Tavis Smiley Calls Upon Class of 2016 to Continue DePauw's Legacy of Leadership

May 22, 2016

Photo Galleries 1 & 2; Order Your Commencement DVD

"What say you about who we are going to be?," broadcaster, author and philanthropist Tavis Smiley asked DePauw University's Class of 2016 at this morning's 177th Annual Commencement.  "What will your life and what will your legacy say about the kind of nation that we are going to become, the kind of people that we are going to be."

Smiley, the host of the late-night PBS talk show Tavis Smiley, as well as The Tavis Smiley Show on Public Radio International (PRI), also received an honorary doctorate during the program, which took place in Holton Memorial Quadrangle in perfect weather conditions.  A total of 533 bachelor's degrees were awarded during the ceremony.

"Our nation is being vexed by some hard questions which require and demand some heart answers," Smiley stated as he put his hand over his chest.  "This election, which is hard to ignore as much as we'd like to -- at least I can speak for Tavis in that regard -- is challenging us to wrestle with a very serious, and yet simple, question: Who are we really?  ... What kind of country are we ultimately going to be? "

He stressed, "I am not here to be partisan at all today ... in part because the polls that I read I suspect are the same polls that you read, an apparently we don't like or trust him or her as a country."  Smiley called upon the graduates sitting before him to "not talk about him (and) to not talk about her, but to talk about us -- to talk about we, the people."

Smiley asserted, "America needs your leadership.  And there are so many distinguished graduates of this institution who have offered a kind of leadership sorely needed in this nation that I want to encourage you to emulate.  I could run a long list of great, iconic DePauw graduates, but it just so happens that one of your most distinguished graduates happens to be not just a friend of mine, but I consider him a mentor.  And so I want to call and celebrate in his absence my friend, Vernon Jordan." 

Of the 1957 DePauw graduate, Smiley said, "If you can live a life that emulates the kind of love and the kind of service that (DePauw President) Dr. Casey has provided and Vernon Jordan has provided then you will have lived a life well-lived."

Eyeing the students, Smiley continued, "Nobody sent you here to be a follower.  We're all expecting you to lead, that's what it means to be a graduate of DePauw, that you step into the world and you provide leadership."

Smiley advised the graduates, "You can't lead people unless you love people, and you can't save people unless you serve people."  He called upon them to "figure out the mission statement for your own life," warned the young adults to "protect your soul ... soul is the most precious part of you," and urged them to "commit yourself to excellence."

He concluded, "Commit yourself every day to doing your work so well that the dead, the living or the unborn couldn't do it any better."

In addition to Smiley's award, an honorary doctorate was presented to Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, a 1989 DePauw graduate and partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Ropes & Gray.  His arguments helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage last summer.

Craig R. Carter '16 also addressed his classmates as the winner of the Walker Cup, which is awarded to the senior who has contributed the most to the University community during his or her four years on campus.

Graduates and their families are invited to order a limited edition DVD of the commencement program. The disc, which is professionally replicated, will include footage of each graduate receiving their DePauw diploma as well as a range of bonus materials, including clips of some of the most memorable moments of the past four years, such as Ubben Lectures by Jimmy Kimmel, Jane Goodall, Dan Quayle '69, Martin Luther King III, Bret Baier '92 and Andrew Luck. The DVD will also contain a video tribute to President Casey and vintage film from the DePauw Archives.

Orders are now being accepted at $19.95 for the first disc; additional DVDs sent to the same address will be $8 each (7% sales tax will be added to Indiana orders). An online order form is available here; you can learn more about the disc in this article.

For more information on DePauw's commencement, click here.

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