In a Sunday speech that addressed issues ranging from technology to cynicism, former presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole urged Duke graduates to use their knowledge to pursue ideals and to have faith as they venture forth into the professional world.
"In this age of satellite dishes, automated tellers and 500 channels... may I suggest that we frazzled humans have need of inspiration as well as information, and of faith to match our facts," said the former American Red Cross president.
Dole, Woman's College '58, said that too often, Americans assume that the country's founders intended to express a governmental hostility toward faith. She countered this commonplace by quoting Cardinal Joseph Bernadin: "To endorse a properly secular state, which has no established ties to any religious institution, does not mean we should support a secularized society, one in which faith is reduced to a purely private role."
She added that the application of faith to life tests one's character. "[One's possessions] will rust away, wear away or depreciate, but your inner resources-character-must never tarnish," she said.
A person's individuality must also be preserved, said Dole, expressing anger at the idea that society might try to label today's generation of young people. "What is a label but a preconception brought to life?.... Replacing subtlety with stereotype, we rob citizens of their most precious possession-their individuality."
The former secretary of labor and of transportation also commented on the progress of women and society since her time at the Woman's College. "Duke in the '50s was a great research institution that sometimes felt like a finishing school," she said.
For helping induce change, Dole thanked public figures such as Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Ladybird Johnson, her husband Bob Dole and Andrew Young, the civil rights leader and former congress member who also received an honorary degree at Sunday's ceremony.
"We have at last begun to honor promises we made to one another at the dawn of the republic," she said. "We have demolished legal and cultural barriers that formerly mocked our democratic aspirations."
She concluded by telling students not to fall prey to cynicism. "Remember that life is not meant to be endured, but enjoyed. Retain your curiosity and though you may get wrinkles, you will never get old," she said.
During the speech, Dole was able to ignore loud screams from several Trinity graduates and one sign demanding that she "Tell us about Viagra." She herself added humor to the situation by beginning her speech with a few jokes. She said that she was flattered to speak at the commencement ceremony given that she was a "dropout from the Electoral College." And upon referring to President Nan Keohane as "Madame President," she added, "That does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Oh well."
Student commencement speaker Holly Cooper, Trinity '00, spoke about free thought. She praised the University for fostering free thought and urged graduates to take advantage of this fact. "One commonality that all Duke students have is that we are educated in an environment that promotes individual free thought," she said, urging fellow graduates to continue actively thinking once they leave Duke.
Honorary degrees were bestowed on both Dole and Young, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Dole received a Doctorate of Humane Letters while Young received a Doctorate of Laws.
Young, also the former mayor of Atlanta, expressed optimism about the future, saying, "It is a wonderful world, and it is a wonderful time to be alive, and you lead us into the [next] century."
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