Remarks from Convocation - August 22, 2007
Good Afternoon. Welcome to Convocation 2007.
Convocation is the annual gathering of students, faculty, staff and administrators. With this event we mark the beginning of our new academic year. This is the time that we welcome the newest members of our university family, the class of 2011. You are a gifted and talented group, and you are about to join a community of scholars who pursue truth, knowledge and understanding. The next four years will be the journey of a lifetime for you. Strangers will become your friends. Faculty members will challenge and inspire you. You will confirm some long-held beliefs, question others, and you will read, work and accomplish more than you ever thought possible. You have embarked on the greatest personal and intellectual journey of your life. It is a pleasure to welcome you to ULM and to declare our academic year officially open.
Many of you may feel a little apprehensive about the prospect of the next four years and what will be required of you. At the end of your time here, you will walk back through those doors for commencement, sit once again in this room, and perhaps feel a similar apprehension at graduation, but you will be different then. You will have gained wisdom and, perhaps new goals and values. You will certainly have acquired the most advanced and professional training that higher education can provide. During your time here, we hope to awaken in you intellectual curiosity, a lifelong passion for learning, compassion for your fellow man, and an active imagination.
Today, you join an elite group of the world’s population. You are living a dream beyond the vision of most people. Very few have the opportunity to attend college. In four years, as a university graduate, you will join an even more select group. Less than 1% of the world’s population has a university degree. A profound debt of gratitude is owed to those who helped you arrive to this point, and to those who have helped establish and build this extraordinary university.
Universities are places where new understanding is created and where we explore the frontiers of our knowledge, encouraging fearless investigation of new ideas and a willingness to embrace change. Our mission is to serve you and to provide a learning atmosphere so that you may acquire the knowledge you need to live productive lives. During your time here, we will help prepare you for a life beyond this place.
Much of what you learn at ULM will occur outside the classroom: friendships, service learning and volunteerism. You will meet people with backgrounds, beliefs and views different than your own. Embrace this opportunity. Share your own culture in return.
Right now, ask yourself, “How shall I make the most of my time here?” What you do over the next four years will become the foundation for your entire professional life. One of the most important things you can do is to get to know the faculty. We are a strong university because we have an excellent team of academic and administrative leaders. They have a passion for learning, and they want to share that knowledge with you. They are your best mentors and guides. Make use of this invaluable resource as you shape your future.
This is a time for you to take intellectual risks and to explore the expanse of your intelligence. It is a time of discovery. Challenge yourself with new ideas. Revel in the complexity of your mind and your intellectual passion. Much will be expected of you. You may not always succeed. Despite any setbacks you may encounter, remember that you can achieve your goals, but you will have to persistently and decisively work for them. Your life will be fundamentally enhanced by what you learn here. When you leave ULM, you will take the experience of this university with you, and you will always be a member of its great family.
As incoming freshmen, you are already part of ULM’s first shared intellectual experience, the Summer Reading Program. This year’s book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World", is an account of how one person can make a difference through a purpose-driven life. Dr. Farmer and colleagues created “Partners in Health” during his work in Haiti. This organization’s mission is to bring health care and social justice to the poor of the world, not only in instances of emergency, but also as an established partnership that will take root and grow in countries around the world. The people of Haiti, Peru, Russia, and Rwanda have benefited the most so far, particularly in the treatment of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Dr. David Walton, our Convocation speaker today, was one of the first candidates to be selected for the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine. He has been working with Partners in Health since 1997 and is currently a resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Walton divides his time between Boston and Haiti, where he chooses to work 16-hour shifts in much simpler conditions, caring for people desperate for medical aid. He has said that “the medicine is the same, it is just the path that is different.” As he constantly strives to make global access to superior health care a priority, he also sets an excellent example of how the spirit of volunteerism is vital and must be made stronger with our help. We are not alone in this world, and it is people like Dr. Walton who help make it a better place for everyone.
Please join me in welcoming our Convocation speaker, Dr. David Walton.