Valuable message for SUU graduates
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CEDAR CITY, UTAH
Wearing a robe of academia, complete with a hood signifying the honorary doctor of public service degree bestowed upon him just moments earlier by Southern Utah University President Michael T. Benson, President Thomas S. Monson approached the lectern in Centrum Arena to address the 2009 graduating class. Before speaking, he had to pause, waiting for members of the audience to be seated after giving him a standing ovation.
President Monson was one of three individuals awarded honorary doctorates on May 2 at SUU. His was the second such award in two days. On May 1, he and his wife, Sister Frances J. Monson, were awarded honorary doctorates at Utah Valley University.
SUU presented two other honorary doctorates. One went to Jimmie F. Jones, a noted landscape artist. A posthumous degree was presented to Edward Rondthaler IV, who spent his retirement years in volunteer work for the betterment of the community. His degree was accepted by his wife, Carolyn.
President Monson said he thought it significant that the word "commencement" does not describe a cessation of effort, but rather "the beginning of a new chapter in your book of possibilities."
He said the pilgrimage the students make from their beloved campus has "the bittersweet urgency of one who turns from home, eagerly but reluctantly, moving past the point of no return; who becomes aware of the awesome magnitude of life, confronting questions bigger than life itself, knowing the answers he or she gives will not be complete; who realizes that the future is wide open and unmade, its opportunities breathtaking, its dilemmas increasing, its guarantees evaporating."
He said there is no map or guide that shows each superhighway, every fork and turning in the road, the washed-out bridge or the blocked mountain pass. "Yet, if we listen carefully, we seem to hear the voices of those who have walked this way before. They speak as one. Their message? The past is behind; learn from it. The future is ahead; prepare for it. The present is here; live in it."
He touched briefly on each.
The past is behind; learn from it. He noted that youth sometimes frown on the possibility of learning from the past, but he pointed out that the roads they "travel so briskly lead out of dim antiquity…. When one fails to learn from the lessons of the past, he is doomed to repeat the same mistakes and suffer their attendant consequences."
The future is ahead; prepare for it. President Monson commented on the astounding rate at which the world is advancing. "Our challenge is to advance with it. To do so, we had better take time to be informed, or time will leave us behind."
The person who quits learning upon leaving the university is giving in to an idea of limited usefulness, limited satisfaction and limited happiness, he said.
"Oliver Wendell Holmes decided to take up the study of Greek at the age of 94. When asked by a friend why he had decided to do so this late in life, he replied: 'Why, my good sir, it's now or never!'?"
President Monson counseled the graduating students that their challenge is to keep faith with the past while they keep pace with the future.
The present is here; live in it. "This is an age when man moves toward solving the mysteries of the highest heavens and of the deepest oceans. In our lifetime man has made greater strides in science, in physics, in medicine and in engineering than did all his forebears in countless generations of struggle up the ladder of civilization.
"Ahead is the open road. Those who walk it successfully ignore irrelevant distractions and refrain from activities that do not contribute to attainment of their purpose. They disregard the billboards designed to divert them into this or that blind alley of ease and pleasure. They stand on their own feet, set their own goals, and win their own victories.
"Not to be overlooked is your commitment to that which you pursue, as well as your regard for those with whom you will associate."
He quoted Will Rogers, humorist and social commentator: "If you want to live a happy, successful and fulfilling life, you must learn to love people and use things — never to use people and love things.'"
President Monson's challenge to the graduating class members is found in the lyrics of a Broadway song:
To dream the impossible dream;
To fight the unbeatable foe;
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong;
To love, pure and chaste, from afar;
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star ("Man of La Mancha").
"Like the stars of the heavens are the ideals of your life — you can't touch them with your hands, but by following them you will reach your destination."
President Monson is well known for reaching out to others. Upon arriving for commencement ceremonies, he noticed Alishia Edwards in cap and gown, sitting in a wheelchair. She was waiting to take her place in line as fellow graduates entered the arena for the commencement ceremony. A bright pink cast adorned her left leg; she had broken her foot two days earlier.
When the car in which he was riding stopped at the back entrance to the arena, President Monson walked the short distance back to where Alishia was waiting with another graduating student, KLynn Johnson, who also needed assistance to join the procession. He shook hands with them and congratulated them on their graduation.
"It is such an honor to have President Monson attend our graduation," Alishia said. "Just think — if I hadn't broken my foot I wouldn't have met him. If there's a blessing to being injured, that's it."
