Whittier College President’s Convocation Address by Sharon Herzberger September 3, 2017
My husband David and I were walking down the streets in New York City this summer and I saw a quote posted outside a church on lower Park Avenue. You know those spaces where churches announce a speaker or the title of the upcoming sermon. This one posted a quote from the novelist Walker Percy. It read, "You can get all As and still flunk life."
I saw this quote in early August, a time when I usually start thinking about just what I want to tell our new students as they embark on their journey through this College, and I thought this succinct quote captures it all.
We hope you do get all As at this College; and some of you will. But we who are gathered here tonight to celebrate your arrival and those you will meet in the ensuing weeks have even higher aspirations for you. This is a College founded 130 years ago by people who thought a lot about what it would take to get an A in life, and we still think about that today.
Way back in the 1880s our founders named both our town and our College after fellow Quaker and poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Mr. Whittier was a farmer by day and a relentless reader by night. He became a well-known newspaperman, founded a political party that became the party of Abraham Lincoln, and devoted his life to the abolishment of slavery. Like the students we attract to this College, he was principled and smart, and he helped shape the American conscience.
With John Greenleaf Whittier as a model, our founders adopted a mission to educate students to respect people of all religious backgrounds, all races and ethnicities, and from all places of origin. Our founders wanted to educate graduates to serve their communities, and to look beyond their own communities to understand and appreciate people and cultures of the world. They would be proud to look over our campus today and see students of all backgrounds, and – as represented by the flags behind me -- from all over America and from so many countries of the world.
Our founders would be gratified knowing that today, as intended from our beginning, you will learn from faculty who will teach you to see the world from multiple perspectives, and above all who will teach you to raise questions about what you think you already know.
Whittier is no longer a “Quaker” College; our formal affiliation ended in the 1940s, shortly after a young Richard Nixon served as president of the student body and challenged campus leaders to allow dancing on campus (can you imagine Richard Nixon dancing?). Although we have no formal affiliation with the Quakers, we remain committed to our founding traditions and values that teach you about your responsibilities as a human being and as a potential leader.
In a few minutes and then often during your time at Whittier, you will be asked to sit in silence. To our founders, silence encouraged listening to the “small voice within” each of us that calls on us to make the right decision and choose the right action. Equally significant, silence reminds us to listen to voices different from our own, to learn from them, and to use this knowledge to seek common ground. In a world where there is more talking than true listening, just think about what might be achieved if we all remained silent and purposefully listened just a little more.
Read any newspaper today and you cannot help but find evidence of the need for more listening. From conflicts between political parties and between police and citizens to discord among nations, we see the ills that result from not practicing the art of listening and learning. And we can see this just as much in everyday interactions and decision-making.
I am a social psychologist by training, and we psychologists often refer to human beings as “cognitive misers” due to our tendency to make snap judgments based on little bits of information and on preconceived notions and stereotypes. Economists like Daniel Kahneman use a different term, noting humans’ tendency to engage in “fast thinking” when slow thinking would be best. Regardless of how we characterize human beings, the truth is that as jurors we tend to decide on a person’s guilt or innocence before all evidence is presented; we judge candidates for office on the basis of their photo; we pay more attention to data that confirms a bias we hold than information that refutes it; and if we are in the path of a hurricane with a male name we’ll be more likely to flee than when encountering ones with female names.
Examples of fast thinking and cognitive miserliness may be rampant and widespread, but they are not inevitable. With hard work, consistent practice, and exposure to the right environment, we can rise above our very humanness.
That’s what this College is all about.
You will find many accomplished people among our graduates. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, professors, principals and superintendents abound, as well as an unusual number of alumni with the title of CEO. At networking events and in classes, we will be proud to introduce some of these people to you. But it is the character of our alumni body that most makes us most proud – and we will work hard to stimulate the same qualities in each and every one of you.
When I look out at the students sitting before me tonight, I realize that there are probably 100 different reasons why you chose Whittier College. Let me tell you one more. Because of the dedication, determination, and sheer talent of our faculty, because of the diversity of thought and background you will encounter on this campus, and because of our commitment to founding traditions that will remind you to stop and listen and think, you will learn habits of mind and character to get As in life.
And given the positions of leadership and authority that you – like Poets before you - will assume once you leave this school, you have an obligation to do so.
Newest Poets, on this beautiful evening, I suspect that you are not yet pondering your College graduation. You are probably thinking about the next few hours and about tomorrow and about Wednesday when your academic adventure truly begins. But your family, your faculty, and all who are gathered here tonight know that your time on this campus will pass quickly. We know that there is a world that awaits, eager to benefit from the education you will receive here.
You have chosen well in choosing Whittier College. And with your matriculation, you have been granted a gift. Tonight for the first time we will ask you to sit in silence and listen, and as you do, commit yourself to taking full advantage of all that this extraordinary gift can bring.
