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Good afternoon!
Congratulations to all of the students who will leave here today
as alumni of the University of Michigan,
and thank you to the student performers
and speaker for enriching our program with your talents.
Graduates, this is one of the most memorable moments in lives
that I know will be filled with extraordinary events.
But it is just a special a day for your families who prepared you for Michigan,
encouraged, and supported you.
I’d like all of us to take a moment to thank the parents and grandparents,
brothers and sisters who gave our University community such wonderful students.
[Applause]
I hope you and your families feel the University of Michigan has changed you.
We continually strive to provide an academic experience unlike any other,
and if we have done our jobs well,
you are leaving Ann Arbor a different person then when you first arrived.
Education is about transformation
and your college experience is just the start of remarkable changes
you will encounter and initiate in your life-time,
the scope and speed of change in today’s world is quite breathtaking.
If you reflect on your days at Michigan, the political, cultural
and technological landscape of the world around us
has undergone quite a transformation. Just think,
the American economy is far different than your freshman days
with major organizations such as Northwest Airlines,
General Motors and Circuit City either morphing or evaporating.
For some, home ownership has gone from a solid investment to a financial albatross.
For others particularly young people buying a home is an opportunity
they never imagined so early in their careers
because of favorable pricing.
And the time you have been students, the words staycation, tweeting,
and wikileaks have joined our lexicon.
Remember Punkt or Tony Soprano, gone.
We have since said hello to Lady Gaga and Glee.
In these few short years, we have seen the birth of the iPad,
the Kindle and Wii. In the same time,
span we’ve said goodbye to kodachrome film analogue television,
and in some communities the daily newspaper;
how fast is technology moving.
In the course of one year sales of compact discs
plunged 20% with their one time popularity
falling victim to digital downloads.
And texting, which I suspect some of you are doing right now, texting has exploded.
Since your final days of high school,
the number of text messages sent each month has grown 2000%.
Change is not only ubiquitous, it has also become breakneck;
and as you head into the next chapter in your lives,
you will confront more-and-more transitions
both personally and professionally.
As well as in your communities, you may find a life partner,
you may not; you may become a parent and start a family.
You will experience career transitions, highs, and lows,
and perhaps a total change in the direction of your professional life.
Don’t let that scare you,
because the new directions may prove to be the best.
Globally you will live in communities confronting climate change,
and how best to develop use and save energy.
Your generation is deeply committed to the well-being of our planet,
and I am confident that you will make the world a more sustainable place.
You will benefit from and could contribute to advances in medical science.
You will witness the power of novel treatments and cures,
and watch as new threats to our health emerge.
Again the pace and magnitude of changes will be immense, transformative,
and sometimes a bit overwhelming.
As you prepare for this whirlwind,
I want to offer some assurance --
assurance that some things will never change,
your Michigan education will always serve you well.
Both your professors and your classmates have expanded your viewpoints
and your base of knowledge in ways you are not just now beginning to understand,
and may understand even better in the years ahead.
Your ability to think critically will always prove invaluable.
The dilemmas of the future may prove difficult, but I am confident in your ability to find
and create the knowledge necessary for solutions, negotiations,
and new approaches. Your commitment to community will always remain strong.
Giving back is a Michigan value that has carried generations of alumni.
I am so glad that you were students during the 50th anniversary celebration
of U-M’s historic role in founding the Peace Corps.
That pledge of services emblematic of our canvas culture
and student’s belief in strengthening communities.
And there will always, always be a global family of Michigan alumni
to support you, encourage you,
and remind you or your time in Ann Arbor.
You are joining the largest alumni body in the world and will be welcomed with open arms,
from Detroit to Chicago, and beyond from Shanghai to Bangalore.
And that sense of welcome applies to Ann Arbor too,
please come back and tell us about your accomplishments,
your dreams, and your memories,
we will always want to know how you are changing as a person.
I want to close by singling out a graduate of the class of ’10 -- 1910.
His name was Lyman Bryson and he was the class poet.
He would leave Michigan to embark on a career bursting with changes.
He earned a graduate degree,
he worked for the American Red Cross in the days following the First World War,
and then joined an anthropology museum.
He taught reading and wrote plays, short stories and books.
He was a radio personality,
and also became one of the first celebrities with a new start-up known as CBS Television.
Through all of his career stops, Lyman Bryson advocated the importance of education.
One of his most noted observations was the following:
“We are restless because of incessant change,
but we would be frightened if change were stopped.”
A century after Lyman Bryson received his Michigan degree,
his words ring true for the class of 2010.
Embrace the tumult of discovery, uncertainty that is tomorrow.
Know that your education will be the foundation of your decisions and your achievements.
Never hesitate to be a catalyst for change yourself,
to continue the Michigan tradition of success, service, and leadership.
And so for today, goodbye
For tomorrow, good luck,
And forever, go blue