[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[May 21, 2001]
[Pages 556-558]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Commencement Address at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut
May 21, 2001

    President Levin, thank you very much. 
Dean Brodhead; fellows of the Yale 
Corporation; fellow Yale parents, families, and graduates. It's a 
special privilege to receive this honorary degree. I was proud 33 years 
ago to receive my first Yale degree; I'm even prouder that, in your 
eyes, I've earned this one.
    I congratulate my fellow honorees. I'm pleased to share this honor 
with such a distinguished group. I'm particularly pleased to be here 
with my friend the former President of Mexico. Senor Presidente, usted es un verdadero lider y un 
gran amigo.
    I congratulate all the parents who are here. It's a glorious day 
when your child graduates from college. It's a great day for you; it's a 
great day for your wallet. [Laughter]
    Most important, congratulations to the class of 2001. To those of 
you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, well done. And 
to the C students I say, you, too, can be President of the United 
States. [Laughter] A Yale degree is worth a lot, as I often remind 
Dick Cheney--[laughter]--who studied here but 
left a little early. So now we know: If you graduate from Yale, you 
become President; if you drop out, you get to be Vice President. 
[Laughter]
    I appreciate so very much the chance to say a few words on this 
occasion. I know Yale has a tradition of having no commencement speaker. 
I also know that you've carved out a single exception. Most people think 
that to speak at Yale's commencement, you have to be President. But over 
the years, the specifications have become far more demanding. Now you 
have to be a Yale graduate; you have to be President; and you have had 
to have lost the Yale vote to Ralph Nader.
    This is my first time back here in quite a while. I'm sure that each 
of you will make your own journey back at least a few times in your 
life. If you're like me, you won't remember everything you did here. 
[Laughter] That can be a good thing. [Laughter] But there will be some 
people and some moments you will never forget.
    Take, for example, my old classmate Dick Brodhead, the accomplished dean of

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this great university. I remember him as a young scholar, a bright lad--
[laughter]--a hard worker. We both put a lot of time in at the Sterling 
Library, in the reading room where they have those big leather couches. 
[Laughter] We had a mutual understanding. Dick wouldn't read aloud, and 
I wouldn't snore. [Laughter]
    Our course selections were different, as we followed our own path to 
academic discovery. Dick was an English 
major and loved the classics. I loved history and pursued a diversified 
course of study. I like to think of it as the academic road less 
traveled. [Laughter]
    For example, I took a class that studied Japanese haiku. Haiku, for 
the uninitiated, is a 15th-century form of poetry, each poem having 17 
syllables. Haiku is fully understood only by the Zen masters. As I 
recall, one of my academic advisers was worried about my selection of 
such a specialized course. He said I should focus on English. [Laughter] 
I still hear that quite often. [Laughter] But my critics don't realize, 
I don't make verbal gaffes; I'm speaking in the perfect forms and 
rhythms of ancient haiku.
    I did take English here, and I took a class called ``The History and 
Practice of American Oratory,'' taught by Rollin G. Osterwies. And 
President Levin, I want to give credit 
where credit is due. I want the entire world to know this: Everything I 
know about the spoken word, I learned right here at Yale. [Laughter]
    As a student, I tried to keep a low profile. It worked. Last year 
the New York Times interviewed John Morton Blum because the record 
showed I had taken one of his courses. Casting his mind's eye over the 
parade of young faces down through the years, Professor Blum said, and I 
quote, ``I don't have the foggiest recollection of him.'' [Laughter]
    But I remember Professor Blum. And I still recall his dedication and 
high standards of learning. In my time there were many great professors 
at Yale, and there still are. They're the ones who keep Yale going after 
the commencements, after we have all gone our separate ways. I'm not 
sure I remembered to thank them the last time I was here, but now that I 
have a second chance, I thank the professors of Yale University.
    That's how I've come to feel about the Yale experience, grateful. I 
studied hard, I played hard, and I made a lot of lifelong friends. What 
stays with you from college is the part of your education you hardly 
ever notice at the time. It's the expectations and examples around you, 
the ideals you believe in, and the friends you make.
    In my time, they spoke of the ``Yale man.'' I was really never sure 
what that was, but I do think that I'm a better man because of Yale. All 
universities, at their best, teach that degrees and honors are far from 
the full measure of life. Nor is that measure taken in wealth or in 
titles. What matters most are the standards you live by, the 
consideration you show others, and the way you use the gifts you are 
given.
    Now you leave Yale behind, carrying the written proof of your 
success here, at a college older than America. When I left here, I 
didn't have much in the way of a life plan. I knew some people who 
thought they did, but it turned out that we were all in for ups and 
downs, most of them unexpected. Life takes its own turns, makes its own 
demands, writes its own story, and along the way, we start to realize we 
are not the author. We begin to understand that life is ours to live but 
not to waste and that the greatest rewards are found in the commitments 
we make with our whole hearts--to the people we love and to the causes 
that earn our sacrifice. I hope that each of you will know these 
rewards. I hope you will find them in your own way and your own time.
    For some, that might mean some time in public service. And if you 
hear that calling, I hope you answer. Each of you has unique gifts, and 
you were given them for a reason. Use them and share them. Public

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service is one way, an honorable way, to mark your life with meaning.
    Today I visit not only my alma mater but the city of my birth. My 
life began just a few blocks from here, but I was raised in west Texas. 
From there, Yale always seemed a world away, maybe a part of my future. 
Now it's a part of my past, and Yale, for me, is a source of great 
pride.
    I hope that there will come a time for you to return to Yale to say 
that and to feel as I do. And I hope you won't wait as long.
    Congratulations, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:05 p.m. on the Old Campus. In his 
remarks, he referred to Richard C. Levin, president, and Richard H. 
Brodhead, dean of Yale College, Yale University; former President 
Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico; and Ralph Nader, 2000 Green Party 
Presidential candidate.