speeches
Touro College Commencement Address
Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr.
Berlin
July 3, 2006
A commencement is a time for celebration, not only for graduates and their families, but for the entire academic community. This celebration of the achievements of the charter class of Touro College Berlin is an event deserving wider recognition. This is historic.
Touro College is a very special member of the community of American institutions in Berlin. Here in Berlin, over the last half-century, Germans and Americans have learned how the lessons of history can build bridges between yesterday and today. When Touro College welcomed its first class in October of 2003 -- the class that is graduating today -- it was building on the commitment of many Americans, and particularly Jewish-Americans, to a new Germany. In my opinion, there is no stronger expression of the ideals of freedom, tolerance and pluralism that our two nations share than the growing vitality of the Jewish community in Germany today.
The tradition and reputation of Touro College reinforce that message of tolerance. And so, in fact, I would like to congratulate you, not only on your graduation today, but also for having chosen this very special institution in the first place. Your choice speaks volumes about your values and ideals. You all are very special individuals.. It was probably not an easy decision -- to go to a private college with such a unique program in its inaugural year. But I know you did the research well. The reason you were prepared to take that leap of faith was in large part because of the values for which Touro College stands.
The name Touro brings to mind a number of associations, such as tolerance and freedom of religion, as expressed by President George Washington in a letter written in the year 1790 to the congregation of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. Touro also brings to mind members of the Touro family, who were great philanthropists in early America. Their donations to various civic and religious institutions were very much in line with contemporary concepts of charity that combine both “giving back” out of gratitude and what we call “giving forward” in order to make a difference.
And, of course, Touro stands for the reputation of the network of educational institutions that Dr. Bernard Lander established when he opened the first campus in New York City in 1970 under this illustrious name. Touro College was established to carry on and enrich the Jewish heritage, but it was also designed to fulfill the traditional Judaic commitment to intellectual inquiry and social justice. Multiple campuses in the United States, as well as programs in Russia, Israel, and here in Germany, Touro College has excelled in offering a community-based model of education. It has a proven track record in the integration of diverse economic and social communities. It has done so by respecting the individual choices and needs of people like you, Berlin’s Class of 2006.
In a few minutes, you will walk across this stage to receive your diplomas. That diploma comes with certain privileges, and, responsibilities. I am sure that you are looking forward to the privileges, but as the first graduates of Berlin’s Touro College, the responsibilities part of the equation is equally important. The world needs your intellectual talents but it also depends on the Touro values of tolerance, generosity, social justice, and integration. You are about to become stewards of that tradition.
Ladies and gentlemen, my career has taken me from multinational business and philanthropy to international diplomacy. I have been faced with resolving challenges that lay far beyond my doorstep in Canton, Ohio. To a much larger extent, this will be a given of the lives of you and all those graduating from countless institutions of higher learning around the world this spring.
I am sure that the unique education you have received here at Touro College has equipped you to see the connections between what happens in your own local communities and the broader set of communities around the world. This I think is one of the advantages of international business programs. I am pleased that almost a third of this class of 2006 is American. There is no substitute for living abroad if one is to understand another country -- or even one's own.
We all know that globalization is making the world smaller, faster, and richer. One-third of human beings now live in places where the standard of living may increase 30 fold in a single human lifespan - a transformation that dwarfs what we call the Industrial Revolution. Still, 9/11, avian flu, Darfur, Iran remind us that a smaller, faster world is not necessarily a more secure world. A more integrated world offers unprecedented opportunities for collaboration and innovation, but it also invites threats from those forces of hatred and intolerance who wish to do harm. It presents unprecedented challenges that require creativity and resolve.
Globalization, as is true of all significant social change, also brings with it a degree of disorientation that will constantly challenge you to adapt.
What does this mean for you, the class of 2006? For better or worse, it means that just when many of you may have thought you have completed your education, you will find that it is really just the beginning. You have a lifetime of learning ahead of you.
I have been involved with many business efforts to assess what kind of graduates the private sector needs. It’s not industry-ready young people with special skills for work built into them. It is graduates with the ability to think and learn continuously.
Now, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more frenzied, you will be challenged to use the totality of your education and experience. You will need to think critically and write clearly; to weigh evidence before making informed decisions; and to use science and technology to address some of the 21st century’s greatest challenges, such as inequality, extremism, degradation of our environment, and ethnic conflict.
Remember though that despite the challenges that will face you, despite the fact that our world seems to get smaller with every passing day, there is still room for big dreams. Remember the words of American poet Carl Sandburg, "Nothing happens unless first a dream.” Our era is one of momentous transition and transformation, one in which there is an unprecedented openness to new ideas.
With your energies, ideas and fresh eyes, I know you will make your dreams come true and enrich the world in the process. Today, one door closes while many others open. Congratulations on one job well done, and my best wishes for your success in those yet to come.
Good luck to all of you.
As prepared for delivery.
