"To our graduates, with humility"
©2006

S. Purcell Woodard, Ph.D
Associate Director
McNair Program and Early Identification Program
University of Washington
E-mail:  swoodard@u.washington.edu

Graduation.
A time for reflection
On the many transferable lessons
Learned in college.
Take this moment to pay homage
To a select few.

First and foremost,
It has never been,
Nor will it ever be,
About you.

Or me.

It’s about us.
Trusted judgment.
Yours.
Mine.
Intertwined.
In good conscience.
The elders call it,
No nonsense.

No need to be confused.
You
Are
The One.

Change comes
Through your actions.
Knowledge is needed,
Yet never enough.

Your thoughts,
Your perspective,
Both
Dangerous.
They echo the sounds of justice.

Your voice disrupts
The patterns of privilege
Passed down through the professions.
Science and engineering,
Artistically
Cut to the core.

Your critical gaze
Traces the transactions
That shape today.
The equation
Remains the same.
Ancestral actions
Lead to present-day
Satisfactions
With the system.
Systems
Of reward.
Systems
Of power.

Knowledge
Is never
Enough.
Engage in practice.

Read.
Write.
Sit-in.
Stand up,
Just cause.
Be
Cause.

Our African ancestry
Is not mere history.
It’s our connection
To the continuum of change.
Our people
Are powerful
Agents of change.
Maintain
Their legacy
Of strength, vision,
And integrity.

Where
And how
You take up the fight
Will differ from me.
Degrees of freedom earned
In today’s ceremony.

Believe the elders
When they tell you,
Ain’t nothing gone come
That family,
College,
And common
Sense
Haven’t prepared you
To learn
And grow from…

In time…

Wisdom comes not with age,
But with persistence.
Consistent critique
Of our intentions and outcomes.

In
Comes
An ultimate challenge.

Unique talents.
Collective duty.

Stand tall.
You
Are a future of promise.
You must listen.
Engage every day.

Today.
You become
University of Washington
Alumni.

Without question,
You are the epitome
Of dignity.

I offer this poem,
To you, our graduates,
With humility.

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