If I were to write a commencement speech, this is what it would say.
I was honored to deliver these remarks at the 2018 University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Commencement.
I am a sucker for a good commencement speech. I’m not joking. Every year I refresh Twitter looking for a new batch of sappy, life-affirming essays to recharge my inspiration.
When I was 17, my favorite teacher handed me a copy of Claiming an Education, a speech that influential poet Adrienne Rich gave in 1977. I never forgot how she opened her remarks:
“The first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one. . . .The difference is that between acting and being acted upon.”
Claiming an education. I had never thought of it that way before. Claiming an education does not mean mindlessly absorbing formulas in a classroom. It means taking responsibility for your own learning, embracing hard work, and demanding to be taken seriously.
I tell this story because I believe that claiming an education is what makes graduating from the School of Journalism and Communication special. I didn’t know it then, but Adrienne Rich’s advice would define my college career — and that of so many others who have left the U of O with one of these magenta stoles.
We claim our education from the minute we step into Gateway and face the “real world” with voice recorders in hand. We demand to be taken seriously when we meet with clients, interview leaders and launch campaigns in the community.
We claim our education when we travel to places like Vietnam and Ghana, forcing ourselves to grapple with the privilege of storytelling. We reject conventional narratives and embrace the hard work of telling ethical stories.
We claim our education when we seek feedback on our writing, stomach criticism from our peers, and push each other further. We take responsibility for our learning in the office hours of instructors and professors who hold us to a professional standard.
We talk a lot about ethics, innovation and action in this school, and celebrate experiential learning. But we are best when we live those values: on the sidelines of Hayward Field, huddled over laptops in Writing Central, on the streets of New York City and beyond.
I can’t say that I know each one of you, though I have the honor of calling many of you my friends. But we do all have some things in common. We have all checked out Tas-Cams from the J-cage, we have all joked about spending too many hours in Allen Hall, and we have all, today, claimed our education.
Congratulations, Class of 2018, and Go Ducks!
