The Valedictories
OUR American society has experienced a re-examination of ideals and a shifting of values. They have helped us identify some of the most critical issues of our time and have instilled in us a new willingness to face these problems. In spite of the beneficial effects of this heightened awareness of the failures and shortcomings of the major assumptions of the past, our preoccupation with new values has been misplaced. The fundamental challenge facing our society is not as much as increasing realization of new values as a rediscovery of timeless values. Perhaps it is in a return to and reliance on these timeless values that we as a people will succeed in the modification and elimination of values that are no longer applicable to our genera- tion.
We would not be facing the difficult transition in values that confronts us today if we had not lost sight of those ideals that hold a permanent and unchanging significance to our lives. No one concept has made a more lasting and positive contribution to civilization than that of community, and in the context of our current difficulties the value of community may offer us the most enduring solutions.
One of the most crucial elements in the greatness of our country has been our nations's historic commitment to the value of community. But at times in our past much of our sense of shared purpose has been submerged and weakened by our worship of rugged individualism, our infatuation with material self-gain, and our continuing tolerance of inexcusable exploitation of man by man. Although our political and economic systems place so little a premium on such a concept, community has proved to be a persistent part of the American character.
The American emphasis on freedom and individualism has played an important role in this country's development of a wealth and power without precedent in history. But these ideals have also been luxuries that cannot be forever afforded by a nation facing dwindling resources, limits to physical expansion, and a general decline in the quality of its life. Without relinquishing our concern for the individual and his personal liberties, our society must increasingly balance these with an enlarged perspective, a more long-range view, and a greater collective consciousness.
The ideal of community need not involve a sacrifice of the individual or his personal rights. Indeed, it is in service to others, concern for others, and sharing with others that we most fully discover ourselves. It is the selfless, not the selfish, individual that must provide the basis for our society. Only when we temper our individualism with a firm realization of our relationship with others will this country achieve the noble principles upon which it was founded.
Nowhere is the value of community more vigorous or jealously guarded than here at Dartmouth. The College's fundamental strength remains today the cohesion and unity of those who comprise its membership. The Class of 1975 leaves Dartmouth with a deep awareness of the principles of fellowship, mutual respect, and the need for cooperation in the accomplishment of shared pursuits. This is the College's legacy to us; our aim should be to make it our legacy to society.
A renewed sense of community, a re-awakened awareness of our responsibility to one another, should be the most important goal of our society in the years ahead: It is the most eternal verity - the most absolute truth - to which our civilization subscribes. It is a concept that, although sometimes forgotten and often abandoned, demands a continuing and vigilant dedication. It is in the word community that we most clearly see the hazy outlines of a world of real tolerance, genuine compassion, and sustained peace.
I ask my classmates to consider these questions as we prepare to separate and live our individual lives. In the various communities of which we will eventually be members, what ultimate contributions do we hope to make to our fellow man? How will society benefit from our existence? Our sensitivity to these questions is essential to the development of a reinvigorated sense of community.
I leave you today with the ideal of community - an ideal as discernible in this country's past as it is essential to its future. The term community means a growing willingness of the individual to be a part of something bigger than himself and a new apprecia- tion of the possibility that the whole can often be greater than the sum of its parts. It serves as a constant reminder that we ail share our humanity - a common bond that involves rights, responsibilities, and a fundamental consideration of others.
MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1975:
Tradition dictates that the President have the last word in speaking to the seniors. In exchange for signing 731 of your diplomas I get this last chance, and I find it each year my most awesome responsibility. How can I in five minutes make up for all that you did not learn in the past four years? I know that that is an impossible task, and the best I can hope to do is perhaps leave you with one more thought before you leave Dartmouth College.
In today's over-crowded and over-organized world one often asks whether one person, one individual, can ever make a difference. If by difference you mean that you will change the world fundamentally for the better, very few are ever granted that privilege. But one individual can make a difference. Each year at Commencement we honor a small and very special group of people. Today seven individuals received honorary degrees, seven very different individuals, but they have one thing in common - that each in his or her way made our world a better place.
It is my hope that you will ask yourself how you as a unique individual can contribute to a better world. You know yourself best and you alone can answer that question. I am sure that each of you has a number of ambitions - for a fine family, a career, perhaps ambition for wealth or ambition for fame. And I hope that whatever goals you set for yourself you will achieve.
But I hope that you also have a greater ambition. I hope that somewhere in your life you are going to find within yourself that special spark that makes life truly worthwhile. I hope that you may find satisfaction in enriching the lives of those closest to you. I hope that you will not fear to join organizations even if human institutions are always imperfect, that you will join and work to improve them - whether they be your own community, your business, your church, or your school. I hope you will not always run with the pack but ask yourself how you as a unique individual can contribute to improve that community.
I hope as you pick institutions to support, one will be your college. A few minutes ago I pronounced a magic incantation hallowed by tradition, and through that magic I changed you from seniors to alumni. You are now the youngest alumni of Dartmouth College, and I hope that each of you will find a way, a way that is most appropriate to you as a unique individual, to help make Dartmouth an even better place. I hope you will do this because without your help the College cannot survive.
And I hope that your aspirations will go beyond your family, your job, your community, and your college. I hope you will find some way to improve life for your fellow human beings because there is no greater satisfaction in life than to help others. Men and women of Dartmouth, all mankind is your brother and you are your brother's keeper.
