APPLICANT 14 Alannah Johnson, senior SIS with Communication Minor #3 What Would JFK Say Now President Woodrow Wilson once said, “You are not here merely to make a
living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with
greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.” President
Wilson spoke to American University’s first graduating class, nearly a
century ago, with this very vision in mind.
He saw an opportunity to spread a message of not just individual
prosperity, but international prosperity. He saw an opportunity to embrace
not only aspiration, but also inspiration. He saw an opportunity to teach
bright young graduates not only how to do better, but to be better.
As I look out upon this crowd today, of graduates, faculty, staff, board of
trustees, President Kerwin, friends, and family, I see President Wilson’s vision
looking back at me from underneath those blue graduation caps.
I see true achievement in the eyes of every student who has spent hours
wandering the halls of the library, looking for a coveted open electrical
outlet.
And I see unwavering hope in the hearts of those who have tried, time
and time again, to just connect to Eaglesecure.
But I also see achievement in the girl from a tiny conservative town in
Ohio, who is graduating a year early with a job in her Senator’s office,
writing briefs on farming procedures to help the families she grew up with.
I see hope in the boy whose parents worked nights to put him through
school, so he could be the first in his family to graduate with honors.
I see greater vision in the boy whose parents framed his letter from the
Peace Corps, inviting him to return to the Kenyan slums where he spent his
junior year advocating for those he had grown to love.
That is why I stand before you today, the graduating class of 2013, to
speak about your vision, your achievements, and your hope.
I am here to show you how you can take these gifts that your education
has provided, and give it to the rest of the world. I am here to show you
that making a living isn’t just about the suit and the bowtie and weekly
brunch meetings on the Hill.
I am here to show you that your achievements can create a stronger and
safer global community. I am here to show you that there is strength that
fuels that vision, and that vision fuels hope. Hope for your generation,
hope for my generation, and hope for generations to come.
John F. Kennedy stood on this campus fifty years ago and taught us about
his vision of world peace. He asked for peace in what he called the “new
face of war.” He asked for compassion when the threat of absolute
destruction could become absolute reality with the push of the proverbial
red button.
He asked a generation of graduates in blue caps to accept that a race
for arms was not the answer to the questions they were too afraid to ask.
He asked if we could embrace not only our differences, but our similarities,
in building a secure future.
And how did we, as a generation, as a nation, as a people, respond? We
no longer face the threat of being shell-shocked while we duck and cover
under desks. We gaze upon walls of oppression in museum displays, as
relics of ancient history. We have children, cousins, young friends, who
think that the Kremlin is a character in one of their high-tech video games.
But the vision of peace that President Kennedy spoke of, it is still a vision
we are striving for today. Our fears of falling bombs have been replaced
with falling towers. The promise of democracy struggles to peek out from
underneath the fallen Iron Curtain. Governments crumble not underneath
the wheels of enemy tanks, but through the airwaves, the uploads, and
the words of the common blogger.
In the streets of Syria, families struggle to find normalcy in an uprising
where the government imprisons you for trying to call for fairness, for
justice. Seventy thousand are dead in a country that has spent two years
trying to overthrow a regime that has proven they are unfit to rule.
Seventy thousand people. That’s the entire population of Toledo, Spain,
killed in a fight for freedom. That’s the entire city of Frankfurt, Germany,
fallen in a struggle for security. That is the whole of Santa Fe, New Mexico,
gone, because of the inability to heed President Kennedy’s words, and
find common ground on which to preside.
In a time where empires collapsed and revolutions took hold, through cell
phones and digital media, we saw the end of a dynasty and the
beginning of an era. We heard the cries of terror and anguish in Tahrir
Square through headphones plugged into our laptops. We saw the bruises
and fear that swam together on reporter’s faces through grainy uploads
on webcams. We hung on every character of a Tweet from those willing
to stare their government in the face.
And yet that’s what we did-we listened, we watched, we observed. We
marveled at the power that the human voice could hold, scrolling across
screens miles away. But power does not stop when our news finds the next
big story. We invite turmoil into our homes through television and Twitter,
and when it becomes too much, we simply turn it off.
President Kennedy wanted peace to come from the collaboration of
nations, not the conversation following a crisis. He wanted the United
States and other countries to not just talk about peace, but work together
for peace. This millennial generation is known for being civic-minded-for
putting the needs of others on par with the needs of themselves.
And taking action towards peace, through collaboration and
international conversation, is an issue that transcends the needs of any
one person, or any one country. The United States needs to take an active
role in negotiations where democracy begins to take root. The United
States needs to stand up where rights of men and women aren’t solidified
in stone or defended to the letter.
We are not here to see the world change through microphones or
monitors. We are here to change the world through hope, through
achievement, and through a collective and concrete vision.
President Kennedy said that “peace need not be impracticable, and war
need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it
seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see
it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.”
Graduates, Americans, this is the vision of peace that Kennedy dreamed
of. This is the vision of peace that has transcended nearly five decades
and still lives in the hearts of the young men and women I see in front of
me today. And this is the vision of peace that American University
graduates can bring forth through their dedication, their perseverance,
and their drive.
You are the graduate from American University, and as you throw those
blue graduation caps in the air, you remember these things.
You are the graduate working on Capitol Hill, drafting bills to encourage
more U.S. involvement in matters of peace.
You are the graduate who can make their hardworking parents proud by
standing up for the social movements that they believe in.
You are the graduate who, from across the oceans, can reassure others
that they will get the justice they deserve.
You are the graduate who knows how much they can achieve just by
speaking up.
You are the graduate who believes in the power of hope, and what it can
provide.
You are the graduate who knows that this is not just about making a living.
You are the graduate who keeps the vision clear in their heart and their
mind.
You are the graduate that knows this generation can do better, can be
better, and will be better.
Thank you and congratulations to the class of 2013!