June 2001: Vol. 80, No. 3June 2001: Vol. 80, No. 3by Ron Simpson
Honors Day speech, April 11, 2001
oday is special because we honor those who have not interpreted minimum requirements as maximum effort. Today we celebrate the extraordinary and the joy and privilege of learning together in this resource-rich environment.
But, as we celebrate, we are aware that our sponsoring public wants higher education to be accountable, to demonstrate inputs and outputs, and to validate with hard data exactly what a person has learned. Many want to know the precise list of skills represented in a specific curriculum. Others want to know the cost-benefit ratio of a college degree.
Wanting to know these things is not wrong. But viewing the outcomes of a university education strictly through the lens of a business model is limiting, even dangerous. We are not a Wal-Mart.
Today we honor the concept of quality. Today is about students who have gone the extra distance, teachers who have made a difference, and parents who have been unconditional and uncommon in their support.
Today is not about the health certificate over the doorway of a restaurant projecting a number that tells us it is safe to eat there. Today is about the guide to fine dining that communicates to us something about quality and what it means to experience learning (like a fine meal) in a deep and satisfying manner.
Today is an occasion to honor those who have demonstrated the essence of scholarship: possessing clear goals, work-ing hard to acquire the skills to reach those goals, producing significant results and sharing outcomes with others while evaluating ways for improvement.
The natural and expected theme of today is congratulations and best wishes. But to stop there would be too easy. In addition, I would like to wish for you some things that are more difficult.
I wish for you the ability to continue paying attention to detail and to not allow the distractions of today's frantic world to dull your focus.
I hope you will never allow your intellect to overpower wisdom and good judgment.
I hope you will not allow analysis to impede action. I also hope that you will not allow verbal and quantitative abstractions to override your intuition or inhibit your creativity.
I trust you will come to appreciate that simple elegance is better than complex design.
I trust that you will never come to view life as easy.
I trust that persistence and determination are never displaced by a desire for comfort, and that popular culture never seduces you into tolerating phoniness or adopting a sense of entitlement.
I hope that the concept of winning for each of you never becomes defined in terms of the losses of others. Being a winner means accomplishing goals based on your values, exceeding from time to time what you expected, and feeling good about your growth and worth as a human being.
And I trust that each time you fail at something you will learn from that experience and use it as a catalyst to strengthen your resolve. The weak are destroyed by failure; the strong benefit from it.
Over the past 30 years, I have asked people to think back to that one teacher who made the biggest difference in their life. I have compiled and analyzed hundreds of responses and this is the overwhelming one: The teachers who were remembered most were the ones who communicated to students a belief in and trust of their own ability and worth. The teacher who demonstrated respect, and by so doing communicated high expectations, was almost always the one who was remembered most, even 30-40 years later.
I mention this to pay respect to the wonderful professors and instructors in our midst who are being honored for excellence in teaching. Each day, these maestros and their colleagues make magnificent things happen. The committed teachers on this campus are the soul of this university!
Second, I mention this to say to all of you that knowing yourself is the most important end product of education. I stand here today nearing the end of my formal, full-time career as both a student and teacher at the University of Georgia. I will tell you that, in the end, it all boils down to what is in your heart.
Today is about celebrating quality and the human desire to strive for excellence. In the end, however, it is about the spirit of human love and compassion that stands as the most lasting element of teaching and learning. Today is about understanding that knowledge and love have one thing in common:
They are not worth anything until you give them away.