Bill Clinton tells Class of 2007 to remember the importance of community

Photos by Michael Sipe | Commencement photo gallery

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Former President Bill Clinton reminded the Middlebury College Class of 2007 about the importance of community in his commencement address on Sunday, May 27.

Read the transcript of former President Clinton's commencement address View the video: RealPlayer Windows Media Player QuickTime Player MP3 file (audio only)

Clinton’s speech followed the awarding of honorary degrees to him and to six others: Robert De Cormier, director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus; Janet Tiebout Hanson, founder of Broad Impact, which encourages companies to develop their brands and organizations with women as employees and leaders; James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Marc A. and Dana Lim vanderHeyden, the president and first lady of St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.; and Huda Zoghbi, a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, a much-honored researcher into neurological disorders, and mother of Roula Zoghbi from the graduating class.

Clinton went on to say that the first person who introduced him to Middlebury College was Ron Brown, from Middlebury’s Class of 1962, who served as commerce secretary during Clinton’s first term. Brown was killed in a plane crash in Croatia while on an official trade mission in 1996. Brown “grew up in the streets of Harlem and found a home at Middlebury,” Clinton said. “I loved Ron Brown. He was an unbelievable human being and he was like a brother to me. And his eyes would light up when he talked about Middlebury. ... He found here what I want for everyone in the world. ... He found a home here because there’s a community here, in the best sense. And that’s really what we have to build in the world.” The best communities, Clinton said, provide a broadly shared chance to participate, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of belonging.

The former president said that while our differences may make life more interesting, our common humanity matters more. Said Clinton, “So much of the world’s difficulties today are rooted in the rejection of that simple premise.” He said that following the terrorist bombings in London in 2005, what really shook the British was that the people responsible were British citizens. The bombers, Clinton said, believed that our differences were more important than whatever we could have in common.

He pointed to the human genome project, an attempt to determine the entire genetic makeup of human beings, which has shown us that our genes are 99.9 percent the same. “I met (conservative talk-radio host) Rush Limbaugh the other night in New York. And I was tempted, after all the terrible things he’s said about me, to tell him that we’re 99.9 percent the same. I was afraid the poor man would run weeping from the restaurant. And so I let it go.”

How we deal with the challenges we face, Clinton said, starts with these questions of community and identity. He talked about traveling to Africa frequently as part of his work with the William J. Clinton Foundation. And he said that in one part of Africa, if you meet someone on the path and say, “Good morning,” the response, translated into English, is not, “Hi, how are you,” but “I see you.” He remarked on how empowering that simple phrase was.

He told the graduating seniors that they had each been given gifts: a fine mind, the chance to be here at Middlebury, and the opportunity and choices that come with a Middlebury education. But he said those will be of little value if they are not able to avoid the bigotry of not seeing others.

In his travels, he said, he’s discovered that intelligence and effort are equally distributed, but that organization, investment and opportunity are not. “Too many people remain unseen,” he said.

After all the tragedies and atrocities of the 20th century, he said, it’s hard to imagine that the 21st century won’t be far better. But that will only happen, he said, “if we can drive home the elemental requirement of community. That will lead all of us to serve, whether we’re in office or just in private life. Because our common humanity is more important than our differences, and because you must see everyone.

“That is what I wish for you. As you save the world, remember all the people in it. If you see everyone, if you believe that we are because others are, if you serve in that spirit, your grandchildren will be here 50 years from now. And it will be even better. Because you will have fulfilled humanity’s first obligation, to honor what is holy about it, and to pass it on.”

From left, salutatorian Astri von Arbin Ahlander, President Ron Liebowitz and valedictorian Olivia Bailey.

Commencement honors