Gov. Bev Perdue
Good morning. Chancellor Brady, Mrs. Clarice Goodyear from the UNC Board of Governors, members of the faculty, board of trustees, distinguished guests, parents, family and friends, and most importantly Class of 2009 – this is a big day for you – you made it!
You know, just six months ago, young people across our state showed up at the polls in record numbers, many to cast a ballot for the very first time. It was a historic moment for NC and for America. But to be honest with you, when I sat where you’re sitting today, I didn’t know I wanted to be governor – I didn’t even know I’d run for office one day. Maybe, like some of you, I didn’t know what I wanted to be.
The only person who ever knew I’d wind up running for office was my dad. Like all of your parents, he was anxious to know what career I’d choose. So one day he put a silver dollar, a Bible and a shot of bourbon on the table. He figured if I took the silver dollar, I’d be a banker. If I took the Bible, I’d be a preacher, and if I took the bourbon, I’d be a drunkard. When I came home, I put the silver dollar in my pocket, the Bible under my arm and took a swallow of bourbon – my dad said, “Oh, heaven help me … Bev’s going to be a politician.”
I have come here today – not to speak as a politician, not as your governor – but as a person with a long resume – it shows several degrees, many different occupations and jobs, a lot of change, a lot of risk taking. What my resume doesn’t show are the struggles and sacrifice, the lows and the highs in between.
Have I fallen on occasion? Of course. Have I failed before? Yes. Will you fall down or fail a few times in your life? Absolutely. But you can’t give up. Even with the trials I’ve faced, there’s always been another day to pick up and fight again. Why? Because – like each of you here today – I never stopped believing that anything is possible.
And so this morning, I want to address a topic as important to your individual success as it is to the success of our state and nation — the limitless possibilities of the 21st century.
The 21st century, perhaps more than any other, will be defined by innovation. And the leaders of this century will be those who have the boldness to take on the impossible, to raise new questions and to tackle old problems from new angles.
And since you, your peers, your generation – are this century’s leaders – it’s now your turn to choose if you will undertake the challenge of pursuing limitless possibilities.
Our nation has made this choice before. Last century, pioneers, scientists and social activists from across America – and even some right here in NC –pushed the limits of possibility. Ordinary people looked naysayers in the eye, stood tall against challenges – and they achieved extraordinary things. They believed the impossible could be done.
It was that belief in December 1903 that drove two brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright to defy the laws of gravity. They were called crazy – they were told people would never fly. We were too heavy, we don’t have wings. Now, 87,000 planes take to the sky everyday – at Kitty Hawk, NC, the limits of possibility were broken.
It was that belief in September of ’62 – that led President John F. Kennedy, to speak at a university much like I am today and tell America that we’d put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Many decried this dream as madness. But 7 years later, under the leadership of NASA Ambassador James Webb from Granville, NC – Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface, an America flag was planted in the ground, one giant step was taken for mankind – and the limits of possibility were broken.
And it was that belief in August of ’63 – that drove Dr. Martin Luther King to stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, speak to a crowd of 250,000 and proclaim his dream that one day we’d live in a nation where people were judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. At that time, Jim Crow laws were still on the books. Schools, restaurants and buses were segregated.
But on January 20th, 2009 a man with a black dad from Kenya and a white mom from Kansas was elected president – with the help of a southern and former confederate state – and again the limits of possibility were broken.
So now the question is: what’s next? Besides the economic woes we all face today – that will end, I promise you – what will be the next thing that challenges us as a country, as a state, as individuals? What’s the thing that will make us work harder and push farther?
In the 20th century, we took to the sky, we explored the heavens, we fought for America to be a county where “all are created equal.” We believed in the impossible – and the incredible came true.
As I stand here today with the graduating class of 2009 – I know we can do it again.
As NC’s first woman governor – I’m often asked how I view my place in history.
On your day of graduation, I challenge you to ask yourselves the same thing – what is your place in history going to be? Will you, like those that have come before you, transcend the conventional limits of possibility?
Will you be the ones who turn NC’s old factory buildings into the woodchip, waste and ethanol refineries that mass produce the clean energy that fuels the world?
Will you be the ones who join the scientific frontier of biotechnology and discover a cure for cancer?
Will you be the teacher who shapes the mind and imagination of a kid who will one day go one to win a Nobel Prize?
Will you be the ones who embark on a career of public service – to make sure every student can afford to go to college, every child can see a doctor, and every person can retire securely?
This is what your generation can do. It won’t be easy, but it can be done.
How?
Set high expectations – Follow the example of UNCG. Nearly 30 years before women could even vote, and decades before college professors would stop being discouraged from teaching women’s history because there wasn’t enough information to fill a semester – UNCG was chartered as NC’s first public institution for the higher education of women. Today, more than 106,000 degrees have been awarded to students from all backgrounds and all walks of life. Just like UNCG – keep raising the bar.
Give back – The simple truth about life is that we are individually better off when we are all better off. So whether it’s coaching your kid’s baseball team, mentoring a student, working at a soup kitchen at your local church – take the time to build up your families, friends and community.
Take risks. Don’t be afraid to fail – In 1843, there was a man who ran for congress and lost. In ’55, he was defeated for Senate. In ’56, he ran for vice president and got less than 100 votes. Then in 1860, the man who signed his name A. Lincoln was elected President of the United States.
And when challenges come – and I assure you they will – remember the Wright brothers and the years of failure and multiple designs before 12 seconds of flight. Remember the team of NASA scientists who didn’t know how to launch, who didn’t know how to land, who tested model after model before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Remember Dr. King, who never saw his dream fulfilled but changed America by dreaming.
As you graduate and leave here today, my hope is that whatever you do, however you decide to live your life – you succeed in the big ways and the little ways – risk, laugh, give back, love, pray, have fun – this thing called life is not a dream – we each have a shot – anything is possible.
To the class of 2009 – congratulations.
