Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein is resigning and leaving city government and will be replaced by Cathie Black, the former publisher of USA Today and chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced this afternoon. Mr. Klein, in turn, will become the executive vice president of the News Corporation.
Prize Day Address, June 6, 2010
Cathleen P. Black
I want to talk to you about “taking life on.” Meeting its challenges. Enjoying its pleasures. Fighting its injustices. Facing disappointments. Getting right back up. Standing up for what you believe in. Finding your passions. You are the generation who will truly be global citizens. By having friends from many cities, countries, and continents, you have learned that similarity of thought and action outweighs many differences. Intelligence, pluck, and determination know no borders. Everything you need to be armed with, everything you will need is contained in the Kent motto—Temperantia, Fiducia, Constantia. For those of you who forgot your Latin in the last weeks of fun and goodbyes… that’s “Simplicity of Life, Directness of Purpose, and Self-Reliance.” That sums up exactly what you will need in the world… and what the world needs from you.
Simplicity helps you focus on what’s really important.
Purpose makes it meaningful.
Self-reliance makes it happen.
Those principles—focus, purpose, and selfreliance— you will need in college. You’ll need them in whatever career you choose. You’ll need them in family life down the road. What you think you want today will undoubtedly change. And that’s fine, too, and just part of growing up and growing wiser and knowing yourself.
I went to a small women’s liberal arts college; Alison has chosen the University of Colorado—25,000 students! Think she wants a completely different college experience than I had? You bet! On our college visit, I can still remember Allie getting out of the car in Boulder, surveying the campus and the mountains in the distance and saying, “This is exactly what I am looking for!” The good news… she got in! But no matter whether big or small, an hour from home, or a coast away—college is an exhilarating and expanding experience. And yes, often scary, too. As you think about your major, this too could change. I was an English major, liked writing and reading, and entered into publishing a long time ago. My publishing career has been more interesting than I could ever imagine, full of challenges, talented people, creative endeavors, and a lot of satisfaction.
Yet at the end of the day, it is my family—loving husband, Tom Harvey, and two great kids, Duffy and Alison—that are my greatest satisfaction. You will figure out what your purpose is. It will not lie in the expectations of parents, teachers, friends, though they have a profound influence on you. You will claim your own purpose and come to define your dreams for yourself. Or in the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Live your best life.”
Your self-reliance has taken root and grown here. That sense of confidence and independence will make you feel at home in the world of college. But there will be many distractions—and a lot fewer rules, so be careful! I hope you will also take advantage of any opportunity to study or travel abroad. I spent my junior year in Rome. It was amazing—enriching, life changing, and a whole lot of fun—expanding my horizons and giving me new goals and dreams. I didn’t realize it then, but I was preparing “to take life on.”
I was always motivated, but I became more selfreliant. Others can teach and guide and mentor you, but just doing—and doing more than is expected— and doing it well, is about self-motivation. Here at Kent you have learned much about motivation and also leadership, through sports—whether on the water, on the fields, on horseback, on the courts—on stage, in the labs, in the studio, in community activities, in clubs. There have been victories and losses, all helping you to learn that life gives and—takes back. And it’s not all about winning. It’s about learning and leading. I want you to think about what it takes to be a leader—for this next phase of your life. One can lead in big and small ways. Standing and taking responsibility is a first step.
Competence and confidence are two more components. The other is knowing that a leader needs followers. They define and decide who the leader is. On the subject of leading others… here’s a short fable Alison recently wrote for Mrs. Stout’s “microfiction” class.
The Goose with the Gray Feather
“The flock began their journey south for the winter. The goose with the gray feather saw another goose leading the flock and knew he could fly faster. “Leaving his place in the V-formation, he flapped strongly until he passed the leading goose. But soon the goose with the gray feather got tired and began to slow down. He glanced behind him but saw no flock… “… For one cannot lead a flock one is not united with.”
That’s a lot of wisdom from an 18-year-old. As you leave today to start a new chapter, I really want you to understand that you are a whole person with every opportunity to maximize life in college and life beyond college classes. Maybe you’ve been known here as an athlete or a brainiac… or both at the same time… or a screw-up or an introvert. Well, whatever you’ve been labeled, you can choose a new persona! You also leave this campus knowing how important it is to take care of others. Compassion has been instilled in you. So be great—in mind and spirit and body. And be kind. There’s no one right path to greatness. The world needs everyone’s gifts, be it politics, sports, rocket science, biotechnology, entertainment, medicine, education, philanthropy, volunteerism. There are many ways to be helpful and caring, and to make your own dreams come true as you take life on.
On the practical side, you’ve already learned more about time management than many people know when they first go to college! You have not had your parents to review homework or get you out of bed in the morning. You know how to get your work done in the time you have to do it. You know what it is like to not just have a roommate, but to learn how to compromise in small ways and small spaces. You also know how to be away from home, some of you from very far distances. That’s a great advantage in those first few months. You understand and embrace diversity. It’s the world you live in. The inclusive student body has given you an appreciation of different types of people with different backgrounds and stories. You also graduate fluent in the language of technology that everyone now speaks around the globe. The importance of this can be summed up by Alison, who recently informed me while she was busy texting with her flying thumbs that, “E-mail is for old people.” Well, I just got an iPad! So there!
But she has a point. The world flies into and out of your palms. It moves way faster than it moved for us, as parents. The world of knowledge and information is yours with one click to Facebook or YouTube or a swipe on an iPhone. Your fluency in technology prepares you to connect, compete, and collaborate globally like never before. It is another way that you can both make a difference in the world and help realize your own big dreams.
Your time at Kent has supplied you with a great experience to help others—whether it be a roommate in need or just a friend who needs a shoulder to cry on. It’s called empathy. At Kent, you have seen helpfulness and experienced the forming of deep friendships that should stay with you for years and years. I have heard many adults say that to this day their circle of boarding school friends are still their best friends. That’s what Science Department Chair and Master of the Guild Jesse Klingebield presented the Stone Bowl for the best Guild paper to Ruxin Michelle Zhao. Kathy Nadire and her daughter, Nora. comes from growing and experiencing so many situations together. One more thing before you leave “to take life on…” As proud graduates, remember in the days and all the years ahead to have fun. And to give back. Work and life brim with opportunities for joy. And for those of you from less fortunate circumstances or complicated family situations, here’s a direct message from the famed basketball star, Magic Johnson.
Just last week I heard him give a talk to 4,000 high school students in Detroit. He told them how he grew up in the projects with six brothers and three sisters and not much food on the table. But it was his mother who said over and over, “It is not where you are from—but who you are.” Kent has taught you a lot about who you are. That should stay with you always. It’s about knowing who you are and being the best that you can be. And always know that happiness has more to do with success than success has to do with happiness.
So go take life on… and don’t forget to say thank you to your own parents and your Kent family. We are all very proud. You should be too!
The best of luck!
Congratulations, Class of 2010!
Cathleen P. Black is the president of Hearst Magazines, largest publishers of some of the industry’s best known magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Food Network Magazine, and Town & Country. Financial Times named her “The First Lady of American Magazines” and she has been on Fortune’s list of “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” each year since its inception in 1998, and is one of Forbes magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” and one of Crain’s New York City’s list of the “100 Most Influential Women in Business.” She serves as a member of the board of directors of IBM, the Coca-Cola Company , and the Advertising Council, and the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a trustee of the University of Notre Dame. A member of Kent’s Board of Trustees, she is the mother of Duffy Harvey `06 and Alison Harvey `10.
