Let Your Voices Rise
May 31, 2023
In a few minutes, all of you will walk out of this stadium as newly minted graduates of this University. Before you do, however, it is my privilege to offer …
Saving Public Higher Education
Oct 12, 2016
Good afternoon! Thank you, John, for your introduction, and thank you to Times Higher Education for bringing together so many exceptional leaders from around the world. As president of the …
Fear Can Shadow Hope, But Hope Can Defeat Fear
May 17, 2023
Well, thank you, Mr. President, for that introduction. Dr. Morse, thank you for the incredible honorary degree. And thank you, President Frederick, for the invitation and for your leadership of …
“Whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change”
Jun 14, 2011
Conan O’Brien to Dartmouth grads: “Through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.”
America Needs Help Right Now and America Knows It
May 22, 2019
Good morning all, Father Jenkins, Board of Trustees, esteemed faculty, students, distinguished fellow honorees. I thank you for this from the bottom of my heart. Father, I must say I …
Sometimes It Seems Miraculous That We Can Even Look One Another In the Eye
May 14, 2014
Prague in springtime is always uplifting. What’s more, it awakens feelings and memories of the time I visited shortly after the Velvet Revolution. I wandered through the streets in a …
Engaging the Mind and the Spirit
Oct 21, 2010
NEW FURMAN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT CALLS FOR “THE CONSTRUCTIVE IMPROVEMENT OF THE CIVILITY OF OUR PUBLIC DISCOURSE”
Draw Down the Lightning
Nov 02, 2022
I. Let the experiment be made! Let the experiment be made. With those words, Benjamin Franklin put his pen down for the day. I imagine him looking over his personal …
Kent State Beyond the Shootings: Journey of the Wounded Healer
Aug 22, 2018
Good morning. It is such a pleasure to be with you today in this beautiful, idyllic environment. This is my first time at Chautauqua, and I feel I have been …
School scribes swept up in university spending controversy
Dec 03, 2014
As the cost of a college education rises, university costs are being scrutinized. And whenever bureaucracies are criticized, the leader’s speechwriter is the easiest symbol of excess. University speechwriters, look …