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Hello and Welcome.
By now, all of you have heard that this past weekend
one of your fellow students, Brandon Hall, died in downtown Minneapolis.
He was a promising football player, a natural leader and a committed
student, full of life and promise.
All of us deeply mourn his loss, and our prayers and
thoughts are extended to his family and friends in this most difficult
hour. I would ask that we all observe a moment of silence in his
memory.
As President of the University of Minnesota, I feel
that it is important for me to assure you that the University is
a safe place and that we take your safety and your educational development
very seriously.
That said, it is great to be here with the class of
2006, a number we hope will be etched in your memory.
As the best prepared class in University history,
you can be proud of your accomplishments.
And we are proud to have you here…as part of a heritage that
extends back more than 150 years.
And I believe that today’s University of Minnesota
is worthy of you.
In recent years, we’ve undergone a renaissance
of sorts at the University of Minnesota, one that involves our physical
surroundings, our student experience, and our intellectual capacity
in cutting-edge academic fields.
Among the physical improvements to our campus in the
last few years:
- Walter Library-- a grand old building that has been beautifully
restored to its 1920s glory and transformed into one of the most
wired buildings on campus. See if you can count the 225 owl motifs
that decorate the library.
- A major new residence hall, Riverbend Commons, which now joins
recent renovations and additions at Frontier, Territorial and
Middlebrook Halls.
- A restored and revitalized Coffman Union that will be the hub
of student activities on the Minneapolis campus and a centerpiece
of our efforts to reopen this part of campus to the Mississippi
River. Coffman will be open before the end of the school year!
- In St. Paul, we are building on our strengths in the "new
biology" with our Plant Growth Facility, which has completed
its first phase of renovation, and our new Microbial and Plant
Genomics Building.
- And did you see all the beautiful flowers and trees on campus?
We have a plan to make this a truly "Beautiful U." In
fact, we’re planning celebrations this Fall and this Spring
where you can help us make this campus shine even more brightly!
Beyond our physical environment, improving your experience as students
continues to be one of the U’s most important priorities. What
does that mean exactly?
- Better service for students. Our paperless financial aid system,
which has reduced processing time by 80 percent, and our web-based
registration system are both part of a broader effort to make
our services better, more convenient and more efficient.
- We’ve made great strides in advising, with new advising
communities in CLA and healthcare career services delivered via
the web.
- We want to double the number of students who study abroad, and
the Bush Foundation has given us a grant to help with scholarships.
- One of our highest fundraising priorities—we’re in
the last year of a multiyear campaign to raise more than $1.3
billion--is to increase the amount of scholarship dollars available
to students at the U of M.
- We’ve created freshman seminars that allow thousands of
you to take a challenging, small group course with senior professors.
- One of the things that makes the U unique is that we are the
state’s major research university. As such, we think that
teaching and learning thrives where professors not only seek to
transmit knowledge, but also play a fundamental role in its creation.
With over a half billion dollars in sponsored research each year,
we are a major driver of the discoveries that push the bounds
of human knowledge, and that improve our health as well as our
quality of life. It’s this strength in educating students
and in research that led us to be ranked among the top 3 public
research universities by a U. of Florida study last year.
- As part of our research mission, we have created Undergraduate
Research Opportunities Programs, where students can join top-notch
researchers in a variety of projects. Students have raved about
recent experiences in archeology digs, in natural resource management
in public parks, and in our chemistry and genetics laboratories.
- As a Public Land Grant University, we also reach out into our
community to help solve problems. As a student, you can integrate
public service into your curriculum through our service learning
opportunities. You can help others through opportunities like
an environmental science course with work at our local parks and
lakes or a Spanish course that takes you out into the Twin Cities
Hispanic community.
The University of Minnesota is also a place where you are in charge
of your future, where if you take the initiative there are endless
opportunities and boundless possibilities. The sheer number of these
choices can be overwhelming, though, so it may take some time to
find the proper balance in your life. On this topic, I have a few
thoughts for you. Let me start with a story:
One day one of our professors was speaking to a group of students
and trying to teach them something about time management. She was
having a hard time getting her point across.
As she stood in front of this high powered group—I think they
were from the class that used to hold the distinction of "best
prepared"-- she said, "Okay, time for a quiz."
Then she pulled out gallon-sized jar and set it on the table in
front of her. She produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully
placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit
inside, she asked the students, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then she said, "Really?" She reached under the table
and pulled out a bucket of gravel (granted, not all our professor
have so many building materials at the ready). Then she dumped some
gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves
down into the space between the big rocks.
Then she asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was onto her. "Probably not,"
one of them answered.
"Good!" she replied. She reached under the table and
brought out a bucket of sand. She started dumping the sand in the
jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and
the gravel. Once more she asked the question, "Is this jar
full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again she said, "Good." Then she grabbed a pitcher
of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the
brim. Then she looked at the class and asked, "What is the
point of this illustration?"
One enthusiastic student raised his hand and said, "The point
is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard
you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the professor replied, "that's not the point.
The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the
big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the "big rocks" in your life? Your education?
We hope so.
- First and foremost, you are a student here at the University
of Minnesota, and we want you to succeed—to learn about the
world of ideas and the world around us while you learn about yourself.
- In practical terms, academic success means keeping on track
to graduate. Recently, we created an incentive for you to take
a full academic load; when you take more than 13 credits, those
"extra" credits are essentially free. Why is this important?
- I believe that most students benefit from concentrating
their academic life into a shorter, more intense period.
- If you stay on course to graduate in four or five years,
you are much more likely to complete your degree.
- Finally, you will reap the financial and cultural rewards
of a degree in your work life sooner.
- What about another "big rock" in your jar—your
family? I’m reminded of something Mark Twain once allegedly
said: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant
I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got
to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned
in seven years."…(What a bonus…you go to college,
and your family gets smarter!) Keep in touch with your family
and your friends. They are a great force in helping you stay well
grounded and on course.
- And speaking of staying on course, you came here with your integrity
and honesty intact, and it's important to keep them that way.
Academic integrity is the foundation of the University’s
work. Among other things, the notion requires:
- That, unless clearly specified otherwise, you submit only
your own work for evaluation; and
- that you acknowledge the work, words and conclusions of
others as incorporated in your own work.
- Another major stone in your jar is taking care of yourself and
those around you. As you arrive here today, we are embracing you
as young adults with all the attendant privileges and responsibilities.
As I mentioned earlier, we’ve already had one tragedy at
the University of Minnesota this past weekend. That’s one
too many. So, please, take care of yourself and take care of your
classmates and friends throughout the school year. It’s important
for you to make thoughtful decisions on the campus and in the
community.
- As young adults, too, many of you will be taking on one of the
primary responsibilities of our democracy when you are eligible
to vote for the first time this year. And, as this state and this
state and this nation face difficult challenges, I hope you will
also make your voice heard outside the voting booth by staying
informed and weighing in on issues of public policy.
- One possible way to become involved is to join our Alumni
Association’s grassroots legislative campaign, which
is designed to remind Minnesota’s elected officials of
the importance of the U to the state’s future.
- And what are the smaller but still very important rocks? To
be sure, your university experience is also about what you do
outside of your studies, whether that’s in athletics—be
they varsity, club or intramural--in the arts, in student leadership,
at the Daily, or what have you. Our many student organizations
—and there are more than 400—need you to contribute
your skills, and will help you to build new ones through exciting
activities both on campus, in the Twin Cities, and in greater
Minnesota communities. (Incidentally, your fellow students are
organizing a commemorative event on the afternoon of September
11 on the Northrop Mall, and they have asked me to invite you
all to attend.)
- As part of your life here, I hope that you will take care of
this place—the Twin Cities Campus--in its renovated condition.
At our next Beautiful U Day in the Spring, you’ll have an
opportunity to pick up a paint brush or a shovel to help us spruce
the place up; it really is a lot of fun—and lunch is usually
free!
- Many of you have come from high schools where community service
played a big role in your education. Here at the U, we have many
opportunities for you to be involved; for example:
- Tutoring children in reading skills through our Early Literacy
Initiative;
- Building houses through the U of M chapter of Habitat for
Humanity.
- Helping injured hawks and eagles return to the wild through
our Raptor Center!
Those are all great opportunities—and the sheer number of
great options is one of the things that makes the U of M great.
At the risk of being repetitive, let me say once again that you
are in charge of your future here at the U of M, and that you will
get more out of all of your experiences here if you are active and
take the initiative—in your classes and your extracurricular
life.
As Goethe once said, "What you can do, or dream you can, begin
it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
So, be bold! We are expecting a great deal from the class of 2006,
and you’re going to have an incredible experience. Have fun
with it!
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