2008 Commencement Address

A Moment of Suspension

By Meredith Neville ’08

President Bush, President Shi, members of the faculty, honored guests, members of the class of 1958, and members of the great class of 2008.

      We are here tonight not only to celebrate our accomplishments at Furman, but also to address the future.  Pascal Mercier aptly describes our position:  The past has dropped off.  The future hasn’t yet begun, time has come to a halt and holds its breath as it never will again.  Mercier asks, “What could, what should be done with the time now before us, open and unshaped, feather light in its freedoms and load-heavy in its uncertainty?”  

      Class of 2008, right now we are experiencing this moment of suspension.  Time is frozen at a crossroads between the impression of what was and the expectation of what is to come.  Let’s look then to our Furman forefathers for guidance.

      For well over one hundred years the leaders of Furman have recognized the value of liberal arts.  They have given us an education, rooted in the very semantic of the word itself.  Education stems from the Latin phrase ex ducere, meaning to “lead out” of oneself.  While we have spent a lot of our time at Furman reading — and I’ll admit, sometimes sleeping — in a library cubicle, this time in solitude was merely preparation for the larger steps out of Furman’s gates. 

      But on what basis do we take these steps?

      In 1964, Dean Francis Wesley Bonner promoted the idea of “the right to engage in intellectual inquiry without restraint, coercion, or fear of persecution.”  I think we can all agree that Furman still upholds this principle.  Not only are there heated debates within the classroom, but also in the dining hall and, most recently, on FUnet.  We have been taught the value of participation and reasoning.  Our professors have even tricked us into discovery by knowing which questions to ask.  Little did we know that our “discoveries” were actually concepts already unearthed by scholars such as Plato, Maslow, and Avagadro.  This ideal of intellectual inquiry is the foundation of a true liberal arts education.

      In 1933, president Bennette Eugene Greer stated that Furman should adhere to James Buchanan Duke’s objective of “ideal service” to mankind.   Duke was a tremendous benefactor of Furman.  His contributions helped our university to survive in times of hardship.  In his memory it seems only fair that we give back to Furman by taking what we have learned here and sharing it with the world.  Ideal service is the practice of a true liberal arts education.

      In 1901, president Andrew Philip Montague stated that Furman “furnishes sound preparation for the future duties of life; it equips young men for high and intelligent citizenship, striving to develop in them qualities of mind and of heart that shall make them useful to their community, their state, their country.”  Due to our education we must not only be informed citizens, but engaged citizens.  We have a responsibility to be leaders in our communities and beyond.  Furthermore, our professors have cultivated in us civic virtues that will carry us through great disappointments and lead us to great achievements.  This ideal of a virtuous heart and mind is the hallmark of a true liberal arts education.

      Intellectual inquiry.  Service to mankind.  A virtuous heart and mind.

      These are the three ideals we take from Furman.  These are the three ideals at the center of civic leadership.  These are the three ideals we take out into the world.

      Now, the first thing we’ve got to do with these ideals is pop the “Furman bubble.”  This phrase is counter to everything that Furman teaches us.  It degrades our intellect and our humanity.  Just think.  How many of you have been working on the lake restoration project to make our earth a more sustainable place to live?  How many of you have become a “Furman Friend” to a disadvantaged child at a local elementary school?  And how many of you have been working with Invisible Children to end suffering in Northern Uganda? 

      There is no Furman bubble.  Not for this class.

      No matter where we take our lives, we must maintain our passion.  Whether we are heading off to Teach for America or to work for Bank of America or even to become the President of the United States of America, all of us can and should be insightful and kind-hearted. 

      We must be insightful individuals working to bridge gaps between different cultures, like Lisa Mulvey, who will travel to Guatemala this summer to promote public health to a local village.  And we must be kind-hearted public servants like Byron Smith, who will spend all of next year working with underprivileged kids at the Frazee Dream Center.

      But right now time still holds its breath like it never will again.  It waits for our answer.  Our answer to the question: what could, what should we do with our Furman education? 

      What we must do is contribute to man’s struggle for an even better world.  This sounds like a daunting task.  However, what I am asking us to do in our future, we’ve already done here at Furman.  We are already a piece of this worldwide struggle — a vital people helping to create a society with more beauty, love, laughter, and creation. 

      If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would echo the Greeks as Robert Kennedy did forty years ago.  Our goal is to “tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”

      For this is our time.  This is our time to peacefully pull a needy world out of darkness.  This is our time to step into the light.