As we enter the larger society outside the walls of this institution, many might ask, "What progress remains to be achieved and how may I affect that progress?" As we survey the landscape, the selfish nature of the modern American value system casts a shadow on our hope. We look and see more military dollars than education dollars, more jails than hospitals, more country clubs than volunteer organizations. I refuse to believe that age kills idealism. Age does not kill idealism, being comfortable does. Who is to blame for the corruption in politics, the crime on the street, the discrimination in our society? If you and I do not devote our lives to changing these societal afflictions, we shall be found guilty.
We must not allow our generation to pass without the complete eradication of all discrimination based on racial identity, ethnic affiliation, religious belief, sexual preference, gender identification or economic standing in both our laws and our minds. You and I must use our education to lead our friends, our families and ourselves to higher levels of respect for all individuals. Let not our generation fail to progress toward a society in which human worth forms the basis of our judgments.
You and I must establish a new standard in the development of our envisioned society. We cannot allow ourselves to be corrupted by the negative and inaccurate images that surround us. You and I must take our knowledge and share it with others, cultivating it in fertile minds, working for an end outside ourselves. We as individuals may not hold the answers; I certainly do not. However, we have the ability to create a climate in which new answers may be discovered. We must destroy the myth that our actions affect only those who immediately surround us. Our one vote counts, our one hour makes a difference, our collective endeavors change the landscape. You and I must become beacons of enlightenment, structures of knowledge and keepers of hope.
The recent financial crisis in Mexico affects workers around the globe. The struggle for democracy and equality in South Africa bears on us all. When a 10-year-old girl dies in our inner city, her blood stains our suburban hands. Our world of autonomous nations is fast becoming a global community, and the ills of distant cultures are no longer distant. Each of their ills affects us all. Giving 5 percent of your newfound income to charity or volunteering five hours a week is not enough. You and I must give our very souls to the cause of helping each other. We must become the keepers of the flame, the carriers of the torch, the dreamers of a downtrodden people.
We have witnessed brave steps toward peace in the Middle East, but terror has recently gripped our Midwest. Our suspicions in Oklahoma City sought foreign faces first, but the real bombers lurked on our own highways and in our homes. The Cold War fears of the past have given way to the threat of hate and terror within our own borders. The face of dishonesty and the threat to our existence no longer shouts from Moscow, but whispers to us in the halls of Congress, through the speakers of our radios and within the lines of our newspapers. Fear and ignorance are both national and international problems; our generation must work toward their eradication. We must not allow the dissension and selfishness of our fellow citizens to turn our nation and our world into a vigilante society driven by individualism. Let us, you and I, this very hour, embark on a mission to spread the hope of education and of the future itself to all whom we encounter.
We also must realize the complex nature of the world we enter if we are to change it. The cultures that form the parts of our collective whole are inherently equal but in no way autonomous. We as a generation must respect what we disagree with while working for the things we believe in. Do not allow the forces of materialism and prestige to rob you of the joys and importance of service. If you take nothing from this speech please remember these words: service will always be the highest form of leadership. We must individually, each of us, help those in need, teach the young, work toward changing the face of our nations. We must demand the respect of all; for no one race, religion or philosophy holds all the answers. As educated people, you and I must realize the value of multiple perspectives and the possibility of multiple answers.
Let this day, this ceremony, mark not only the end of our college careers, let it mark the beginning of a new generation, a generation based on the values of collective good and not individual gain, a generation of educated people who together through their individual endeavors may promote our respective cultures to a place of peace, understanding and mutual respect. Let historians write on our tombstones, "Here lies a generation who refused to retreat into the past, but achieved a new level of understanding by questioning the values of those who passed before them and caring for those who were born of them."
If you and I choose to pass through life and maintain our comfortable status quo -- our houses, our incomes, our clothes and our cars -- our tombstone will be blank and our lives will have been empty. Commit yourself to do more than live; challenge yourself to improve, to affect, to impact our world. Each of us here today is responsible for bringing our vision to fruition. If we refuse this calling, today's commencement is meaningless, for we will commence to do nothing. If we fulfill this charge, you and I will be true Emory graduates. I thank you and wish you good luck and Godspeed.
Doug Shipman was 1995 Senior Class Orator. This article is taken from his remarks at the Emory College diploma ceremony.