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Bishop Swing addresses Stanford graduates at Baccalaureate |
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Written by Rt. Rev. William E. Swing
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
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Page 1 of 3
Baccalaureate Address, Stanford University
June 16, 2007
The Rt. Rev. William E. Swing
Congratulations to all of
you who are graduating and to the rest of you who also helped pay the price of
academic success - by providing the graduates with personal support, by
teaching them, by building up the community life of Stanford, by covering
tuitions – congratulations to everyone involved. This is your time, your moment for successful
completion.
Over a quarter of a
century ago, I received an honorary doctorate. From Kenyon College, my alma
mater. Three people were invited to
return to campus for a couple of days – to teach classes, meet student and
faculties, and to receive hoods at an honors assembly. I was one. The head of the Peace Corps was the second. And the third was Jonathan Winters, the
comedian.
On the night before the big
event, we were talking over dinner, and I said, “I don’t know about you guys,
but I’m kind of embarrassed about walking up on that stage tomorrow. I wasn’t a good student. As a matter of fact, the faculty encouraged
me not to return after my second year.”
The head of the Peace
Corps said, “I’m glad you said that. I
only lasted one year at Kenyon."
Jonathan Winters said,
“I’m glad you guys said that.
They
kicked me out in February of my first year.
We looked at each other
in wonder. Of all the students who were
straight A’s in Math, or English, or Political Science, why did they invite
three dummies to return? So we spent
some time pondering that mystery. Why
were we there? Actually we came up with
two thoughts.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 June 2007 )
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