President Bill Clinton stressed the importance of education in a rapidly changing global economy and the role graduates will play in society in his Commencement address to the Class of 1995 on June 11.
Though the Clinton's Dartmouth appearance was slightly upstaged by his highly publicized meeting with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, (R-Ga.), in Claremont that afternoon, more than 12,000 people attended the ceremonies on a rain-drenched Memorial Field.
Clinton, who received a standing ovation from the crowd at the outset of his 28-minute speech, expressed his gratitude for being invited to the College and spoke of his friendship with College President James Freedman before shaking the hand of every graduate.
"I am delighted to be back at Dartmouth, but I am especially grateful to be here seeing my good friend President Jim Freedman looking so very well and back here at this graduation," Clinton said.
Freedman returned to the College to preside over Commencement after a six-month sabbatical following chemotherapy treatments for testicular cancer. He will resume his presidency July 1.
Acting President James Wright also took time to welcome Freedman back to Dartmouth in his brief address before Clinton's speech.
Clinton's speech extolled the importance of education to the graduates.
"In the last 10 years, earnings of men between the ages of 45 and 55 have gone down 14 percent because in the global economy, if you live in a wealthy country and you don't have an education you are in trouble," he said. "We cannot walk away from our obligation to invest in the education of every American at every age."
In her valedictory address, Kristin Cobb '95 also spoke of the importance of education and urged her classmates to make education a priority and to become involved in supporting educational opportunities for others in the years to come.
"In the midst of more pressing international and national crises, education always seems to take a back burner. This is a mistake," she said. "We will have to keep treating the symptoms of a diseased country and world until we address the root of the problem. Education is where it all begins."
Following Clinton's address, Freedman spoke about the responsibilities of education.
"Citizenship is an essential product of a liberal education," he said. "For want of such a civic commitment, societies forfeit the capacity to be humane and democratic."
"Those whose minds have been deepened by a liberal education dare not permit this country to be riven by the politics of indifference," Freedman said.
Clinton received resounding applause for his comments on the importance of federal financial aid programs for college students, a current hot topic since the Republican-controlled Congress has threatened to cut these assistance programs.
"Just remember, all of those who need those student loans, who need those Pell grants, all the universities who benefit from the research investments, there is a role for our nation in the national education agenda of our future, and we should maintain it," he said.
Clinton's address also touched upon foreign issues. He discussed his strong support for American involvement in foreign affairs and offered a message to those that oppose foreign aid.
"Look at the history of the 21st century; every time America has turned away from the world we wound up with a war that we had to clean up and win at far greater costs than if we simply stayed involved in a responsible manner."
Clinton, who was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, set a jovial mood with his opening remarks before embarking on a more serious tone.
"I was thinking when they were all introduced, all the others who won this distinction of your honorary degrees, that if my blessed mother were alive, she would be saying, 'See, Bill, they accomplished something. You're just a politician.'"
Clinton also joked about the controversy surrounding moving Commencement from Baker Lawn to Memorial Field.
"I understand that I have caused something of an inconvenience here -- and that we are now breaking tradition here at Memorial Field, having left Baker Lawn ... I am reliably informed, however, that the next time a president shows up, you will not have to move to the parking lot at the West Lebanon Shopping Center," he said.
Commencement had been held on Baker Lawn since 1953, when it was moved from the Bema to accommodate President Dwight D. Eisenhower's address. This year, because of the large crowd Clinton was expected to attract, Commencement was moved to Memorial Field.
No rain location was designated because of the magnitude of the crowds expected, but to the dismay of organizers the day was overcast.
Luckily, the rain held off during the ceremony, but onlookers, many of whom arrived as early as 6 a.m. to get prime seating, huddled under raincoats and plastic sheets as the rain poured down before the proceedings got underway.
Repeating the sentiment from his Commencement address at Michigan State University last month, Clinton told the graduates they have better possibilities to live in a more peaceful environment because the Cold War is over.
"I am very proud of the fact that in the last two years, for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, there are no Russian missiles pointed at the people of the United States of America," Clinton said. "And I might add, there are no American missiles pointed at the people of Russia."
But Clinton did not paint an entirely optimistic picture of the present or the future, specifically regarding technology.
"The sarin gas in the Japanese subway was a miracle of technology; the bomb that blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City was a miracle of technology," Clinton said. "We have got to use our knowledge to become wiser about the things which we do not understand, and to find ways to use our knowledge to bring us together in ways that reinforce our common humanity."
Clinton did not make any direct references to his 1996 re-election bid, but did briefly hint at it. "Your life will be far more affected by what happens in the next two years than my life," he said.
Clinton also thanked New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill for his support of the President's national service program. Merrill, a Republican, gave the welcoming address.
"I want to thank Gov. Merrill for his support here in New Hampshire for our national service program, AmeriCorps," Clinton said. "I want to thank Dartmouth for participating in it."
Clinton ended his address on an optimistic but cautionary note.
"Do not let people make you cynical," he said. "And do not think for a minute that you can have a good, full life if you don't care about what happens to the other people who share this nation and this planet with you."
After graduate degrees had been presented to students of the Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, the College awarded seven honorary degrees.
Besides Clinton, poet Rita Dove, physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson, preacher and president of the United Negro College Fund William Gray, academic Nannerl Keohane, writer Anna Quindlen and author Derek Walcott all received honorary degrees.
