[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 21 (Monday, May 24, 2004)]
[Pages 935-937]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Commencement Address at Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

May 21, 2004

    Thank you all very much. Chancellor Emmert and President Jenkins and 
Chairman Ogden, Members of the Congress, members of the faculty, 
trustees, families, distinguished guests, and members of the Class of 
2004. I want to thank you for the warm welcome. It's great to be in 
the--on this wonderful campus. I'm honored to be with you on graduation 
day as all of you become proud alumni of Louisiana State University.
    As you graduate from LSU, your Chancellor is graduating to new 
challenges as well. We appreciate Chancellor Emmert for his fine, 
steadfast leadership in making LSU one of America's flagship 
universities. This day is a tribute as well to the faculty of LSU, and 
we thank them for your skill and your dedication.
    Some in this class are graduating with honors, and I congratulate 
all of you on an achievement that took a lot of discipline. Others may 
have spent a little less time in the library--[laughter]--a little more 
time keeping the stools warm down at The Chimes. [Laughter] But you 
earned your degree, and you too can leave today with high hopes. I speak 
with some authority here--[laughter]--I've seen how things can work out 
pretty well for a C student. [Laughter]
    All of you have learned a lot here at LSU, and you learned to take 
your sports seriously. I know you're especially proud of your mighty 
national champs, the finest athletes to wear the LSU jersey, the Lady 
Tigers of the women's track team. Plus you've got a pretty good football 
team too. I know firsthand, when Coach Saban told me right there at the 
White House how good this team was. And I want to congratulate all the 
athletes here at LSU.
    After 4 years of sitting through lectures, I have a feeling you're 
not in the mood for another one. You've probably had your fill of 
political speeches from Free Speech Alley. [Laughter] So today, on your 
last day at LSU, I thought I would share a few important lessons that 
I've picked up along the way.
    Let me begin with a very valuable lesson I've learned, a lesson that 
has influenced my well-being, and here it is: Listen to your mother. 
[Laughter] I had little choice. My mom has a way of speaking her mind. 
When I paid attention, I benefited. When I didn't, I paid the price. 
That's how it still works. [Laughter]
    In the world's eyes, you are now an independent adult. In your 
mother's eyes, you probably still have some growing up to do. You may 
not always agree with her advice, but I think of it this way: The first 
voice you heard is always worth listening to.
    There are many moms and dads here today, and I know how some of you 
are feeling. It feels really good to write the last tuition check. 
[Laughter] It also feels like the last 20 years or so went by awfully 
fast. I know you're proud of your sons and daughters, and I know they 
are grateful. Today we honor the parents of the Class of 2004.
    Here is another bit of advice I hope you graduates will consider as 
you weigh the values and priorities of your life. Sometimes you'll hear 
people say that moral truth is relative or call religious faith a 
comforting illusion. And when you hear talk like that, take

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it seriously enough to be skeptical. It may seem generous and openminded 
to say that everybody, on every moral issue, is equally right. But that 
attitude can also be an excuse for sidestepping life's most important 
questions. Most people over the ages have viewed the search for moral 
truth as one of the main purposes of life. And they were correct. Good 
societies are constructed on the conviction that there is right, and 
there is wrong, and we can know the difference.
    Our country depends on businesspeople who are honest in keeping the 
books and public officials who stay true to their oath and soldiers who 
put their duty above comfort and men and women in every walk of life who 
conduct themselves with integrity, even when no one is watching.
    Good lives are also constructed on moral conviction. You will find 
that indifferent and cynical men and women accomplish little that makes 
them proud. You will find that fighting injustice and evil requires a 
vision of goodness and truth. You will find the only way to live an 
honorable life is to believe in honor. For your sake and for the sake of 
our country, I hope you will always strive to be men and women of 
conviction and character.
    As you enter professional life, I have a few other suggestions about 
how to succeed on the job. For starters, be on time. It's polite, and it 
shows your respect for others. Of course, it's easy for me to say. It's 
easy for me to be punctual when armed men stop all the traffic in town 
for you. [Laughter]
    On the job and elsewhere in life, choose your friends carefully. The 
company you keep has a way of rubbing off on you, and that can be a good 
thing or a bad thing. In my job, I got to pick just about everybody I 
work with. [Laughter] I've been happy with my choices, although I wish 
someone had warned me about all of Dick Cheney's wild partying. 
[Laughter]
    Let me leave you with one more lesson. Wherever life takes us and 
whatever challenges we meet, each one of us has much to be grateful for. 
And the proper measure of response of a grateful heart is service. 
There's no such thing as a self-made man or woman. Everyone has had a 
little help along the way. It is a sign of maturity to remember our 
debts and a sign of grace to pass the favor along in generosity to 
others. There's a wise saying: We make a living by what we get; we make 
a life by what we give.
    Louisiana State University has a tradition of gratitude expressed in 
service to community and country. Four monuments on your campus honor 
those from LSU who served and died in the Armed Forces. Recently, a new 
name was added to the War Memorial: Navy Lieutenant Scott Lamana was 
killed in the attack on the Pentagon on September the 11th, 2001. He 
died at his post. His Nation honors his memory.
    In the war on terror we have counted on others from LSU. With us 
today to receive their degrees are three young men who saw active duty 
in Operation Iraqi Freedom. We thank Sergeant Cavalier, Corporal 
Esposito, Sergeant Jarreau for their service in the United States Marine 
Corps.
    One of the finest ways to show gratitude for freedom is to defend 
freedom. And those who wear the uniform of our country have repaid 
America many times over with their selflessness and courage. That 
courage is needed. We live in historic times, when the will and 
character of America are being tested. We're at war with enemies that 
have many destructive ambitions and one overriding goal: They want to 
spread their ideology of hatred by forcing America to retreat from the 
world in weakness and fear. Yet, they're finding that Americans are not 
the running kind. When this country makes a commitment, we see it 
through.
    We have an historic opportunity, the establishment of a peaceful and 
democratic Iraq at the heart of the Middle East, which will remove a 
danger, strike a blow against terrorism, and make America and the world 
more secure. We will complete the mission for which so many have served 
and sacrificed. And the world can be certain we will defend the freedom 
and security of this Nation, whatever it takes. And the world can be 
certain we will never abandon our belief that freedom is the gift from 
the Almighty to every man and woman in this world.
    More than 60 years ago, when America was attacked at Pearl Harbor, a 
senior at this university joined the Marine Corps. He was three credits 
short, so he didn't graduate in

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1942. Instead, he found himself taking part in fierce battles at Iwo 
Jima and Guam and elsewhere in the Pacific theater. Corporal Lamar 
Simmons returned home to Louisiana and built a successful career running 
radio stations. Not so long ago, his stepson learned that LSU gives 
academic credit for military service and applied for those credits on 
behalf of Mr. Simmons. And so a man who began his studies here in 1938 
graduates with you today: Lamar Simmons, Class of 2004.
    Mr. Simmons, with my honorary degree, I guess that makes me the 
second-oldest member of your graduating class. [Laughter] I speak for 
all of my classmates in paying tribute to this one man and to the great 
generation of Americans to which he belongs. These Americans saw faraway 
conflict change their lives and took on duties they had not asked for 
and did what had to be done. They kept this country free. We are still 
in their debt.
    As President, I've had the privilege of seeing another generation 
rise to its responsibilities and show its character. I've seen the 
goodness and idealism of young Americans. I've seen confidence--I've 
seen your confidence in yourselves, and I have confidence in you, in 
your generation, and in the great contributions you will make to our 
country.
    I wish you all the best. I thank you for letting me share this day. 
I'm proud to be a member of your class. Congratulations, and may God 
bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:21 a.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mark A. Emmert, chancellor, and 
Nick L. Saban, head football coach, Louisiana State University; and 
William L. Jenkins, president, and Roger H. Ogden, chairman, board of 
supervisors, Louisiana State University System.