To The Class of 2012
In today's Wall Street Journal, Brett Stephens delivers a commencement address arguing that most of those graduating from American colleges and universities this spring will have received lousy educations, will have their heads filled with political correctness instead of enduring principles and ideals, will have put together resumes that reflect cheap puffery rather than modesty and genuine accomplishment--and will have no idea of what is about to hit them in the working world.
Excerpts:
Allow me to be the first one not to congratulate you. Through exertions that—let's be honest—were probably less than heroic, most of you have spent the last few years getting inflated grades in useless subjects in order to obtain a debased degree....
No doubt some of you have overcome real hardships or taken real degrees. A couple of years ago I hired a summer intern from West Point. She came to the office directly from weeks of field exercises in which she kept a bulletproof vest on at all times, even while sleeping. She writes brilliantly and is as self-effacing as she is accomplished. Now she's in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.
If you're like that intern, please feel free to feel sorry for yourself. Just remember she doesn't.
Unfortunately, dear graduates, chances are you're nothing like her....
In every generation there's a strong tendency for everyone to think like everyone else. But your generation has an especially bad case, because your mass conformism is masked by the appearance of mass nonconformism. It's a point I learned from my West Point intern, when I asked her what it was like to lead such a uniformed existence.
Her answer stayed with me: Wearing a uniform, she said, helped her figure out what it was that really distinguished her as an individual.
Now she's a second lieutenant, leading a life of meaning and honor, figuring out how to Think Different for the sake of a cause that counts. Not many of you will be able to follow in her precise footsteps, nor do you need to do so. But if you can just manage to tone down your egos, shape up your minds, and think unfashionable thoughts, you just might be able to do something worthy with your lives. And even get a job.
If you were delivering a commencement address this spring, what would you add?
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May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
Member Shane McGuire has been asked to address the grads at his alma mater, UT Tyler, and asked help in filling his three minute slot. Here was my suggestion:
Congratulations! Today you (will) have your diploma in hand, tomorrow you will begin your education. For what this great institution has given you is knowledge and what they could not give you is wisdom.
Over the course of the next days and months and years, you will accumulate and utilize the wisdom of others: your parents, your mentors and your older colleagues. Many of you will be shocked to learn how wise your parents have become in the last four or five years.
This University has taught you how to be something- a teacher, a nurse or maybe an engineer. But it will be up to you to be somebody. And to be somebody does not have to mean someone who is well known or rich. In the end, and I mean the real end, those that know you best will make the final judgment: Were you a good spouse, a good parent, a good friend?
*Continued below*
May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
If you came from a loving and intact family seek the wisdom of your parents. If you did not, be the parent you wanted them to be, be the type of spouse you wish they had been.
Remember that it is always easier to become these things, than to be these things.
Ultimately the responsibility is yours. Society does not portend destiny. There is not a straight and narrow path to success. Every day brings a new decision, a chance to turn one way or the other. The path you make is your own. It may sound daunting but it is the path every man has trod since the world began. Good luck to you all and Godspeed!
Jan '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
The job of God has been taken.
Feb '12
Re: To The Class of 2012
EJ--thanks. As I said when you originally shared your thoughts (which were excellent) I wanted to touch on the knowledge v. wisdom theme, which I've done.
I love the story Peter quoted above, and I've love to have the brazenness of Martin Luther and share many of those thoughts with the graduates, but I'm pretty sure that would be in poor form, and you're required to submit your speech first, and I'm fairly certain I'd be nixed as speaker were I to submit my candid thoughts.
That all said, I've posted my speech on Ricochet as a conversation bc I didn't want to overload the comments , which isn't brilliant or erudite by any stretch, but it rings similar what EJ posted above. So I guess I can say with certainty that what's in my post is what I'd add, given my constraints.
Jan '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
I know it's fashionable to talk about the "higher education" bubble and denigrate college education in general, but Stephens editorial was a gratuitous slap at more than a million young graduates. I happen to meet and know some of them. They are for the most part, smart, motivated, and hard working. The Reagan commencement speech at Notre Dame in 1981 (referred to in the link below) strikes a much better tone that Stephens bitter, "you are all losers" theme.
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/12315075-423/the-commencement-speech-you-wont-hear.html
May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
Gratuitous and mean-spirited and a truly cheap shot from a very safe distance. I daresay very few of the employees of News Corp. much less the editorial room of the Wall Street Journal have accomplished what Mr. Stephen's West Point intern has accomplished. I would urge the dyspeptic Mr. Stephens to lay off. (And I would use different language but for the CoC.)
Mar '12
Re: To The Class of 2012
Brett Stephens sounds like a [jerk]. I doubt he provoked any thoughts from the audience with his condescension other than, "Who the hell does this guy think he is?"
Edited on May 9, 2012 at 12:56amApr '12
Re: To The Class of 2012
I don't quite get why the editorial needs to be so spiteful. There are some good points hidden under the "PS, I hate you" language, but it's quite unlikely that the actual members of the class of 2012 are going to absorb them. Nonetheless, I think the main thing today's new graduates need to consider is that, from here on out, they're going to need to take a lot more initiative than most of them have up to now, and show more perseverance. As an instructor of undergraduates, I'm fascinated (and a little discouraged) to see how fixated they are on being given a well-ordered, easily transparent path to success. They love study guides, rubrics, and the like. Life after graduation won't provide many rubrics and study guides. They're going to have to adjust.
Jul '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
Brett Stephens' West Point intern is lucky in a way that most other graduates are not: She has a mission that is immediate. Compare the folks with the 82d Airborne, who know they can go at the drop of a hat, with the folks at Finance, who do important work too but don't have to be prepared to deploy. Very few of us, and few of the 2012 graduates will have such an immediate mission. They need to learn that life is mostly a marathon, but sometimes you'll have to sprint.
May '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
I'm with you, Trace. And:
"In every generation there's a strong tendency for everyone to think like everyone else. But your generation has an especially bad case, because your mass conformism is masked by the appearance of mass nonconformism."
Sounds like the 70s. And the 80s. And the 90s...
Edit: What is "mass nonconformism," anyway?
Edited on May 8, 2012 at 7:44pmNov '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
For members giving Stephens a hard time, have you worked with some of the young people these days? There are some very good ones (mostly from state schools, I find.. no BS, no sense of entitlement, hard workers), but many are ignorant and, much worse, dogmatic about what little they actually know, much of which is simply wrong. Not since the 60's have we had a generation (again not all, but...) so ignorant of life in general, so reflexively liberal in their sensibilities, so sensitive about the least little slight, and so dogmatic and judgmental. And when learned, experienced people try to engage them in thoughtful conversation, as soon as one of their cherished liberal assumptions is challenged, they want to classify the person as racist, sexist, homophobic, or any other pejorative they can use to avoid a real conversation.
Now, again, this is not every one of them, but I would argue it constitutes a majority.
For the constituency in this population he was targeting, Stephens dosen't seem to be out of line. It's a message they need to hear and take to heart.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
When you do something that you believe is radical or a statement of your individuality because everybody is doing it and you don't want to be left out.
May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
I need to acquaint you with the 40-somethings in my Facebook feed -- I think many have become more reflexively liberal and dogmatic than when I went to college with them 25 years ago.
I think Rachel's point is spot on. My limited contact with undergraduates and my contact with those that have more contact with undergraduates, suggests they are more coddled than was my generation. But that is certainly not their fault nor does it even represent a character flaw. I think a "life is tough" message is a useful one to deliver -- but not the way Stephens does it.
May '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
Because they have just spent years inside a liberal bubble where everything was about self-indulgence, self esteem and groupthink.
Welcome to the real world.
Apr '12
Re: To The Class of 2012
The real world is full of nothing but spite? Seriously, I'm not usually the first to jump on the "can everyone just play nice" bandwagon. People like Mark Steyn use scathing language to great effect, and I love it. But this seemed gratuitous and (somewhat ironically) self-indulgent to me. And I *do* work with young people on a regular basis.
May '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
EJHill
When you do something that you believe is radical or a statement of your individuality because everybody is doing it and you don't want to be left out. · 41 minutes ago
Well said. I had to quickly slow down so I could catch the meaning.
Apr '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
Don't tell the POTUS
Apr '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
I liked Stephens Op/Ed piece too, as did my 14 year old son.
Copperfield: For members giving Stephens a hard time, have you worked with some of the young people these days? There are some very good ones (mostly from state schools, I find.. no BS, no sense of entitlement, hard workers), but many are ignorant and, much worse, dogmatic about what little they actually know, much of which is simply wrong. Not since the 60's have we had a generation (again not all, but...) so ignorant of life in general, so reflexively liberal in their sensibilities, so sensitive about the least little slight, and so dogmatic and judgmental. And when learned, experienced people try to engage them in thoughtful conversation, as soon as one of their cherished liberal assumptions is challenged, they want to classify the person as racist, sexist, homophobic, or any other pejorative they can use to avoid a real conversation.
For the constituency in this population he was targeting, Stephens dosen't seem to be out of line. It's a message they need to hear and take to heart.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. · 2 hours ago
Mar '11
Re: To The Class of 2012
EJHill
When you do something that you believe is radical or a statement of your individuality because everybody is doing it and you don't want to be left out. · 2 hours ago
Boldly proclaiming your individuality with a cute tattoo is all the rage these days.
Sep '10
Re: To The Class of 2012
I sent the column to my freshman daughter with the following note:
Now that you’re free you can catch up on all the valuable cra..uh stuff I’ve sent. Is yahoo like google and you don’t have to delete anything? I’ve come to love that even though I thought it was crazy at first. This is interesting because we talked about it at the Country Club lunch table and because its NOT written for the class of 2012…its written for parents of the class of ’12 who can use it to scold their worthless children…for whom they are ultimately responsible. Its worth reading despite or even because of that fact because it gives you a view of what some people think about “college kids these days” unlike back in my day when we had to walk 10 miles through ice and snow to get to the beer truck, don’t worry we only hate the ones who voted for Obama, maybe not even all of them.