Muriel Siebert has experience with closed doors. In 1967, she became the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1969, she became the first woman to head a member brokerage firm. And, in the years before these firsts, her salary was routinely 50 percent or lower than those of her male colleagues.

So, some of Siebert’s most cogent advice for UNCG's Class of 2005 concerned doors – specifically the door on a Studebaker, her first car.

“The door always stuck. I’d pull it. I’d cajole it. I’d shake it. I’d even plead with it. Finally, I learned I just had to kick it. And you know what? That is the real lesson. When a door is hard to open and, if nothing else works, sometimes you just have to rear back and kick it open,” she said to the applause of the audience at Greensboro Coliseum.

 

Siebert was the commencement speaker for UNCG’s 113th annual commencement, which honored the conferring of 2,047 degrees, including bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral diplomas.

Her advice to the black-gowned and ebullient graduates was to overcome barriers. And that advice from a businesswoman who started her career in the 1960s was strikingly similar to the advice of Adrian James Lee, the speaker for the Class of 2005.

“I know that the education I received here at UNCG is just part of the education that I’ll receive during my life. … I’ve never stopped until I was satisfied. Go hard. Give everything you’ve got. Everything you want from life is within reach, but it’s up to you to get up and go after it. You’ve come a long way, and there’s a long way yet to go, but it’s a heck of a road.”

And, like Lee, Siebert’s other advice included a call to keep learning, a warning against avarice and a charge to extend goals.

“First, you must keep learning. You have learned great technical skills but you must keep them current. ... Your degrees and the skills you have earned have leveled the playing field. But it is up to you to continue to build upon that basis.

“Second, don’t let money become your god. Money is nice and it is useful. But if you forget your ethics in a grab for money, you will eventually lose.

“Learn finance. Watch the global economies closely. We are truly in a global economy. Know how to write and talk, read and listen.

“Know that the more you succeed the more you will be challenged. It is a lifelong process. Many thought that the biggest battle I had to fight was to buy my seat on the New York Stock Exchange. That only got me into the game.

“It’s okay to make mistakes. But learn from your failures. You are not allowed to make the same mistakes twice.

“Whether you are running a department, leading a team or managing a project or a classroom, it is your obligation and your privilege to be as good as you can be. At least do all you can to do your best.”

But, in the end, Siebert returned to her favorite bit of advice – her Studebaker.

“Here is your challenge. When you hit a closed door and it doesn’t open easily – don’t get discouraged. Remember my Studebaker. When all else fails – just rear back and kick the door open. Don’t do it just for yourself. Do it for those who follow you. I am here today because I believed in my abilities, and myself and I kicked doors open. You do the same. And, when your one particular dream comes true – go get a new one.”

Dr. Bert Goldman, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the faculty marshal and mace bearer, ended his five-year tenure as mace bearer with the 113th commencement. The next member of the faculty to serve as mace bearer will be Dr. Terry Nile, head of the Department of Chemistry.

The University Bell was rung by Dixie Boney Soo ’55 and Anomis Davis, Class of 2005 alumni representative. Ringing the bell at commencement is a UNCG tradition, a nod to the bell’s first use on Oct. 5, 1892, when it tolled the beginning of the first day of class for the university.