Today's commencement ceremony is indeed a special occasion in the life of Texas Christian University as we celebrate the academic accomplishments of the 1,147 men and women who are eligible to receive their undergraduate and graduate degrees this afternoon. And, we give special thanks to the Air Force ROTC Color Guard for the presentation of colors and members of the TCU Band under the direction of Professor Bobby Francis.

Today we award baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees to individuals who come from communities throughout our state as well as from 38 other states and 31 countries.

Sharing in this afternoon's commencement ceremony and seated on the platform, in addition to Mr. Roach, Dr. Williams, and Professor Estes are representatives of the faculty and administration, and I am delighted to present them to you. I ask that you hold your applause until all have been introduced:

Dr. William Koehler, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Mr. Bronson Davis, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

Dean Mary Volcansek, of the AddRan College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dean Michael McCracken of the College of Science and Engineering

Dean Robert Lusch of the M.J. Neeley School of Business

Dean Sam Deitz of the School of Education

Dean Rhonda Keen-Payne of the College of Health and Human Sciences

Dean Scott Sullivan of the College of Fine Arts

Dean William Slater of the College of Communication

Dr. Cornell Thomas, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity and Community

Interim Dean David Gouwens of Brite Divinity School

Dr. Larry Adams, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

Dr. Nadia Lahutsky, Chair of the Faculty Senate and Professor of Religion

Dr. Linda Hughes, Chief Marshal for the Ceremony and the Addie Levy Professor of Literature

Pam Roach Thomas, President of the TCU National Alumni
Association

Mrs. Allen Crane Walker and Mrs. Lee Crane Wood, daughters of our Honorary Degree recipient, Laura Lee Crane, and

Patrick Miller, Registrar and Director of Enrollment Management.

Please join me in recognizing the platform party.

It is highly appropriate for us to give special thanks to those who have taught, advised, and mentored the members of this graduating class. Will the faculty representatives from the colleges and schools and members of the TCU staff located throughout the hall please rise so we can express our gratitude to you.

Among today's graduates are those who have distinguished themselves by earning academic honors, and the honors graduates are noted in your program. Will the baccalaureate graduates earning "cum laude" designation, please stand; will the graduates who have earned "magna cum laude" please stand; will the graduates who have earned the University's highest academic distinction, "summa cum laude," please stand and be recognized.

And I am happy to present the 14 men and women who are
graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average. Will you please stand and be recognized!

I will be brief. Though not nearly so brief as the surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who gave the world's shortest speech. He said, "I will be so brief I have already finished," and he sat down.

There is a long tradition surrounding commencement addresses. Winston Churchill introduced the phrase iron curtain into the English language at a graduation ceremony at Westminster College in 1946.

The next year, General George Marshall offered his plan for economic recovery for Europe at a commencement address at Harvard University.

President John F. Kennedy used the commencement platform at American University in 1963 to deliver a major policy address.

However, you can relax. I will not be making a major policy speech today. In recent years, commencement addresses have typically been shorter and less serious. To quote President George W. Bush, who spoke at Ohio State in 2002, "The tradition of commencement addresses is to be brief - and forgotten. I assure you that this speech will be shorter than it seems."

Today, I also will follow another academic tradition - the anthology - and share with you some of the words of wisdom prominent speakers have offered graduates - speakers of distinction from actress Goldie Hawn to beloved television personality Fred Rogers to celebrated author Salmun Rushdie.

At American University, Goldie Hawn told the graduates: "... while you are continuing to walk down that sometimes-bumpy road of life, develop the art of laughter and joy. Keep in your backpack of treasures the whole you, the best you... And remember, as you surrender to sleep each night, ask yourself that profound question. "How many times did I laugh today?" And she asserted: "Now is the time for you to go to the College of You."

Mr. Rogers took another approach at Dartmouth College. He told his favorite story from the Seattle Special Olympics. For the 100-yard dash, there were nine contestants, all of them physically or mentally disabled. At the sound of the starting gun, they took off. But not long afterward, one little boy fell and hurt his knee. He began to cry. The other eight children heard him cry and ran back... The little boy got up, and he and the rest of the runners - their arms around one another - joyfully walked to the finish line. They all finished the race at the same time.

Two very different - and seemingly contradictory - metaphors for how to live: the College of You and nine children - arms linked - crossing a finish line together.

When he spoke at our Honors Convocation earlier this spring, world-renowned philosopher Alexander Nehamas observed that we all must learn what constitutes a truly good life, not just "the good life."

Like Goldie Hawn and Mr. Rogers, hundreds of commencement speakers across the nation will share meaningful or humorous parables this spring. But none can answer for you that central question: What is the good life?

Nor can I. But my hope for you is that after your years at TCU - combined with the influences of your family, your church, your friends and your earlier education - that you will be armed with the knowledge...the skills...and the values to not just live "the good life" but to create a good life.

Are you ready? To quote Salmun Rushdie: "We participate today in the rite of passage by which you are released from this life of preparation into that life for which you are now as prepared as anyone ever is."

It is also 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 my congratulations and best wishes to each of you."

<i>During the ceremony TCU also bestowed a Doctor of Humanitarian Services degree on the late Laura Lee Crane, the retired principal of TCU's Starpoint School who was tragically killed earlier this year. Below are the remarks Chancellor Boschini delivered regarding the degree:</i>

"I now present posthumously a very distinguished individual for honorary degree, the highest recognition bestowed by the University upon persons who have attained positions of distinction and who have contributed greatly to society.

I now call upon Provost William Koehler and Dr. Nadia Lahutsky, Chair of the Faculty Senate, to escort to the lecturn Mrs. Allen Crane Walker and Mrs. Lee Crane Wood , daughters of Laura Lee Crane, who will be accepting the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humanitarian Services for their mother.

Laura Lee Crane was a visionary educator who devoted her career to meeting the needs of children with learning differences. Before learning disabilities were widely understood, she led the way in informing educators about these conditions, and she developed a nationally recognized reading program for learning-disabled students. She trained a generation of teachers to work with children with special needs, preparing them to teach and to make a positive impact on children's lives.

To many, Laura Lee Crane personified Starpoint School and, as its principal for two decades, she set the bar for achievement high - for the children, for the teachers and for herself. She recognized the potential of the children. She gave them the tools with which to succeed. She taught teachers how to reach struggling students. She counseled and encouraged parents. She always saw the worth in a child, and - as a parent noted - "She could get children to do things no one else could get them to do." In the words of a colleague, "For Laura Lee, the children always came first."

After Mrs. Crane's death, her daughter, Allen, assured her students - past and present: "Each of you now has your very own special guardian angel."

That came as no surprise to a woman whose young sister had been treated by Mrs. Crane many years ago. She recalled her mother's comments about the kindly speech pathologist: "I'm telling you, that woman is an angel, an absolute angel." The daughter remembers: "As a literal-minded child, I studied the teacher's face closely the next week so that I'd remember what an angel looks like."

In the words of another of her former students, Laura Lee Crane "was indeed a shining treasure in an often dark and troubling world."

On behalf of the faculty and the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to award posthumously to Laura Lee Crane the degree of Doctor of Humanitarian Services, honoris causa, with all the privileges, rights and responsibilities pertaining thereto and to present this degree to her daughters, Allen Crane Walker and Lee Crane Wood, representing the Crane family.