Download William R. McNeal`s commencement address

Commencement Address School of Education The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill By William R. McNeal Executive Director North Carolina Association of School Administrators Sunday, May 10, 2009 Memorial Hall To the accomplished graduating class of 2009, to your esteemed Board of Trustees, Chancellor Holden Thorp, to Dean Bill McDiarmid, whom I’ve come to know and respect, to the erudite faculty, administrative staff, parents, and other family members and friends─and I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout out to mothers─obviously, your love, your hard work, your support and tears helped make this day possible. I’ve been given my marching orders so I’ll tell you what actress Elizabeth Taylor told her fifth husband, “I won’t keep you long.” I’ve been in North Carolina for a number of years now and as a former superintendent, I’ve truly come to appreciate the strong partnership between the UNC‐Chapel Hill School of Education and school districts across this state. Founded in 1885, the School of Education was one of the first professional schools established at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose mission is to support students, educators, schools and families in the state of North Carolina and across the nation through innovative instructional programs, scholarships and partnerships. Your goal is to help ensure that every student has the opportunity and support needed to reach his or her maximum potential as an individual, worker, family and community member and citizen of a democratic society. So, how have you done? Ten years ago, the leaders of the School of Education and officials of the Chapel Hill‐Carrboro City Schools began to dream about creating an “educational park” in Chapel Hill‐Carrboro. Enter the Carolina Center for Educational Excellence. Thirty years ago, state officials in North Carolina became concerned that inadequate education in science and mathematics was hampering the state’s efforts to flourish and expand its economy. Enter the Center for Mathematics and Science Education. The UNC School of Education is home to nine different master’s degree programs, including the Master of Education in School Counseling, which is ranked in the top 20 school counseling programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Your faculty and staff support North Carolina’s educators through centers and programs that include your Web‐
based network LEARN NC. But obviously you can’t talk about the relationship between the UNC‐Chapel Hill School of Education and school districts across this state without talking about you, the graduates here today. Some of you have been in the classrooms volunteering, giving hope to children who need attention as well as encouragement. Some of you have been in the community, lifting up people from all walks of life. You see, I’ve done a little checking on you. I know about the $6,000 you raised to fight cancer in April. In so many ways, you touch children’s lives. Like you, I have Tar Heel Pride. But let me suggest that your Tar Heel Pride shouldn’t come just from what you’ve learned or where you’ve learned it, but what you do with it. A little over a year ago, a biology and political science major found the time to tutor and teach science at a local elementary school. On summer breaks, she studied in Havana and volunteered in Ecuador, Egypt and Ghana. As a student leader and prestigious Morehead‐Cain Scholar, Eve Carson, former Student Body President, personified what retired UNC Chancellor, James Moeser, called the Carolina spirit. “She was compassionate, inclusive in her dealings with everyone; fairness, justice and tolerance.” Community service was her hallmark. Eve Carson was a hero because she took what she’d learned and her beliefs and put them into action. She had the courage to make her mark on the world, even in an abbreviated life span. She left a legacy. Kudos to her Mom … and Dad! So I ask you, graduates, can you follow her example, in ways large and small? How will you leave your mark? How will you represent? What is expected of you? If you know anything about me, you know that in order to answer those questions, I like to turn to children’s classics and in this case, to my favorite, the wonderful Wizard of Oz. As I say that, I know that you know what I’m talking about because it is truly building on previous learning. Practically everything I’ve learned about children, I’ve learned from children’s classics. So let me take you briefly through the story. Remember, it’s set in Kansas, with Dorothy, Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Toto and a few other characters I’m going to mention later. The story is about these characters looking for different gifts─some call them character traits─and these character traits would supposedly complete them as an individual. If you recall, the Scarecrow was in search of a brain, the Tin Man a heart, the cowardly Lion courage and Dorothy wanted to go home. They were told they had to travel the road of life─in this case the Yellow Brick Road─to reach the Emerald City and see the Great and Powerful Oz. Think of the Yellow Brick Road as a metaphor for life. Now I can teach many lessons from The Wizard of Oz and I do that with young people. If I’m talking to kindergartners and first graders, I am talking about Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow. What a great diversity lesson when you’re talking about teamwork. They get it without any problems at all. If I’m talking to high schoolers, then I’m talking about the family. Dorothy lived with her uncle and aunt. Was this a dysfunctional family? You know, we often think in terms of a functional family as a mother and father. But a functional family is one where love is present. I always enjoy having a little fun with high schoolers so I ask, “What if I told you more about Dorothy? She is from New Jersey. She ran with a street gang and ultimately ended up in Kansas for her own safety.” They always eat that up. Then I ask, “How do you know that’s not true? Because you didn’t see any tattoos? Is that the issue?” That’s a great story but it’s not my story for today. Today I want to talk about the gifts that Dorothy and her friends were seeking─brains, heart, courage, home. Those are gifts that will carry us through life. The school of education that attends to those, or the graduates that attend to those in their own lives, will find success, even in a down job market. I promise you those jobs are there, if you bring those gifts to the table. Let me break it down for you. The Tin Man wanted a heart. The heart is about how you treat people. It’s about emotions and caring. If you remember, the late Martin Luther King prayed for his enemies. He used nonviolence as a tool to energize a movement. Mother Teresa gave a lifetime of selfless service. I quote her in saying, “Let all my actions be beautiful for God.” My question is: Are you a good person? Is it evident in your behavior? Do you care about children? Will 2
you help rid the world of racism, sexism, elitism, bullying, abuse, poverty and all the other issues that we’re dealing with? Will you make it a better place for children? Again, the question is: How will you treat people? How do you treat them now? Can you hear Mom’s voice? The cowardly Lion was in search of courage. Courage is about convictions, the ability to stand for right when it may be more popular to sit. Mom told us this at an early age. As another wizard─this one in the Harry Potter books─said, sometimes we must make a choice between what is right and what is easy. So my question is: Will you stand for those children and parents without a voice? Will you lead others, even when it’s easier to be quiet? Will you speak for the Great Unwashed? Will you set an example, when it’s easier to look after your own affairs? So here’s the key question: Are you prepared to lead? Are you prepared to lead with courage? The Scarecrow wanted a brain. The brain represents preparation, lifelong learning, feeding the mind. Morehouse president, the late Benjamin Elijah Mays, said: “One is never totally knowledgeable and must be willing to compete with the best.” You have been part of this institution of higher learning for several years. But I have to tell you, you’re not done. You must continue to read, to study, to learn, to become greater than you were yesterday. So the key questions are: Will our country continue to be the technology leader? Will the economy recover? Will our K‐12 educational system graduate students with 21st Century skills? Will you teach your students, by example, the value of learning? In this rapidly changing world, we need problem solvers and thinkers. Will you continue to feed your mind, long after you leave this place? And finally, Dorothy wanted to go home. Home is about a support system, a place of refuge, a place where you will find Mom. And Dad, if you want more of this, you’ll have to come back on Father’s Day. Home is a place to come back to. It’s a place where you’re loved unconditionally, much like this place. It’s where you can find your parents─people whose shoulders you stood on, cried on, who carried your refrigerator and furnishings up to the dorm room. Home is where you turn when there is trouble in your life. So will you remember where you’re from? Will you draw strength from your school, your church, your community, your family? I’ve given you four attributes─the gifts of courage, brains, heart and home. Dorothy and her friends were told that they needed to get to the Emerald City and see the Great and Powerful Oz to obtain these gifts. Let me tell you about the story twist. If you recall in the story, it was the Tin Man who cried, and the others had to use an oil can because the Tin Man had begun to rust. What that should have told you is that the Tin Man had a heart because he showed emotion. The Tin Man had a heart but didn’t know it. And as you recall, the cowardly Lion, on at least two occasions long before they reached the Emerald City, roared, “Put ‘em up!” The cowardly Lion stepped up, showed courage. He had courage but he didn’t know it. Then there was the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow was in search of a brain. When Dorothy was captured by the flying monkeys, it was the Scarecrow who made a plan to rescue her. The Scarecrow had a brain but he didn’t know it. Dorothy had a desire to go home. All she had to do was click her heels together three times. So what is my message to you? If they had all these things, why did they need the Wizard? They needed the Wizard for validation─not unlike you graduates today. This day is about validation. Today we are on a different side of the color wheel from emerald. On this Carolina Blue day, the wizards are your professors, 3
mothers, fathers, dean, trustees, chancellor, who are validating you with a degree that says you have the heart, the courage, the brains and the home─and I say home because I see all the support that’s here─to succeed. But I have a caution for you. Someday soon it will be your turn to be the wizard. It often happens when you reach the end of a road, which is what’s happening to you today. So when it’s your turn, and some young person comes to you for validation─and young people come to the wizards many times from kindergarten through senior year─the question becomes, what will they see behind the curtain? How will they be validated? Will they soar like an eagle or be nothing special? Much of that power is in the hands of the wizard. What am I saying to you today? The message to them is the same message that I’m sharing with you─that they, like you, have the brains, the heart, the courage and the home, not only to succeed, but to lead. High expectations is the key. Today is not about lions or tigers or bears or even rams. It’s definitely not about anything colored any other shade of blue. It’s about a band of Tar Heels about to make its mark on the world. Remember, as you leave, you won’t be in Kansas anymore. Success lies over the rainbow, and trust me when I tell you if you bring those gifts to the table, there will be a job for you. But in difficult times when you find yourself in trouble, remember there is no place like home. I will leave you with the words of Charles Kuralt, who said: “What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls or the crisp October nights or the memory of dogwoods blooming. The love of this place is based on the fact that it is, as it was meant to be, the university of the people.” Life is about service to other people. This we learned from our mothers. Congratulations and Godspeed! 4