Office of the Chancellor
Chancellor Pam Shockley
2004 Commencement Address
(Word Doc)
This is truly a wonderful day. You are the largest graduating class in the history of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a university that offers a world-class education to students who yearn to make a difference in your own lives and in the lives of others.
Faculty members and staff build a learning community that I believe is second to none. We are supported by a broader community who want to see the university—and its students—succeed.
We cannot take this support for granted and I know that you do not. Before I talk with you for a few minutes, I want to ask you to acknowledge those who are with you and who have provided support and encouragement along the way—faculty, staff, family, and friends.
Graduates, please rise, look for your own personal supporters, and give them a round of applause as your thanks.
Thank you.
I want to also take this time to recognize retiring faculty and staff who have contributed to this university’s and its students’ collective successes.
Badal Dushan, Mary Lou Bailey, Richard Blade, Steve Ekerholm, Diane Ferrell, Robert Keeley, Jeanne Knudson, Randall Kouba, Catherine Mundy, James250 Rothe, Lynn Scott, Lore Simpson, William Smith, Kevin Wheatley, Ronald Wisner, Marian Yacko
Please join me in thanking these individuals for their contributions to the university.
Many commencement addresses talk about success and being successful. I want to talk about something different.
I want to talk about hope and the role it plays in shaping our lives.
As a society, we face many challenges. Our country remains at war; funding for public higher education is threatened; there are rising social and economic inequalities among our nation’s citizens; the job market is difficult and prices are on the rise for basic necessities.
These are challenges, to be sure.
But I am full of hope for the future. And I encourage you to be as well.
It is all of our responsibilities to have hope.
Hope is what leads us to possibilities
Hope is what leads us to inspiration
Hope is what leads us to exploration
Hope is the antidote for ‘me too’ and for eliminating ‘it’s her fault’ from our vocabularies.
Hope is the foundation of education and is the cornerstone of leadership.
As Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul -- and sings the tunes without the words -- and never stops at all.”
Lilian Endicott (EN-DE-Cott) has hope.
Today, Lilian graduates at age 37 cum laude with degrees in political science and Spanish.
For two years, she has been part of the Karen Possehl Endowment for Women Program, attending classes at CU-Colorado Springs, home schooling her three daughters – Elizabeth, Kathryn, and Caroline -- and serving as a volunteer translator for immigrants who do not speak English.
Lilian plans to continue her studies next year at CU-Boulder and to work in immigration law.
But her biggest hope is to someday return to her native Ecuador and to run for President.
As Aristotle told us, “ Hope is a waking dream.”
Through her actions, Lilian Endicott shows us what hope is.
So does Madeline Arroyo.
Madeline’s name does not appear in your commencement program, as she technically will receive her degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
But I believe her to be very much a member of the Mountain Lion family.
Madeline had not set foot on a college campus for 24 years, having left a few credits short of a degree, starting a family, and having a successful career in the advertising business.
But hope has a way of creeping up on you.
Madeline has two children, both of whom have learning disabilities. From that experience, she hoped to use her experiences to learn to help others and to complete her degree.
Through CU-Colorado Springs, Madeline Arroyo’s completed the requirements for her degree and will realize her hopes and dreams.
So did Charles Chambon.
Charles – Chuck -- graduated from high school with letters in football and wrestling. He played the trumpet and the French horn. He graduated with academic honors. He seemed to have, as some would say, the world by the tail.
But life has a way of turning things around when you least expect it, testing your faith and your ability to have hope for the future.
A motorcycle accident robbed Chuck of the use of his limbs but not the use of his mind, or of his hope for the future.
Charles earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from CU-Colorado Springs. He was active in assisting faculty with their research, with teaching, with amateur radio, and with civic organizations like the Jaycees. He was a vibrant and visible figure on campus for many years, often accompanied by his mother whom he termed his arms and legs but who obviously was much, much more.
Charles saw the possibility of the future, continuing his studies and completing the requirements for the university’s highest degree, the PHD.
In January, while he was in the Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital, Charles was presented his doctoral hood in recognition of his scholastic achievement.
Charles Chambon died due to complications from his paraplegia on April 10.
Today, we pause for a moment to honor Chuck and his mother, Myrtle.
Presentation of plaque to Mrs. Chambon.
Mrs. Chambon, it is my honor to present this plaque to you in recognition of your dedication to the pursuit of education and commitment to family.
Present Plaque and shake hand
Through the Chambon, Endicott and hundreds of other families represented here today, we honor the value of hope and the possibilities that exist in our lives.
With hope, no obstacle is insurmountable; no problem without solution.
Hope is fragile. We can lose hope in milliseconds or gradually as we allow the weight of the trivial to bear upon us. Or, we can hold on to our hope and use it to shape our own futures as well as the futures of others.
It is a uniquely individual decision that each of us in this room today must make.
Education takes the accumulated knowledge of the past and applies it to thinking about the future.
You are asked to study Aristotle, or to learn the history of the Holocaust, because these events changed the trajectory of human kind. This trajectory passes through you and to points unknown, well into the future.
It does not matter if you are a teacher, a nurse, a physicist, an engineer, a historian or any of the other professions represented here today. What each of you share is a place in the present and an opportunity to mold the future.
I encourage you to have hope for the future, remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr. who said:
“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”
I have faith in you and your abilities and confidence that you will find solutions to the problems of today and the possibilities of the future.
Congratulations, graduates.