Celebrities Offer Words Of Inspiration For College Graduates

Jet, June 26, 2000

Graduation time is here. It is a time to proudly celebrate achievement and the great gift of education. It is a time to say goodbye to yesterday and look ahead to bright tomorrows.

Celebrities offered words of inspiration, wisdom and courage to this year's graduating classes at college and university campuses across the country.

Superstar comedian Bill Cosby took his famous brand of humor and wise advice to several commencement exercises.

Cosby told graduates at Pennsylvania's Franklin & Marshall College: "Write a note to the professor whose class you didn't really study for. College professors don't make a lot of money. They're here because they want to teach. Tell them you're sorry."

When he arrived at Tufts University's graduation ceremony, Cosby stressed the importance of self-confidence. "You people don't seem to get it. You pretend you're still scared, you pretend you don't know what to do, and so you go back home. Many of you are afraid. I have no idea why. You have passed the tests. You can graduate."

He also urged the Tufts graduates to look at the big picture. "Don't be concerned if you don't have a job yet, but be concerned if you didn't try to get one."

He also told them to be prepared for new opportunities. "The way I succeeded was that I made sure that each time I did something, I was aware of the next two steps ahead, and I made sure I was ready, no matter when they called on me. The big picture: being prepared, each and every time, no matter what."

Veteran entertainer-civil rights activist-humanitarian Harry Belafonte delivered a passionate speech to graduates at Fisk University after receiving an honorary degree. He discussed Black pride and advised them to use their education and talent to make a difference in the community.

"When I was born, I was called colored," Belafonte told the graduating Class of 2000. "Not too long after that, I was called Black. Most recently, we've been titled African-Americans."

He pointed out, "That tells me two things. First, each time we acquire a new title we move closer to identifying who we are in some sense of history."

Belafonte observed, "On the other hand, it tells me that--having had so many titles in one's lifetime--something is out of whack. I wonder: By the time you come to the end of your lifetime, what will you be calling yourselves?"

He stressed: "What you call yourself will depend on how you have used your gifts, how you have applied them to the needs, hopes and aspirations of your fellow human beings who are caught in the abyss of poverty and oppression."

He challenged the graduates: "We may adorn ourselves with the title of African-American, but how much do we really know about Africa? How many of you know the stories of the real plight of the people of Africa? How many of you know that the longest civil war in modern history is taking place on the continent of Africa in a place called Sudan?"

Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., informed graduates at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, that only 1 percent of the people on earth have a college degree.

"Think about it. Only one out of every 100 people in the world have a college degree. No matter how common well-educated people seem to be in the U.S., understand that you are now members of an elite and privileged group. I say privileged, because even if you worked hard to get to this day, you must understand that God chose you to be a part of that 1 percent."

Mrs. King pointed out, "Now, just because you are a member of an elite group, that doesn't mean you have a license to start acting elitist. On the contrary, God made it possible for you to get a good education so you could use what you have learned, not only to have a good income and a comfortable life for yourself and your family, but also to help other people have a better life. You are here today because you have been called to serve."

She recalled words of inspiration that she came across as a college student that helped shape her life.

"When I was a freshman at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, several years before I met Martin Luther King Jr., I encountered a statue of the great educator and founding president of Antioch, Horace Mann, on the campus of the college. And the inscription quoting Horace Mann's address to the first graduating class on the base of the statue made a profound impression on me. The inscription said: `Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.'"

Mrs. King told the graduates: "I would encourage all of you to let Horace Mann's challenge work on your conscience. And I promise you that if you accept this challenge, you will find a deeper sense of fulfillment and you will meet lots of interesting people who will enrich your life beyond what you thought was possible."

U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher spoke at several commencement exercises, including the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Virginia Commonwealth University.