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Closing Remarks

Remarks at the College of Business Administration

Commencement Ceremony

May 11, 2007

Since I arrived at Tennessee less than a year ago, this ceremony is the
first commencement exercise for undergraduates in the College of
Business of Administration I have attended. But of course I’ve
witnessed many graduations over my time in academia. They are
always joyous events, everyone is smiling and feeling good, happy and
in high spirits. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to tell who’s happier
at graduations: the students who don’t have to study anymore or the
parent of the students who don’t have to pay for the tuition bills
anymore. In any case, I’m delighted to speak to an audience whose
common denominator is a collective sigh of relief.

I have been asked to say a few words at the close of this ceremony.
One of the few things that stands between you and your celebration is
my talk. I therefore understand very well that it should be brief.

If you are awaiting from me a learned or sage discourse

containing advice, you are going to be disappointed
If you are awaiting from me a learned or sage discourse containing
advice, you are going to be disappointed: I have none to give at this
late hour. Here I take my cue from William Shakespeare. Is it any
coincidence that Polonius, the most noted dispenser of advice in
Hamlet (famous for: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”; “This above
all: to thine own self be true”), is a deceitful, somewhat senile
windbag? Besides, I learned a long time ago that graduates do best
when they learn on their own how to succeed outside the walls of the
academy, and, moreover, my successes have been only inside
institutions of higher education, while yours will likely be in one sort of
business venture or another not connected with college and university
life. How can I possibly advise you?

If you are awaiting from me something resembling words of wisdom,

maxims, apothegms, pithy sayings, proverbs, parables, adages,
aphorisms, mottos, or bon mots on how to conduct yourselves now
that you have finished your degree at the University of Tennessee, you
will likewise be disappointed. Anything that could be related in these
short forms in the brief time I will speak to you is probably not going
to help you very much, especially since you have spent four long years
gathering wisdom and knowledge from persons more qualified to
impart it than I am.

You are not just narrow-minded business majors, who know only
accounting, marketing, economics, and finance, but well-rounded,
educated students who have also acquired a business degree and are
“ready for the world.”

What I will say to you is that you should be extremely proud of

yourselves and of your accomplishments. Significant to me is that you
have achieved not only in your major, but in your general education
curriculum. You are not just narrow-minded business majors, who
know only accounting, marketing, economics, and finance, but well-
rounded, educated students who have also acquired a business degree
and are “ready for the world.” And this degree was not easy to obtain.
The College of Business Administration is one of the very best colleges
on our campus. It is a desired college for undergraduates, so much so
that Business accepts only a fraction of the students who apply for
admission. At the foremost public research institution in the State of
Tennessee you are graduating from one of the most competitive
programs. And for these stellar accomplishments I think we should
congratulate you once again with a(nother) round of applause.

You graduates have therefore accomplished a great deal in navigating

through your programs in the College of Business Administration. But
in another sense: “You ain’t done nothin’ yet!” No matter how much
you have achieved, no matter how well you have accomplished in
terms of grades, no matter how well you have performed on exams
and papers, on projects and theses, the real test of your mettle comes
only now that you have moved the tassels on your caps from the right
to the left and once you employ what you have learned outside the
walls of academia. That is, the real test is showing the world that you
are truly educated and deserving of the recognition we bestow on you
today.

Since I know the quality of the faculty and the courses on the
Tennessee campus very well, and the quality of the student body that
has enrolled in these courses, I am confident that success awaits you
in all your future endeavors. Although I don’t think you’ll need it, I
wish you good luck, but more importantly I also ask you not to forget
the institution that started you on your path. We at Tennessee are
extremely proud of our graduates, but increasingly we are compelled
to call on you for support and advocacy if we are going to remain a
premier institution in higher education, a university that aspires to the
first ranks of public institutions in the country.

So take what we’ve given you here, but don’t forget to give back
something of what you’ve taken. Congratulations to all of our
graduates. Veritatem cognoscetis et veritas te liberabit. That’s the
motto of the University of Tennessee: “You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free.” Go Vols!

Posted: May 14, 2007