Commencement Address

Good morning. Thank you for that kind introduction, Chancellor Mash (Donald Mash), and thank you for inviting me. I am honored to speak to these outstanding young people at this great university in our beloved and beautiful state.

I traveled Wisconsin constantly as governor, and now I travel the nation and the world as Secretary. Everywhere I go, I meet Eau Claire alumni, and I am always extremely impressed by their education, their vigor, and their success. From a soldier I met in Afghanistan, to the outstanding alumni you honor today, the Eau Claire spirit shines forth and stands out.

I want to congratulate Sara Laun-Canon, Charles Mace, Philip Zivnuska, John Drawbert, and Issa Jetha, for the honors they receive today.

I would especially like to congratulate my good friend Chuck Thompson on a career of wonderful success and dedication. Chuck is a great manager and a smart leader, and I join the university in celebrating his lifetime of achievement, especially in transportation. Whenever you travel around our beautiful state, Chuck's work will ease your journey and speed you on your way.

I would also like to congratulate my friend and colleague, Kevin Keane, whom you will honor this afternoon with your Distinguished Achievement Award. Kevin served Wisconsin passionately, and now does great work for the country in the Administration, helping communicate critical information about health, health care, and welfare to the American people and the world. He richly deserves this honor.

Mr. Thompson, Mr. Keane, Senator Feingold, Professor Larsen, Professor Nelson, Professor Snyder, Chancellor, faculty, staff, honorees, alumni, parents, friends, and Blugolds:

We gather today to mark a milestone in the achievement of these fine young people before us. Yesterday, they still lived and worked in an environment structured by others. They had semesters, a campus, and a defined place in a distinct community. Tomorrow, they will be free men and women, with more choices and more responsibility. And every diploma earned and accepted today is an individual declaration of independence.

This independence may be hardest for the parents. You will still be needed after today, but less often and in a different way. You'll notice the difference, and sometimes it will be hard to take.

But you have done very well by your children by getting them to this point. You're about to get your first raise in a long time. You deserve to be proud. And I know the graduates would like to express their thanks.

I was with President Bush this week, and I told him I would be speaking to you today. And he asked me to bring you his congratulations on a job well done.

Now, graduates, since this is the last lecture of your college career, I remember the advice of Charles Shultz, "Try not to have a good time. This is supposed to be educational."

But I have different advice. This is your day. Go ahead and have the time of your life-for the rest of your life.

This should be a day of rejoicing-but also a day of many questions. As you enjoy your last beer at Brothers and your last hunt for a parking space near campus, I'm sure you'll be pondering questions like, What does the future hold for me? When will I see my friends again? And, What the heck is a Blugold, anyway?

I don't have the answers for you. Instead, I have another set of questions, questions that I want you to ask yourselves today, and ask again every month for the rest of your lives.

1. What do I want to achieve in my life?
2. What do I want to achieve in the next five years?
3. What do I want to achieve this summer (or fall or winter)?
4. What debts-of money, of time, or of service-can I repay?

Your answers to these questions can change. And believe me, they will. But it is critical to keep asking them.

For lifetime goals, I would encourage you to set big goals-not one big goal, several big goals. When you fail to achieve a big goal, set another, even bigger goal. That's the only way to soar, and as Eau Claire alumni, you will be expected to soar.

One of those big goals should be to have fun all along the way. Make every day as fun as beating River Falls. If it isn't, improve your routine.

Some of you may be wondering about question number four: what debts, of money, of time, or of service, can I repay? Let me offer some ideas.

Some debts are financial. And my advice is: pay off your credit cards. Pay off your student loans.

But your greater debts are moral.

Moral debts can often be repaid indirectly. You can repay your parents by raising your children well. You can repay your teachers and mentors by applying the skills and knowledge they taught you. You can repay those who won your liberty by preserving liberty for future generations. And if you really value your upbringing, your education, and your liberty, you'll want to repay these debts with interest.

Here are some suggestions to get you started.

• Take your grandparents and their friends to the doctor and make sure they get the right medicines, food, rest, exercise, and love.
• Tutor the neighborhood teenagers in history or algebra, or the one and two year olds in phonics and number skills.
• Coach a girls' soccer team.
• Lead a Boy Scout troop.
• Volunteer at a hospice.
• Take your colleagues on a walk every Monday before lunch.
• Give food to a soup kitchen.
• Give money to an animal shelter.
• Give training to people who want to work.
• Give time to your loved ones and time to yourself.
• Think about what you have to give, and decide where you can make the greatest difference.

I would also urge you to get involved, sometime and in some capacity, in some form of government. History teaches that government is only as good as the people make it: the people who run it and the people who choose them.

I'm proud to work with many outstanding government officials, from researchers to doctors to all the men and women in the Public Health Service. There may also be a place for you in the federal government. Please also consider serving on a school board, a charter school board, a city council, or the legislature. Maybe next year, or maybe forty years from now. Keep it in mind, and always be a good citizen and vote.

I've listed some simple things you can do to repay your debt to your family, your community, and your country. And all of them will make you a better person, every time you do them. St. Francis de Sales said, "Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly." And Edmund Burke elaborated, "It is therefore our business carefully to cultivate in our minds, to rear to the most perfect vigor and maturity, every sort of generous and honest feeling that belongs in our nature."

Serving others is good for your soul. It keeps you humble. It prevents you from taking yourself too seriously. But as Secretary of Health and Human Services, I can't resist giving you advice on caring for your body, too. After the all-nighters you've pulled and the weekends you've spent on Water Street, you probably owe your body a few debts, too. So listen to these four simple steps.

First, be physically active every day. Modest physical exercise like walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week can dramatically lower your risk of chronic disease. If you can climb the Hill, you can manage a thirty minute walk.

Second, develop smart eating habits. It's time to cut back on the triple orders of Toppers breadsticks and 2 am trips to Buzzie's.

You don't have to cut them out; just enjoy them in moderation.

Third, avoid risky behavior, such as smoking.

Finally, get regular checkups and take advantage of preventive screenings.

As you keep your body and soul in good repair, don't neglect your mind. Today is not the end of your education, but the beginning. The Eau Claire faculty has taught you how to think and how to learn. The rest of your life will present endless opportunities to think and to learn. Seize them.

The better you care for your mind, your soul, and your body, the better you can serve yourself, your family, and your neighbor. You'll be successful. And remember, you owe them that service.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2003: in a few minutes, you will join me as proud alumni of this wonderful University of Wisconsin system. As you take a last climb up the hill… a last slow walk across the footbridge… a last fond look around God's country, remember this: you can't change your grades and you can't change your memories, but if you ever wanted to make a fresh start, today is the day.

I called your diploma a declaration of independence, because that's what it is. 227 years ago, when 13 American colonies declared themselves "free and independent states," they didn't know what the future held for them, but they were determined to make it bright. As John Adams wrote to Patrick Henry that year, "The decree is gone forth, and it cannot be recalled, that a more equal liberty than has prevailed in other parts of the earth must be established in America."

Some of your plans won't work out. Some of your assumptions will be wrong. But you have the power to build and maintain a few simple things, and they are frankly all you need. A sound mind. A strong body. A loving heart. A virtuous soul. A rich imagination. A close family. Lifelong friends. A few memorable achievements. A treasure of stories. A few dreams that you can attain. A few more that you can pass on to others. These are all you need to be a successful person.

After two decades of preparation, Blugolds, you have your independence. After two decades of training, you have your freedom. And on behalf of your parents and your professors, and sharing their high expectations and their great hopes, I say to you: your childhood has ended; your new life begins now. The decree is gone forth, and it cannot be recalled.

Congratulations!

Last Revised: May 20, 2003

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