Given by President Kathryn Mohrman
May 19, 2002

I feel a special bond with you, the members of the class of 2002. We are graduating together. The difference is that most of you are on the four-year plan, but it has taken me nine years to get to this point.  We share a love for Colorado College, and we have become different people because of our time here.

My theme today is borders and boundaries -- not in the sense of barriers, but in the sense of demarcations to be crossed, obstacles to be surmounted, and challenges to be accepted.

This weekend you are crossing several important boundaries in your lives: the traditional boundaries between college graduates and those less fortunate; for most of you, the boundaries between adolescence and adulthood; and the boundaries between dependence and independence. 

I want to approach this theme of borders and boundaries from four different perspectives: intercultural understanding, contributing to communities, thinking in interdisciplinary ways, and taking risks. 

Improve intercultural understanding 

Let me turn to my first category of borders and boundaries, the divisions among people.  These include religion, race, nationality, sexual preference, gender, and ethnicity -- all the characteristics we humans use to create borders and boundaries among ourselves. 

The strategic plan that Colorado College adopted in 1994 says the following: 

Attention to diversity is linked to our priority on teaching, learning, and discovery.  The CC mission statement declares that we seek to prepare students for positions of professional leadership and civic responsibility in an interdependent world.  The world in which they will exercise their Colorado College education is one in which everyone will be a minority.  [Thus] all students need experience with cultural groups other than their own. [All students need] knowledge about international relations.  [All students need] skills of intercultural communication. [All students need] practice in comparative analysis and sophisticated and critical judgment.  In the spirit of true liberal education, students need to go beyond their individual differences to join in the complexity of what it means to be human.. [Colorado College students] deserve an education for a world that will be ethnically and culturally richer-and more complex-than our society today.

These words from the strategic plan reflect our hopes for you, that you will be effective citizens and productive professionals in that complex world.

Over the last decade, we have made progress on the diversity agenda. In 1992, the student body included 11.5 percent students of color; in the current academic year, the comparable statistic was 16.2 percent.  In 1992, the full-time faculty included 6.2 percent American ethnic minorities, and this year the number is 13.4 percent.  In addition, we have increased the budgets for the Student Cultural Center, for four Riley Scholars a year compared to one, for the Diversity Council, and much more.  

For some of you, these numbers seem small and the progress slow.  For others, the changes over the past decade have created a cultural shift on this campus. But the real challenges are not in the numbers.  What matters is how you respond to these differences and whether you see them as problems or as opportunities for your own learning. 

About a month ago, as one response to racially insensitive content in the April Fools issue of the student newspaper, members of the college community came together to talk about the climate on our campus. At that session, Sandra Wong, a CC sociology professor, challenged us to think in more complex ways about diversity.  (Click here to read it online.)  Professor Wong spoke of a system of social relations, historically and currently, that enables some of us to have freedoms, individuality, opportunities, and esteem while others are denied.  Stereotypes are part of a system of beliefs of superiority and inferiority -- a system of beliefs that sustain patterns of racism and inequality. 

Professor Wong challenges us to go beyond learning what words to say and what words not to say. We need to examine critically what we think, and why.  She encourages us to ask ourselves, "Do I have certain images and conceptions of people who are different from me? Do I make assumptions about them based on the groups to which they belong? Why are the stereotypes on television so familiar? Do I reproduce those ideas and relationships?"

And finally, Professor Wong encourages us all to go beyond reflection and to engage in dialogue, to articulate our thoughts, and to subject them to the ideas of others.

So we hope for you, the members of the class of 2002, that you will be advocates for true intercultural understanding in the years ahead.  What might this mean in practical terms?  I urge you to go out of your way to talk to individuals whose backgrounds are different from yours and to learn from them. Don't avert your eyes when you see someone in a wheelchair, for example.  Don't be afraid to talk to a person whose heritage is different from your own. Reach out to a newcomer and help him or her feel a part of your community.

If you are on a hiring committee at your workplace, make sure that the pool of candidates has broad representation of the composition of America.  When you hear a discriminatory comment, speak up!  Silence is acquiescence.  Bad speech can be overcome by better speech.

When you travel, learn something about the history, the culture, the language, and the beliefs of the place you are visiting -- don't be a stereotypical ugly American.  And above all, ask yourself the hard questions about what you believe and whether you have more to learn. Whatever you do, wherever you go, we urge you to recognize how important it is, and how hard it is, to cross the boundaries and borders of race and culture and religion in a serious way. 

Contribute to the social good 

The second set of borders and boundaries I want to discuss is the division between the individual and the larger society.

We expect, in the years ahead, that other people will benefit from your presence.  I am not saying that you must be as selfless as Mother Teresa -- it is quite possible to do good and also to do well -- but we expect you to contribute to the social welfare in some way. About 75 percent of you have participated in community service while at CC. When most people think of doing good after graduation, they imagine a continuation of these kinds of volunteer activities, and I hope you will do just that.

But service is also well done when you integrate your intellect and your education with the needs of the community. I am very impressed with doctors who take several weeks a year to donate medical services in developing countries. Similarly, many attorneys do pro bono work for people who would otherwise not have a voice in the legal process. Other individuals integrate service into their lives by running for elected office.  You can put your education to work by being a member of a school board, or a county commission, or a city council.  There are many ways to contribute. 

More than 175 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville commented on the American propensity to form organizations and associations for every imaginable purpose. This, he thought, was a source of the particular genius of American society.  More recently, however, social commentators have noted that this tendency is declining.  Robert Putnam recently wrote:

The most whimsical yet discomfiting bit of evidence of social disengagement. that I have discovered is this: more Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade or so..  The broader social significance, however, lies in the social interaction and even occasionally civic conversations over beer and pizza that solo bowlers forego.  

Appropriately, Putnam's essay is entitled "Bowling Alone."

I challenge you to behave contrary to the trend that Putnam has observed, not necessarily by joining a bowling league, but by participating actively in your communities.

And, of course, if you can incorporate a sense of social good into your career, you are in a wonderful position. I have always felt that being a teacher is an investment in the next generation of our society. In that regard, I feel that I am contributing to the social good each morning when I come to the college. Education is a noble calling. We don't use this kind of language often at Colorado College, but I suspect that our faculty and other members of the campus community feel the same way.  Our lives matter -- the work we do will live on after us because of the impact we have had on you. 

Thus our hopes and expectations for you are high: that your lives will matter to others in some way, large or small, and that you will use the education you have received at Colorado College for the betterment of the larger society. 

Seek connections 

Let me turn now to my third reflection on the theme of borders and boundaries. One of the special qualities of Colorado College, even in comparison to other fine liberal arts and sciences institutions, is our commitment to interdisciplinary learning. This is another form of boundary crossing.

The problems we face as a society do not fall neatly into disciplinary boxes.

Questions of air pollution, for example, involve chemistry -- but also economics and politics.  Diplomacy between Middle Eastern countries and the United States involves international relations, of course -- but also religion, cultural values, American isolationism, and our dependence on Middle Eastern oil.  Some of the most exciting new discoveries in the understanding of human development involve neuroscience, the biology of the brain -- but also sociology, psychology, and demographics.  Changes in the Southwest, our home region, involve ecology -- but also geology, immigration, and economic shifts from a mining and ranching economy to one of tourism and services. 

In your four years at CC, you took thirty-two courses.  I hope that these were not thirty-two individual blocks, but a series of related intellectual experiences. How do different disciplines approach problems? What are the tools that come with various intellectual approaches? When faced with an academic issue (and in the years ahead a work problem or a family problem or a community problem) can you come at it from different angles? 

Graham Allison, a political scientist at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, wrote a famous book on the Cuban Missile Crisis entitled, Essence of Decision.  What makes this book so interesting is the fact that he tells the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis three times, each time with a different frame of reference. Allison demonstrates how alternative conceptual lenses lead one to see, to emphasize, and to worry about quite different aspects of events.  Further, he suggests, if you have only one intellectual framework, you are likely to see a problem only one way, but with multiple intellectual tools, you will be able to make much more sophisticated judgments about an issue and be more likely to find multiple solutions to the problem. 

Over my lifetime, I have tried to look for such connections.  I've studied different subjects, and I earned my PhD in an interdisciplinary program of public policy.  I remember my senior year in college, sitting in the spring sunshine and having one of those "aha" experiences.  The reading I was doing for my American philosophy class suddenly related to the political science course I had taken previously.  The concepts I was learning in art history had parallels to my literature class.  It was a wonderful revelation to me, although looking back, I wonder why it took me so long to figure it out. 

My message to you, then, is: think broadly, look for connections across seemingly separate bodies of knowledge, and develop the habit of using multiple lenses to understand an issue.  Cross those intellectual borders and boundaries. 

Embrace challenge/Take risks 

My fourth and last topic is a different way of saying the same thing -- "don't get stuck in a box; challenge yourself!" I don't mean doing risky things like skydiving without a parachute.  Rather I am thinking of intellectual risks, putting yourself in new situations rather than doing the same thing over and over -- pushing yourself to cross personal borders and boundaries. 

Colorado College is a place that encourages these kinds of risks.  The Block Plan itself is a kind of academic risk.  Your professors are much more creative about pedagogy than are faculty on many other campuses. We encourage intensity and engagement. We use small classes to advantage. We take field trips to expand the boundaries of the campus. 

Each year we spend thousands of dollars on Venture grants, summer collaborative research projects, and other opportunities for students and faculty to push beyond the conventional. We have a tradition of innovation at Colorado College. 

So I encourage you to challenge yourself and to take some risks as you leave CC and move out into what we affectionately call the "real world." I feel that I have some justification in giving this advice, because I am making changes in my own life.  This is my final year as president of Colorado College.  As I have investigated other opportunities, I have thought a lot about transferable skills (just as you have), about the relationship of my background to jobs ranging from foundation president to Peace Corps country director to manager of an executive search firm. 

So this summer I, too, will be crossing an important boundary in my life. I will be leaving for a year in Hong Kong, teaching American studies and public policy. I am very excited -- even though I don't know what will happen after that. 

I realize that your first jobs likely won't be as interesting as mine.  But I encourage you to try to do more than the minimum. Offer to take on an extra project.  Talk to the manager and learn something about his or her job. Consider starting out as a volunteer in what you really want to do, and work in a fairly boring day job to earn enough money to live on.  Do those menial tasks with dignity. 

My first four jobs were learning experiences.  I learned what I didn't want to do for the rest of my life.  I was let go in an economic downturn and went on unemployment for a while. Most of all, I learned that I would be happiest if I followed my passions.  

So I encourage you to do what is in your heart, not to choose a job simply for the paycheck or the prestige.  If you follow your passions, you will have an inherent sense of satisfaction in what you are doing.  Solving a difficult accounting problem is very rewarding if you want your organization to succeed.  Spending time with disabled children can be very satisfying when they learn to do things for themselves.  Giving a presentation to your co-workers, even if you are afraid of public speaking, is a risk worth taking to communicate your ideas.  When you are nearing the end of your life, you want to look back with satisfaction; you want to feel that it mattered that you were here on this earth. 

Now some of the parents of today's graduates may feel nervous as I say, "it's not the paycheck" or "I went on unemployment."  Naturally, you want your daughters and sons to be gainfully employed and we do, too! Let me be clear: I'm not advocating low salaries or unemployment.  But it's not the end of the world either, and I truly believe that money is a means to an end, not a goal in itself. 

So I encourage you, the members of the Class of 2002, to live your dreams.  Cross the borders and boundaries between the familiar and the unknown, the comfortable and the difficult.  Take the risks to do what you really want to do. 

In conclusion, then, I challenge you to approach the borders and boundaries of your life as opportunities, not as barriers.  I urge you to think about the advantages and the responsibilities because of your Colorado College education.  We have high expectations of you as CC graduates. 

First, you have a responsibility to improve intercultural understanding, to learn from your neighbors and co-workers whose upbringing is different from your own, and to understand more about cultures in other parts of the world. 

Second, we expect you to contribute to your communities, to make a difference in the lives of the people around you. 

Third, we encourage you to look at the world through multiple lenses, to solve problems with the tools and perspectives that come from different disciplines. 

And finally, we challenge you to take risks in your life and follow your passions. 

To my colleagues on the faculty, the administration, and the board of trustees -- you have borders and boundaries to cross as well. So I challenge you to make this a more diverse campus, even when that means some discomfort for the status quo.  For example, I encourage financial aid that provides access and opportunity for students of many different backgrounds. And then you have the responsibility to challenge their intellects and to help them succeed. 

I urge faculty-hiring practices that bring more professors of color to CC -- every year, not just occasionally. I would be delighted if the membership of the board of trustees would match the current diversity of the campus -- not to mention our hopes for an even richer community in the future. 

I challenge you to provide lots of opportunities for creativity inside the classroom and out.  Faculty, teach every class with intensity; make every day an opportunity for students to learn more than they ever thought possible. 

I'd love to see every student who wants to do independent study, summer research, or a Venture project have the funds to follow those passions. Right now we run out of money long before students run out of good ideas. It would take less than $100,000 added to our current investment in order to serve all qualified applicants; that's not much money compared with the initiative and creativity that money would sponsor. 

I'd also like to see international opportunities for everyone who can benefit, as well as greater integration of those experiences into the curriculum.  Another dream of mine is an enhanced role for interdisciplinary programs on this campus: more faculty interested in crossing academic boundaries; more program funds to support these interests; and new endowments for interdisciplinary programs comparable to the funds that we now have for Southwest Studies and Asian Studies. 

And I urge you to continue the tradition of innovation. Engaging in institutional risk taking will make Colorado College an even more distinctive place.  Put the college's money on the initiatives that will do the most for students' learning -- not just the sacred cows of the past. 

In closing, I'd like to share a wonderful story told by Fanny Lou Hamer.  Fanny Lou Hamer was an African American woman, one of twenty children of Mississippi sharecroppers, a civil rights worker, and an inspiration to others.  I told this story nine years ago at my inauguration ceremony.  I think it is even more relevant today. 

Once upon a time there was a wise old man who could answer questions that were impossible for other people to answer.  Two youngsters, thinking they were very clever, plotted about a way to trick the old man. 

"We're going to catch a bird.  We'll carry it to this old man and hold it behind our backs.  Then we're going to ask him, 'This that we hold in our hands today -- is it alive or is it dead?' If he says, 'dead' we will turn it loose and let it fly away.  But if he says 'alive,' we will crush it." 

So they caught a bird and walked up to the old man and said, "This that we hold in our hands today -- is it alive or is it dead?"  

The old man looked at the two youngsters and he smiled.  Then he said, "It's in your hands." 

Graduates, your future is in your hands.  And to everyone in the campus community -- the continued success of Colorado College is in your hands. 

Thank you.  

Back to What's News