Fred McFeely
Rogers
2002 Commencement Address at Dartmouth College
Wow. What a privilege to be with you all. Since I've arrived here in Hanover many people have greeted me by saying, "It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood." Well, indeed it is a beautiful day. But before I begin, I'd like you to know that I recognize that you who live and work here have had many days, particularly during these last several months, that have been far from beautiful. You've had a painful time and you've handled it with dignity. I feel certain that the Zantops' generous spirits inspire you and it's a great privilege for me to be with you all. *
When I was at Dartmouth in the late 1940's, the tuition, room, and board all
added up to $1100 a year. Nobody owned a home computer and hardly anyone had
a television set and for those who did, there was a choice of three channels.
I'm not sure if Jeanne Shaheen was even born yet, but very few people would
have guessed that within 50 years a woman would be governor of New Hampshire.
Yes, when I was here the first word of the alma mater was "Men…Men
of Dartmouth, give a rouse…". Well, now the first word is "Dear".
Some things change for the better.
During my first year here, I lived right over there at 101 Middle Mass. And
I had two roommates. I had a professor over there who did his best to scare
everyone in his class and he gave me the lowest grade that I ever had in any
school anywhere. But I also had an astronomy professor, George Dimitrov, who
looked for and found what was best in each of his students. When I look at the
night sky, I still think of that extra-special, kind man.
Dartmouth is many things to each of us and I'm grateful to Jim and Susan Wright
for all that they have done for this school. And I'm grateful to my old friend
Chick Koop for all that he has done for all of us. And I congratulate every
one of you who is being honored in any way during this Commencement weekend.
Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one
of us is a part of that jewel. A facet of that jewel. And in the perspective
of infinity, our differences are infinitesimal. We are intimately related. May
we never even pretend that we are not. Have you heard my favorite story that
came from the Seattle Special Olympics? Well, for the 100-yard dash there were
nine contestants, all of them so-called physically or mentally disabled. All
nine of them assembled at the starting line and at the sound of the gun, they
took off. But not long afterward one little boy stumbled and fell and hurt his
knee and began to cry. The other eight children heard him crying; they slowed
down, turned around and ran back to him. Every one of them ran back to him.
One little girl with Down Syndrome bent down and kissed the boy and said, "This'll
make it better." And the little boy got up and he the rest of the runners
linked their arms together and joyfully walked to the finish line. They all
finished the race at the same time. And when they did, everyone in that stadium
stood up and clapped and whistled and cheered for a long, long, time. People
who were there are still telling the story with great delight. And you know
why. Because deep down, we know that what matters in this life is more than
winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win too. Even if
it means slowing down and changing our course now and then.
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius - what a name - was the last of the great
Roman philosophers and the first of the scholastics of the Middle Ages. Fifteen
hundred years ago, Boethius wrote this sentence, "O happy race of mortals,
if your hearts are ruled as is the universe by love." I was once invited
to sit in on a master class of six young cellists from the Pittsburgh Youth
Symphony. The master teacher was Yo-Yo Ma. Now, Yo-Yo is the most other-oriented
genius I've ever known. His music comes from a very deep place within his being.
And during that master class, Yo-Yo gently led those young cellists into understandings
about their instruments, their music, and their selves, which some of them told
me later, they'd carry with them forever.
I can still see the face of one young man who had just finished playing a movement
of Brahms' cello sonata, when Yo-Yo said, "Nobody else can make the sound
you make." Of course, he meant that as a compliment to the young man. Nevertheless,
he meant that also for everyone in the class. Nobody else can make the sound
you make. Nobody else can choose to make that particular sound in that particular
way.
I'm very much interested in choices and what it is and who it is that enable
us human beings to make the choices we make all through our lives. What choices
lead to ethnic cleansing? What choices lead to healing? What choices lead to
the destruction of the environment? The erosion of the Sabbath? Suicide bombings
or teenagers shooting teachers? What choices encourage heroism in the midst
of chaos?
I have a lot of framed things in my office which people have given to me through
the years and on my walls are Greek, and Hebrew, and Russian, and Chinese, and
beside my chair is a French sentence from Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince.
It reads, "L'essential…l'invisibles pour les yeux." What is essential
is invisible to the eye.
Well, what is essential about you? And who are those who have helped you become
the person that you are? Anyone who has ever graduated from a college, anyone
who has ever been able to sustain a good work, has had at least one person and
often many who have believed in him or her. We just don't get to be competent
human beings without a lot of different investments from others.
I'd like to give you all an invisible gift. A gift of a silent minute to think
about those who have helped you become who you are today. Some of them may be
here right now. Some may be far away. Some, like my astronomy professor, may
even be in Heaven. But wherever they are, if they've loved you and encouraged
you and wanted what was best in life for you, they're right inside yourself.
And I feel that you deserve quiet time on this special occasion to devote some
thought to them. So let's just take a minute in honor of those who have cared
about us all along the way. One silent minute.
Whomever you've been thinking about, imagine how grateful they must be that
during your silent times you remember how important they are to you. It's not
the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish
our souls. It's the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear
the truth, that the bedrock of our lives from which we make our choices is very
good stuff.
There's a neighborhood song that is meant for the child in each of us and I'd
like to give you the words of that song right now.
"It's you I like.
It's not the things you wear.
It's not the way you do your hair
But it's you I like.
The way you are right now
The way down deep inside you.
Not the things that hide you.
Not your caps and gowns,
They're just beside you.
But it's you I like.
Every part of you.
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you remember
Even when you're feeling blue.
That it's you I like,
It's you, yourself
It's you.
It's you I like."
And what that ultimately means, of course, is that you don't ever have to do
anything sensational for people to love you. When I say it's you I like, I'm
talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything
you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to
stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers
hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful
than greed.
So in all that you do, in all of your life, I wish you the strength and the
grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become
the best of whoever you are.
Congratulations to you all.
*Susanne and Half Zantops were Dartmouth professors who were found murdered in their home six months prior to this speech.