of academia –
and because I was too embarrassed to admit it and ask someone, I am going
to assume that I am standing here today to celebrate with you your
academic achievement – your graduation from this institution –
and all that that means (but, don’t worry – they’re
giving me only five minutes to do it).
I am also going to
assume that the cause for celebration today is not just the
fact that you’re finally finished, but, that in your 4 years here (or 5,
or 6…) you took a lot of classes (and, I trust, you actually attended
quite a few of them), and as a result you learned a great deal.
You got that “college education” you’ve been hearing about since
you were a toddler – and that is cause for celebration.
But before you get
too smug, think about this: If I were to ask each one of you to take a
yellow pad and write down everything you think you learned here, I’ll bet
you would be surprised how quickly you would run out of things to list –
because the truth is: You’ve forgotten a lot of what you thought you
had learned. It just … flew out of your brain – somewhere – never
to be recalled (it’s really gone; trust me on this one!).
Now, actually doing this little experiment
would probably depress a lot of you – even though I just said we’re
here to celebrate... In fact, your parents and family must be
wondering – if this is true – what it was that they, and you, paid so much
money for? (and I suppose my bosses are squirming a little right now,
listening to this admission… [they’re seated behind me, by the way])
But don’t worry about
it. Why? Because you have learned. What I mean is: You and
your brain have changed – it’s just that, right now, you can’t
put your finger on what it is that has changed (and don’t look down
at that yellow pad for help…). While you may not see it yet, the
people around you will notice the change (not your classmates
sitting beside you right now – they’re not noticing anything). But
your family will see the change.
And, perhaps most
importantly – with our attention glued these days to issues of Jobs and
the Economy – employers will notice. In fact, it’s probably
this notion of “job training” that convinced you to go to college
in the first place… You’ve heard it all your life: “To get a better job”
you’d have to go to college. And having done that, you’ll now be able
to earn more money – a lot more money – not just in your first
job, but over the course of your lifetime.
But, if you really
did forget so much of what you learned here, why would anybody hire you?
Did you get any “real job training”? Well, some of you did, of course.
But the rest of you are probably wondering… Look; like most universities,
we offer about 90 or so different majors here at UMaine. Does this mean
that there are only 90 possible jobs in the world? Of course not. In
fact, a lot of us majored in disciplines that aren’t even remotely related
to our current jobs… Take at look at your own transcripts and you’ll
notice that some 60-70% of the classes you took here were NOT in your
major – like all those Gen Ed courses, etc… Ever wonder why we
made you take them?
The point I am trying
to make is this: It’s actually OK to have forgotten a lot, because, for
one thing, your employers will teach you the details of what you need to
know (this message doesn’t apply to medical school graduates, by the way;
I don’t want my doctor to have forgotten anything!). You see, the
real reason employers seek out college graduates – whether they are
willing to admit it or not – is because of that “change” I just
spoke about. You have changed. You are ready to be taught new and
complex details by your employer because you have a different mind now,
one that processes information differently. Even if you are unaware of
that difference, it’s real. And because of it, you will continue
to learn and understand in ways you were unable to do a few
years ago. Quite simply, you no longer look at the world the way you did
when you first came here. And that’s what a college education
is all about! It may take a few years, but one day you’ll see what I
mean…
So, after today
you’ll either go on to do graduate work, or get a job…whatever. But
consider this: You are about to join an elite group. Only 23.7% of
Maine’s adults hold a 4-year college degree, and in a few minutes, you’ll
be one of them. Only one in four adults in
Maine have the degree you are about to
receive! – and there’s the rub:
1 in 4! The New England
average is closer to 1 in 3! (it’s 30%).
State-by-state across
the U.S., per capita income is positively correlated with this
percentage of adults with a college education – which means that Maine has
to find a way to catch up to the rest of New England…
For one thing, we
have to find ways to convince you to stay here in Maine. And we have to
lure back to Maine your counterparts who get degrees from out-of-state
institutions. Retention, Return and even Immigration
will all help…But most importantly, this university, and the state’s
university system in general, will have to ratchet up the pace at which we
generate graduates like yourselves if we are ever to reach that 30% mark.
And that will take significantly greater state investments in public
higher education, which will require a gut check by our state’s leaders.
A college education
is worth so much more than most people seem to realize… In fact, one of
the biggest challenges facing higher education these days, in my view, is
the narrowly-focused notion that a college education is job-training
– which, I have tried to convince you, isn’t always the case. That way of
thinking – this commercialization of higher education – is forcing
change in America’s colleges and universities – for good or for bad
– and it is becoming more important every year. Universities across
America are being pressured from all directions to emphasize their role in
creating jobs and stimulating the economy – especially through R&D
– which, by the way, our faculty and graduate students here at the
University of Maine
do very well indeed, and of which I am very proud. But remember: The
products of research – ideas – are important whether they have
commercial value or not. ... While we do it well, we do much more than
research – we teach. And I am even prouder of the quality
of teaching by our faculty, who are sitting here in front of me… That’s
because, in my view, it is higher education itself – a college
education – that is really the economic engine that Maine must promote
and enhance. This is a frustratingly simple, but nonetheless
exceedingly difficult message to get across! Maine, and the nation,
need so much more than just a “trained work force”… a trained work force
to work for whom? And to fill what jobs? We need fresh, new mind-power –
we need more of you – to invent the jobs of
tomorrow. And we need an educated population capable of making
intelligent and informed choices that affect our future – regardless of
your political leanings.
Not accepting this
challenge could spell trouble; in the absence of quality higher education,
as the late Carl Sagan put it (with respect to science literacy): “We
risk becoming a nation of suckers”.
So, welcome to our
“elite” club. I congratulate you on your achievement; it is
indeed cause for celebration. Today is your day – so enjoy the
moment…just don’t do anything stupid tonight.
