LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Former President Bill Clinton today urged graduates
of Loyola Marymount University to embrace their connections to the rest of the
world as he delivered the commencement address at the school’s graduation
ceremony.
“You are graduating in the most interdependent age in human history,”
Clinton told the class. “…And so whether we like it or not, for the rest of
your lives, what happens to you will in some measure be determined by what
happens to other people. By how you react to it, how they treat you, how you
treat them, and what larger forces are at work in the world.”
“The last few years have seen an amazing explosion of economic, social and
political empowerment. They have also laid bare the power of persistent
inequalities, political and social instability and identity politics based on
the simple proposition that our differences are all that matter,” Clinton
continued, urging the grads to engage with the world in creative ways.
“Set the world on fire with your imagination, not with your matches,”
he said.
The former president also praised LMU’s graduating class for performing
almost 200,000 hours of community service.
Clinton spoke to graduates exactly one month before the California
primary election, in which his wife Hillary will be looking for a boost in her
bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton kept today’s address
free of politics, however.
In announcing the former president as the commencement speaker, LMU
President Timothy Law Snyder last month called him “one of the great statesmen
of our time.”
“His commitment to improving the lives of other people, during and
beyond his career in U.S. politics, embodies the ethos of becoming women and
men with and for others,” Snyder said. “President Clinton will inspire our
graduates as they seek to lead lives of meaning, purpose and global impact.”
More than 1,400 bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees were
conferred during the ceremony. Among the graduates was Clinton’s nephew Tyler,
according to the university.
About 700 graduate degrees will be conferred during a separate ceremony
on Sunday.
Founded in 1911, LMU is the largest Jesuit Catholic university for
undergraduates in the Southwest, with more than 6,000 undergraduate students
and 3,000-plus graduate and law students.
The LMU website posted this note:
Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, graduated from Georgetown in 1968. He has waived his speaking fee for the commencement.
“In conferring this honor LMU does not endorse all of Mr. Clinton’s past or current policies nor condone all his actions,” said Rev. Allan Deck, S.J., rector of the LMU Jesuit Community. “Rather, the university recognizes the extraordinary service he has given to civil society and his lifetime connection to Catholic and Jesuit higher education as a Georgetown University alumnus. LMU, precisely because it is a Catholic and Jesuit University, seeks to follow the inspirational leadership of Pope Francis in promoting a culture of encounter that requires an openness to meet people cordially where they are rather than negatively in a judgmental way.”