[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 21 (Monday, May 30, 2005)]
[Pages 855-857]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Commencement Address at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan

May 21, 2005

    Thank you, President Byker, members of the Calvin faculty, 
distinguished guests, parents, friends, family, and most importantly, 
the Class of 2005.
    Thanks for having me. I was excited to come back to Calvin, and I 
was just telling Laura the other night about what fun it would be to 
come to Calvin College. I said, ``You know, Laura, I love being around 
so many young folks. You know, it gives me a chance to relive my glory 
days in academia.'' [Laughter] She said, ``George, that's not exactly 
how I would describe your college experience.'' [Laughter] She also said 
one other thing I think the graduates will appreciate hearing, a good 
piece of advice. She said, ``The folks here are here to get their 
diploma, not to hear from an old guy go on too long.'' [Laughter] So 
with that sage advice, here goes.
    I bring a great message of hope and freedom to Calvin College Class 
of 2005: There is life after Professor Vanden Bosch and English 101. 
[Laughter] Someday you will appreciate the grammar and verbal skills you 
learned here. [Laughter] And if any of you wonder how far a mastery of 
the English language can take you, just look what it did for me. 
[Laughter]
    I thank the moms and dads here for your sacrifice and for your love. 
I want to thank the faculty for your hard work and dedication. And 
again, I congratulate the Class of 2005. Soon you will collect your 
degrees and say goodbyes to a school that has been your home, and you 
will take your rightful place in a country that offers you the greatest 
freedom and opportunity on Earth. I ask that you use what you've learned 
to make your own contributions to the story of American freedom.
    The immigrants who founded Calvin College came to America for the 
freedom to worship, and they built this great school on the sturdy 
ground of liberty. They saw in the American experiment the world's best 
hope for freedom, and they weren't the only ones excited by what they 
saw. In 1835, a young civil servant and aristocrat from France named 
Alexis de Tocqueville would publish a book about America that still 
resonates today.
    The book is called ``Democracy in America,'' and in it this young 
Frenchman said that the secret to America's success was our talent for 
bringing people together for the common good. De Tocqueville wrote that 
tyrants maintained their power by ``isolating'' their citizens and that 
Americans guaranteed their freedom by their remarkable ability to band 
together without any direction from government. The America he described 
offered the world something it had never seen before, a working model of 
a thriving democracy where opportunity was unbounded, where virtue was 
strong, and where citizens took responsibility for their neighbors.
    Tocqueville's account is not just the observations of one man; it is 
the story of our founding. It is not just a description of America at a 
point in time; it is an agenda for

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our time. Our Founders rejected both a radical individualism that makes 
no room for others and the dreary collectivism that crushes the 
individual. They gave us instead a society where individual freedom is 
anchored in communities. And in this hopeful new century, we have a 
great goal, to renew this spirit of community and thereby renew the 
character and compassion of our country.
    First, we must understand that the character of our citizens is 
essential to society. In a free and compassionate society, the public 
good depends on private character. That character is formed and shaped 
in institutions like family, faith, and the many civil and--social and 
civic organizations, from the Boy Scouts to the Rotary Clubs. The future 
success of our Nation depends on our ability to understand the 
difference between right and wrong and to have the strength of character 
to make the right choices. Government cannot create character, but it 
can and should respect and support the institutions that do.
    Second, we must understand the importance of keeping power close to 
the people. Local people know local problems; they know the names and 
faces of their neighbors. The heart and soul of America is in our local 
communities; it is in the citizen school boards that determine how our 
children are educated; it's in the city councils and State legislators 
that reflect the unique needs and priorities of the people they serve; 
it's in the volunteer groups that transform towns and cities into caring 
communities and neighborhoods. In the years to come, I hope that you'll 
consider joining these associations or serving in government, because 
when you come together to serve a cause greater than yourself, you will 
energize your communities and you will help build a more just and 
compassionate America.
    Finally, we must understand that it is by becoming active in our 
communities that we move beyond our narrow interests. In today's complex 
world, there are a lot of things that pull us apart. We need to support 
and encourage the institutions and pursuits that bring us together. And 
we learn how to come together by participating in our churches and 
temples and mosques and synagogues, in civil rights associations, in our 
PTAs and Jaycees, in our gardening and book clubs, interest groups, and 
chambers of commerce, in our service groups from soup kitchens to 
homeless shelters.
    All these organizations promote the spirit of community and help us 
acquire the ``habits of heart'' that are so vital to a free society. And 
because one of the deepest values of our country is compassion, we must 
never turn away from any citizen who feels isolated from the 
opportunities of America. Our faith-based and community groups provide 
the armies of compassion that help people who wonder if the American 
Dream is meant for them. These armies of compassion are the great 
engines of social change. They serve individual and local needs, and 
they have been found at the front of every great movement in American 
history.
    The history of forming associations dedicated to serving others is 
as old as America, itself. From abolition societies and suffrage 
movements to immigrant aid groups and prison reform ministries, 
America's social entrepreneurs have often been far ahead of our 
Government in identifying and meeting the needs of our fellow 
countrymen. Because they are closer to the people they serve, our faith-
based and community organizations deliver better results than 
Government. And they have a human touch: When a person in need knocks on 
the door of a faith-based or community organization, he or she is 
welcomed as a brother or a sister.
    No one understood this better than another 19th century visitor to 
America whose name is well known to Calvin College, Abraham Kuyper. 
Kuyper was a Dutchman who would be elected his nation's Prime Minister, 
and he knew all about the importance of associations because he founded 
so many of them, including two newspapers, a political party, and a 
university. Kuyper contrasted the humanizing influence of independent 
social institutions with the ``mechanical character of government.'' And 
in a famous speech right here in Grand Rapids, he urged Dutch immigrants 
to resist the temptation to retreat behind their own walls. He told them 
to go out into their adopted America and make a true difference as true 
Christian citizens.
    Our Government is encouraging all Americans to make a difference 
through our Faith-

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Based and Community Initiative. We're mobilizing Americans to volunteer 
through the USA Freedom Corps. We'll do our part, but ultimately, 
service is up to you. It is your choice to make. As your generation 
takes its place in the world, all of you must make this decision: Will 
you be a spectator or a citizen? To make a difference in this world, you 
must be involved. By serving a higher calling here or abroad, you'll 
make your lives richer and build a more hopeful future for our world.
    At Calvin College, you take this call to service to heart. You serve 
as ``agents of renewal'' across the Earth. You volunteer for Big 
Brothers/Big Sisters to mentor young people. You work at Bethany 
Christian Services here in Grand Rapids, one of the best-known adoption 
services in America. A former Calvin student and professor, Vern Ehlers, 
serves in the Halls of Congress. As the Class of 2005 goes out into the 
world, I ask you to embrace this tradition of service and help set an 
example for all Americans. As Americans, we share an agenda that calls 
us to action, a great responsibility to serve and love others, a 
responsibility that goes back to the greatest commandment.
    This isn't a Democratic idea. This isn't a Republican idea. This is 
an American idea. It has sustained our Nation's liberty for more than 
200 years. The Founders knew that too much Government leads to 
oppression but that too little Government can leave us helpless and 
alone. So they built a free society with many roots in community. And to 
keep the tree of liberty standing tall in the century before us, you 
must nourish those roots.
    Today, the Calvin Class of 2005 looks out on an America that 
continues to be defined by the promise of our Declaration of 
Independence. We're still the Nation our Founders imagined, where 
individual freedom and opportunity is unbounded, where community is 
vibrant, where compassion keeps us from resting until all our citizens 
take their place at the banquet of freedom and equality. And with your 
help, we'll all do our part to transform our great land one person and 
one community at a time.
    Thank you for having me. May God bless you, and may God continue to 
bless our country.

Note: The President spoke at 2:15 p.m. at the Calvin College Fieldhouse. 
In his remarks, he referred to Gaylen J. Byker, president, Calvin 
College.