Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to Texas

Christian University 's fall semester commencement. To each graduate, I offer my heart-felt congratulations. This day belongs to you. The degree you will soon receive is not only a celebration of your accomplishment; it is a symbol of your commitment to make this a better world for all of us. And to the family, friends, faculty and staff members here today - thank you for sharing in this grand occasion.

For a century and a quarter in this university's history, every Commencement speaker has sought to share remarks that would be both memorable and meaningful. Of course, every graduate has but one wish: that

those remarks be brief. As Chancellor Emeritus William E. Tucker noted: "Brevity is not one of the seven deadly sins, especially at commencement."

Searching for the right words for today, I looked back at Commencement addresses given at TCU over the years, and would like to share with you some of the wit, wisdom and advice that stood the test of time. and some that has not.

In 1940, a Texas Supreme Court justice offered this advice in an address titled "You and Your Job": "Recheck your viewpoint. Renovate your personality. Clean up, cheer up, look up, build up and stand up." I'd definitely put that in the "not" column. If we were to offer those comments today, it would be an admission of failure - not yours, but ours. For TCU's mission is to help shape ethical leaders and responsible citizens for the global community. We are confident that by the time you graduate, you are well along the way in the process.

The same speaker asked what he called "the burning question of the hour": "Where may I get a job that will repay the debts that I owe for my education?" That comment still rings true to many contemporary ears and reminds me of the 2003 graduate who wore a mortarboard covered with dollar bills. Her mother joked: "It's all we have left."

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson addressed TCU's graduating class. He commented: "It is an unchanging habit of commencement orators to talk about change. The speakers who tell their audiences that times are changing, however, should not be accused of dealing in platitudes. For America - and the world - are altering with dizzying speed. The citizen, the public servant and the student may find it difficult to fathom the nature and meaning of all this change."

The 1971 speaker, C.C. Nolen, president of North Texas State University, re iterated that theme, attributing the crisis of the time to "instant culture" and quoting former Boston University president John Silber, who said: "We have instant food that leads to instant indigestion, for which there is an instant cure - the noisy bubbling instant Alka Seltzer that brings to mind the witches' brew in Macbeth."

How appropriate those words still are! We live in a time of instant messaging, instant Internet access . indeed instant everything. Our world is a rapidly changing one, where so much is disposable. Few things last. But there is one thing that can't be taken away from you. That is your degree and your relationship with your alma mater. We are proud of you, and we hope you are proud of TCU - now and in the years to come. There was a TCU in 1873 and there will be a TCU in 2073.

Returning to President Johnson's remarks, he further observed: "With our advances in computer technology, we are still unable to set a precise date for the arrival of equality, the advent of peace, the curing of old ills, the healing of old wounds."

That remains true. And society has never been more in need of ethical leaders and responsible citizens to shape and strengthen our communities, our democracy and our world. We must depend upon a new generation to carry forward the values and virtues of liberty in an environment fraught with danger, risk and uncertainty - a new generation of educated men and women.

As the noted anthropologist Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. At TCU, we say our students are learning to change the world. We are counting on you, as TCU graduates, to do just that.

It is traditional at many colleges and universities to include in the commencement ceremony the phrase: "Welcome to the company of educated men and women." And that is TCU's tradition too.

Welcome to the company of educated men and women.

And to again quote President Johnson:

"I leave you [today] in faith:
•  faith in you;
•  faith in our country
•  faith in your capacity to change our country for the better."

And my congratulations and best wishes to each of you.