Peter King sets the tone for an inspired OU graduation
June 16, 2008
Ohio University’s graduating seniors and the audience cheered, laughed, groaned knowingly and ultimately rose up in wild clapping Saturday as Sports Illustrated senior writer and NBC Sports analyst Peter King put color-commentary touches on a speech that any OU alum could love. It was a proper sendoff for a class brimming with parting sentiments about its time in this place.
King addressed more than 3,000 almost-graduates who marched in separate morning and afternoon undergraduate commencement ceremonies. With teary eyes, unbound grins, purple tennis shoes, sunglasses, black polka-dot pumps and no shortage of customized mortarboards, they pressed onto the Convocation Center floor as the Ohio University Wind Ensemble set the mood with “Pomp and Circumstance.”
The tool of the day: the cell phone. “I’m walking in right now,” a graduate announced, alerting family members to watch the proper entrance. Others wielded the prolific devices for texting friends, snapping photos and waving glowing screens toward family and friends in the stands above.
Graduates of the colleges of Business, Communication, Fine Arts, and Engineering and Technology as well as University College and regional campuses took part in the 9:30 a.m. ceremony, while those earning degrees from Arts and Sciences, Education, Health and Human Services, and Honors Tutorial College marched into the Convo at 2 p.m.
Fellow alum King, a 1979 alumnus, had the crowd in his hand, especially when he announced at the outset that he had timed the speech to just 11 minutes. The standing ovation at the morning’s ceremony made it clear, however, that a few more minutes would have been fine with everyone.
Assuring his fellow alumni-to-be that they have what it takes to make it in this world, King shared four lessons he said might get them from the seats they occupied on the Convo floor to the podium where he was “honored and humbled” to stand before them:
1. If you’ve done the work at OU, you can do it in the real world. “If you were paying attention,” he said, “you got the kind of training here that will pay off out there.”
2. Don’t let money rule the job you take. You’ll have a nice car someday; don’t worry about it. Love what you do, not what you make. “I was always doing what I loved, so I never cared about money very much. The bills got paid.”
3. Use spell check. “You know what bosses in the real world hate? Sloppiness... There’s never an excuse for submitting anything less than your absolute best.”
4. Be a person your friends, your family and your employer can trust. “I don’t know many people who get far in any job without being able to be trusted... The day I retire, I hope that’s what it says on my professional tombstone: ‘He was fair.’”
He concluded with “Ten Things I Think I Think,” reminiscent of his “Monday Morning Quarterback” column for SI.com. Among things he thinks about the Class of 2008: “I think you shouldn’t script your life at 21 or 22. Be ready for anything. Be open to anything... I think you should read for a half-hour every day. And Us Weekly does not count. Cosmo doesn’t count... I think you should remember it’s a big world out there. Did you know the United States has just 4 percent of the world’s population? For every one of us, there are four and a half Chinese people. Live in the universe. Don’t go thinking you’re the center of it.”
KING, ALSO THE AUTHOR of five books, was one of two individuals to receive honorary degrees at today’s ceremonies. John S. Mattox was honored with an honorary doctor of public service for his efforts to preserve history and educate communities about the Underground Railroad. He established and serves as curator for the Underground Railroad Museum in Flushing.
During the ceremonies, OU President Roderick McDavis singled out a few standouts among the university’s distinguished academic community. They included Presidential Teachers Pramod Kanwar, Scott Titsworth and Debra Henderson. The three were honored for their extraordinary accomplishments as educators inside and outside the classroom.
McDavis also commended Ann Fidler, who this month will end her six-year tenure as dean of the Honors Tutorial College to become interim associate provost for strategic initiatives. For the second consecutive year, every one of HTC’s some 50 graduates earned cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors.
Also recognized at the afternoon commencement was music professor and Director of Bands John Climer, who was marking his last year directing the university’s Wind Ensemble.
DURING THE CEREMONIES, TWO key senior leaders shared thoughts with the grads. At the morning ceremony, Senior Class Council President Lynn Walsh urged classmates to stay in touch and return to campus often.
“Do not forget what you have learned and experienced here. Take all of it and show the world what the promise of Ohio University is all about... Let’s show them how caring, kind, intelligent, adventurous, outspoken and fun we all are. Let’s be the true leaders that as Ohio students we know how to be. Because as Ohio students, if there is not a path, we will create one, and we will not be traveling down it alone — especially if it is covered in bricks!”
In the afternoon, Student Senate President Tim Vonville encouraged graduates to appreciate their last four years before moving into their futures.
“We all are at one of the proverbial intersections of life trying to figure out ‘what next?’” he said. “At this intersection we are waiting to cross the street... To the left is our past. To the right is our future... I am simply encouraging each and every one of you to assert your right as an Ohio University graduate and take it all in before we make our right turn.”
While undergraduate ceremonies were Saturday, more than 700 master’s and doctoral candidates took part in Friday’s graduate commencement ceremony, and 106 new physicians participated in the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine’s graduation exercises on June 7.
Editor’s note: This is an edited version of the OU graduation story that appeared Saturday on the OU Outlook Web site (www.ohio.edu/outlook/07-08/June/606.cfm). It’s a result of Outlook staff reports.
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