Applying to Susquehanna

yabeyabe2
Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:08:43 +0000

For those interested, here is the text of the President’s welcoming remarks to the freshmen today; Swatmom and Singledad, I hope initial reports from your kids are better than the weather:

Today we welcomed 652 new students to campus. In keeping with tradition, students came together for Opening Convocation, officially marking the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year. Below are President L. Jay Lemons’ remarks to those students and their families.

Convocation Speech
L. Jay Lemons
August 25, 2011

Good afternoon, it is my great privilege to add another word of welcome to all of our new students and their loved ones on this grand occasion. What a sweet and sacred sound it is when Faculty Marshal Kate Hastings brings the mace down upon this podium.

That sound and this ceremony formally mark the commencement of Susquehanna’s 154th academic session. Such ceremonies and the colorful academic regalia worn by our faculty keep us mindful of the roots that were sown more than 800 years ago with the rise of higher education in Europe—in places like Oxford, Cambridge, Paris and Bologna. The promise of the liberal arts throughout history has been to prepare students to live as free persons, readied by knowledge, by habits of heart and mind, by commitment, and by character with the capacity to build just and democratic societies.

Susquehanna Trustee Signe Gates of the class of 1971 has said that one of the goals of the liberal arts is to help students come to know and understand their link in human history. Think of all the generations of students who have preceded you here and the incredible events that have shaped our world since Susquehanna’s founding in 1858.

Think about beginning your studies here on the eve of the Civil War or the dawning of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the automobile, two world wars, the Great Depression, Sputnik, the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights movement, the Apollo lunar landing, Watergate, the dot-com boom and bust, the fear of Y2K, the beginning of a new millennium, the horrors of Sept.11, 2001, the cracking of the human genome, and countless other life and world-changing events.

I am struck by the fact that while there have been extraordinary developments in nearly every dimension of life in the past 154 years, many of the milestones that first came into my mind were born of hardship, struggle and suffering—times when fear was pervasive. How many past generations of students arrived here during times of anxiety and fear?

Each year we adopt an academic theme to help stimulate a yearlong, sustained discussion. This year’s theme is fear. The Oxford English Dictionary defines fear variously as “apprehension or dread of something that will or may happen in the future” and “the emotion of pain or uneasiness caused by the sense of impending danger, or by the prospect of some possible evil.”

It reminds me of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography, that we know it when we see it. So it is with fear—we are wired for it. Most of us have learned about the physiological responses we have to fear in high school biology. You remember the fight or flight syndrome and the release of the hormone epinephrine, triggering our sympathetic nervous systems. Our hearts beat faster and our airways open wider. Fear is regarded by most social and developmental psychologists as one of the most basic human emotions along with love, joy, happiness, anger, sadness and surprise.

Think with me for just a moment about the most common fears. According to self-described, self-help blogger, Stephen M. Nash, the most common fears—perhaps dubiously determined by internet search data—are: fear of flying, public speaking, heights, the dark, intimacy, death and dying, fear of failure, rejection, spiders, commitment, flowers, driving, dogs, dentists, snakes, needles, being alone, water, God, abandonment, long words, clowns, falling, change, germs, music, doctors, crowds, being touched, open spaces, engulfment, girls and thunder. It is a scary world out there.

In reflecting on the consistent finding that many people fear public speaking more than death, Jerry Seinfeld once begged the following question: “Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

Fear seems an appropriate theme for us to explore during the coming year. All of our first-year students will share in the Common Reading texts in their Perspectives classes. And the Class of 2015 will gather on Sept.15 to hear author David Roepik talk about how our fears do not often align with risk and vulnerability. Roepik argues that we worry often about things that are very low risk and we ignore, often at our peril, things that have higher risk.

I will never forget the fear I felt as I left Scottsbluff, Nebraska, in August 1978. My 1968 Buick Special Deluxe, complete with the unshakable stale cigar smell from its original owner, was loaded with a trunk of my clothes, a typewriter, a lamp, and my brand new Pioneer receiver, turntable, Dolby dual tape deck and Bose 301 speakers. I was headed for Nebraska Wesleyan University, some 450 miles to the east, located in the capitol city of Lincoln. Never before had I driven on an interstate highway. Never before had I driven more than 10 miles from home by myself. But with a father who was consumed as a high school football coach preparing for an opening game and a mother who was busy with my younger siblings, alone I began my journey.

I stopped for lunch in North Platte, Nebraska, where I stopped at a King’s Restaurant. As I entered, I used a dime to buy a copy of the Omaha World Herald, the most prominent paper in my home state. After ordering, I opened the paper and realized that I was shaking so badly I could not read the print.

Truth is, I was both excited about beginning college AND I was scared to death. My fears included: Would I be smart enough? Would I find friends? Could I compete as a college athlete? How would I avoid, or not be derailed by, the nonsense of college life as was popularly characterized by the movie, Animal House, which debuted in the summer I went to college? How would I afford four years of tuition at an expensive private college? What job or profession could I possibly want to pursue for the next 40 years?

I remember these questions and these fears as if they were yesterday. I expect that many of you parents have similar recollections. And, let me be clear, I was also excited about the unknown adventure that was ahead of me. I have not forgotten the moving demonstration of the benefits of a liberal arts education that Nebraska Wesleyan alumnus and eminent federal jurist Warren Urbom demonstrated when he spoke eloquently about the value of his education, quoting Carl Sandburg in his address during orientation. Immediately, my hope was that I might one day have some measure of his intellect and oratorical capacity. I could not wait to see if I had the ability to run for the legendary track coach Woody Greeno. And, truthfully, I was ready to leave home and my hometown. It was time to stand on my own.

And so it is your time, members of the Class of 2015. We are excited that you are here. My sense is that some of you might have that same mix of fear and anticipation that I felt so many years ago.

On a personal level, the theme of fear resonates powerfully for me this year because, just yesterday, we delivered our eldest child, Olivia, to her new collegiate home. Once beyond the excitement and joy of her high school graduation, Olivia’s anticipation became palpable. You might wonder why she is not here at Susquehanna. Beyond being the place where she grew up, she insightfully told people throughout the college search process that Susquehanna would have been a great option if only there was a new president. Yet, as her fear built during the course of the summer, staying closer to home looked better and better. While I told her I understood her feelings, she kept saying, “Dad, you cannot possibly understand.” Ultimately, the desire to leave her well-meaning mom and dad, coupled with her own excitement, trumped her fear and she is now on the road you are on, beginning college in New York City at Columbia.

So if you have some of that same mix of emotions, I will tell you that I think it is normal and healthy. Fear has its place in human affairs. Frederick Nietzsche called fear the mother of morality. As an undergraduate philosophy major, I must admit to finding Nietzsche both interesting and confusing. With regard to thinking about what he means by fear being the mother of morality, my sense is that he is implying that fear can serve as a governor of our behavior—bringing pause or regulation to our actions.

Some fear is a good thing. Mark Twain argued that fear was inevitable. He said, “courage is resistance to fear, not the absence of fear.” We all have fear, it can be a good thing, but we need to muster the courage to handle fear. It can help us to be ready, to be cautious and to be motivated for action.

I am excited for my daughter, Olivia, as she starts her journey and I am excited for all of you. My prayer for Olivia is that she will find inspiration, friends who give her a sense of belonging, and faculty and staff who will both challenge and support her in her studies. More, I hope that she discerns her vocational calling, develops further her own sense of right and wrong, and is imbued with a desire to work in her own way to make this place a better world by working hard, serving others and finding joy every day—both that which is hidden and that which is in plain sight.

Finally, I hope she will know whom to turn to in her new community when she falls down and struggles. Dissonance, disequilibrium and difference often produce fear. As an educator, I have come to know that each is also necessary for learning. At times, it is tough for me as a parent to accept this reality, so I pray earnestly that God will burnish in me the faith in Olivia and Columbia to let this learning take place there, as I know it will for you here at Susquehanna.

Members of the class of 2015, I have the same prayer for each and every one of you.

Let me also pass along to you the same advice I have given Olivia:

• Do your best
• Go to class
• Find a good reason for your faculty members to know your name
• Work hard
• Make joy part of the journey
• Act with integrity
• Get help and support when you are in need

Parents, I want to acknowledge that fear is also a part of your experience during this meaningful transition in your child’s life. Have we prepared her well? Does she have good judgment? Will she know how to separate the light and dark colors when she does her laundry? Will she remember to brush her teeth? Will she learn to manage money? Will she make good decisions? How will she do academically and socially?

As a college president, it has been my great privilege to preside at occasions like this one for 20 years, and I have cherished the opportunity to offer counsel and advice to the parents of new college students. Suddenly I find myself needing to walk the walk after having talked the talk for so many years. While I have recognized the anticipation, the anxiety and the fear in the faces, words and bodies of thousands of parents and students, this year is different. I am living the experience with you. It is an extraordinary time and I understand the fear many of you have today with a freshness and depth that goes to my core.

Tina Fey in her new book, Bossypants, acknowledges the full circle we begin as parents and the attendant fear that accompanies parenting. She ends Bossypants with what she calls the Mother’s Prayer for My Daughter. Hear the comedic voice of Tiny Fey: “First Lord: No tattoos. May neither the Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.”

Whether your worries are about tattoos or taboos, if you are like me, you have high hopes and high expectations of both your children and of Susquehanna. That is how it should be! One of my sources of fear is whether there will be faculty and staff at my daughter’s new college home who are as committed to students and their learning as my colleagues here. I am so proud of our faculty and staff and their keen understanding that here we exist to help our students develop the capacity to lead lives of achievement, leadership and service.

Let me add three quick nuggets of advice for parents:

Care packages are always welcome
Come for Homecoming (September 16–17) and Family Weekend
(November 4–6)
Come anytime . . . Just don’t come unexpectedly!

It has become tradition that I share with you a story first shared with me by a wise friend that captures some of symbolism of this precious moment. It is simply called, The Faith of the Shipbuilder. It is a story that fits every year but it fits especially in a year where our university theme is “fear.”

Parents, you need to have the faith of the shipbuilder. Constructing a ship takes hard work, diligence and patience. Launching a new ship is equally challenging: full of excitement, concern, doubt—but ultimately the shipbuilder must test their precious new vessel and that test must come at sea. Parents, you have worked to make your human vessel sea worthy . . . You have cared and loved these persons for the past 17 or 18 years . . .You have molded their character and nourished their intellect . . . Like the shipbuilder, launch your vessel with confidence and faith in your work . . . Know, too, that the ship will come back to port . . . every few months . . . usually with loads of dirty laundry! Time in port is vital for being restocked, to have the sails repaired, to have barnacles removed from the hull . . . Your work is not done, but for the shipbuilder there is great pride and joy at watching your ship take to the water…May you leave this place with great pride and joy that your vessels have been launched here at Susquehanna University.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the handsome box each of you holds in your hands. Stephen Covey has said that it is helpful and powerful to “begin with the end in mind.” Convocation signals the beginning of your four years here. Graduation marks the beginning of a new phase in your life and the commencement of a lifelong relationship with your alma mater, Susquehanna University.

Now, I invite you all to open your box . . . this symbolic tassel is meant to help you think about the day in May 2015, when we gather in this place and recognize your accomplishments individually and as a class. We believe you have the potential to succeed here; the faculty and staff and I stand together to help you. Hold tight to that vision for your future and let us guide you along the way.

Inevitably there is fear in life. Beginning the collegiate journey is one of those times when fear is a companion. Remember that fear has its place and remember also the words of Bertrand Russell who said “to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” Class of 2015, welcome and best wishes as you begin on the path towards wisdom, light and truth.