COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
JUNE 26, 2004

It is a privilege to speak to you today and I am delighted to be here.  Now that you have spent all this time and effort earning your degree, I’m going to tell you a secret about your new profession as paralegals.  The secret is that the legal profession would be crippled without you. This is of course, both bad news and good news.  The bad news is that it might mean long hours, behind the scenes work, lots of sweat and effort so that the lawyers you support can look good when they are in court in front of judges and juries.  And all of this comes with very little glory.  The good news is that you are graduating into an important profession, and your paralegal skills are an indispensable component of that profession.  I admit that I am biased, but I hope that you believe me when I tell you this is as fine of a career as you could want to be involved in.  The legal field is essential to the highest of our goals and aspirations - a just  and fair society.  It is hard work that will leave you tired, but proud and satisfied.  I envy you for what lies ahead of you as you start a career in a profession that has been at the forefront of change in our society and which gives you the daily satisfaction of being able to help people to solve their problems.  An so, I’m here today -- along with your families and you friends, your teachers and your mentors -- to celebrate your graduation and to welcome you into this honorable profession.

I was thinking about all the graduation speeches that get delivered each spring across the land.  All with similar themes of "carpe diem," "you have been prepared for success, now make the most of it," "believe in yourself and you will change the world."  These are great messages.  That’s why they keep getting repeated.  And I have another message I want to share today, a message about doing the right thing.  What I mean by this is honoring your own and each other’s innate instinct to contribute to your world, each person’s instinctive call to service, about our desire to be a part of positive change.  “Doing the right thing” is hard to define, but we all know it when we see it, and most importantly, we know it when we feel it inside ourselves.

So.  Is it me or is anyone else noticing how intense these times seem to be?  This is not, I should warn you, an easy period in our lives.  Without getting lost in the specifics of what concerns me most and what concerns you most, I know we can agree that we all have issues and events that have moved us beyond words -- images, reports, stories that are burned into our minds, events that we visit and revisit, consider and reconsider.  These are the issues that just keep calling to each person in this auditorium.  The work then, for all of us, is to learn to respond to this intensity with courage, conviction, joy.  The work is to resist despair, apathy, negativity.

James Allen wrote, “many thinking people believe that America has seen its best days.”  Now, that’s a cheerful thought, isn’t it?  Well, don’t despair, the good news is that he wrote that in his diary in 1775!  And look at how wrong he was and all the great things that have happened since then.  My point is, work hard to strike a careful balance, keep your eyes and mind open and be honest -- fearlessly honest -- about the challenges of our times.  Then,  after you have looked into the mouth of the dragon, dig deep deep deep inside to find your most intelligent, creative, and compassionate self to craft the response and solutions!  And if the situations seem overwhelming -- and they often will -- and you feel yourself slipping into a “Mr. Allen” moment just think about the achievements, innovation, growth and dignity that America has enjoyed since he wrote those words in his diary over 200 years ago.  Trust me when I tell you that there is a lot of brilliance yet to come and you are going to be a part of it!
All of you graduates made a decision to come to Metropolitan College to receive an education so you had more control over your own destiny.  And when you came here, each of you understood that education is the key to freedom and the choices you are seeking.  Education gave me the power to achieve my dream of being a judge.  Education will give you the power to go wherever you set your sights.  I ask you.  Do you know where your sights are set?  Do you know what your dreams are?  Have the gift of discovery.  Education has also given you the power to impact the destinies of other people -- the destiny of your community, your nation, and of the world.  And so then, it is more than just power, it is responsibility.

So, do you all remember who said, “with great power comes great responsibility.”  Yes, it was one of the great philosophers and justice protectors of our time — those are the words of Stan Lee, the creator of Spiderman. In all seriousness, though, Kwesi Mfume, speaking at a commencement speech two years ago, said “understand your potential!  Each of you has the ability to provide leadership to create change. It is our responsibility to make this place better than we found it, or we fail to make use of this gift we call life.” 

“Better than you found it…”  You are responsible -- you are responsible for bringing the highest ethical and professional standards to the legal profession that you are entering today.  You are responsible to volunteer, to take an active role in the political and civic processes of your community, to participate in school boards, churches, arts councils, civic action groups and labor organizations.  Or fill in the blank, fill in what is meaningful for you.  You are responsible to people -- to help them overcome poverty, suffering, discrimination; to help them find an opportunity for a better life.  Do good a little at a time, but do it often.

Do not take this lightly --- you are connected to your world, there is no distinction between helping yourself and helping others.  You are not solely responsible for fixing the ills of the world, but neither are you free from an obligation to engage fully in the work.   And, in the midst of this very serious obligation there is an unbearably elegant detail built in -- and the detail goes like this: when a person is able to do the right thing, when a person is living an engaged and passionate life she is a catalyst for change, she is the energizing force in her own community. 

How many of us know someone who is completely “in the zone” with his or her life?  It doesn’t even matter if their issue is your issue.  I’ve met people whose life’s work is to diagram the entire vascular system of an exotic moth, or to provide number 2 pencils and paper to every child in a remote village, or simply to get street lights installed in their neighborhood.  And this -- this is the elegant detail: that these people who are engaged with their world are completely compelling, they are utterly fascinating, inspirational and effective!  Ok, so probably none of you are going to diagram the vascular system of a moth  ….

You are graduating into law.  What a great place to be, in a career helping people resolve their conflicts.  In a career dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of all citizens. In a career enforcing the ideals of justice.  Each of you should be proud of this achievement.  I mean, this is really important work!

Justice -- how many of you have spent time around children?  Have you ever heard the plaintiff cries “but its not faiiir”?  Have your children ever accused you of the injustice in forcing them to eat peas or take a bath.  Or worse yet, losing the front seat to their sister!  My point is, this feeling about right and wrong, this principle of justice is so essential in our spirit, so core to what it is to be human that our struggle to define it and understand it, and our insistence on being heard begins in childhood.  And the need just grows, the complexities of adults interfacing with each other creates all manner of issues that need to be addressed in the legal system.  Arthur Liman said to a graduating class of lawyers:
After nearly 40 years of practice I am not cynical but idealistic. I have a simple faith which I impart to you. I believe in a legal profession, which by its fearless representation of clients, small and large, paying and non-paying, in their relationship with government and with other private parties, in civil cases and criminal cases, has given meaning to our liberties.  Remember, the most repressive dictatorships also had constitutions that promised their citizens rights. What they did not have was an independent legal system to enforce them.

And so, even though these times may seem confusing, complicated, and difficult, you are up to the task, and you are in the right place to get the job done.  The fact that each of you has made this commitment to your education, that you are here today accepting your diploma, shows that you are women and men of intelligence and focus. I encourage you to go forward with pride and determination -- use your education, employ that intelligence and put it to work for your dreams. Look inside your heart, talk to your friends and family, write in your journal, draw pictures on your notebook.  Do whatever it takes to know your dreams.  Find out for yourself what it means to “do the right thing.”  And then go do it, do it in every act, gesture and moment of your lives.  Make it a part of your work, your relationships, your play and your service.  Do it, dream it, be it.  And if anyone asks you where the hope of tomorrow begins -- tell them “it begins with me.” 

I offer you my best wishes and congratulations to the Class of 2004!