Commencement speakers to urge service

As talk of a sinking economy subsides, this year's soon-to-be college graduates are begging for instructions for success. Armed for the task, many commencement speakers are spreading the same secret: service work.

"Success is making yourself into a valuable tool," said Benjamin S. Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and a philanthropist, who will be speaking at Bucknell University on May 23 and Jefferson Medical College on May 24. "It's not the income or material goods, it's using your skills to change the world."

This year's group of luminaries seems to share the same vision as Carson - that the graduating class has the potential to turn the world around.

The speakers range from the Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who will speak at Lehigh University on May 24, to hunger activist Robert Egger, at Gettysburg College on May 16, and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon M. Huntsman Jr., at the University of Pennsylvania on May 17.

Egger, chief executive officer of DC Central Kitchen, an organization that collects leftover food from hotels and restaurants to feed the homeless, said he is a "mad believer" in the potential of this generation.

"This generation has pushed the envelope and forced change," Egger said, "from getting free trade coffee on their campuses to rallying for their rights."

John Prendergast, a human rights activist and author who will speak at Holy Family University on May 18 and Albright College on May 23, said students have played a significant role in every major movement of the last century.

"Going forward in the 21st century, these kids will be the vanguard of social change," he said.

Wiesel, a professor at Boston University who has been teaching for more than 40 years, said today's youths have a different mind-set from their predecessors.

"They are the most sensitive, they are willing to help and learn, they want to give back to their world," he said.

Wiesel said a lifestyle of volunteering is critical with so many natural disasters and injustices in the world.

Egger, who also works closely with university students who volunteer at his kitchen, said he will stress that graduates do not have to give up their dreams to give back.

"You don't have to choose between a dot-com and a dot-org, you can do both," he said. "Redefine the rules; that's what people died for in America."

Carson said his speech would also encourage students to look past material possessions and realize their power.

"Especially the medical students," he said. "They need to be responsible in the health-care debate. They can't just sit on the train and watch, they need to conduct it."

Jody Williams, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said her May 15 speech at Bryn Mawr College would focus on the idea that the world is what we make it.

"If we let a handful of wealthy businesses take it over, it will be," she said.

Williams said she wants her listeners to know that a life of service brings unlimited success and happiness.

"Every day, when I look into the mirror, I am proud of myself," she said.

Williams also wants graduates to understand that activism is more than the vision of tree-hugging liberals. It's hard work, but they can do it.

"I'm tired of hearing people say that today's youth don't care," Williams said. "I don't believe that. I see it in their eyes."

SOURCES: Compiled by Inquirer staff writer Elisa Lala; chart includes information as provided by the colleges and universities