[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 19 (Monday, May 15, 2006)]
[Pages 911-914]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Commencement Address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in 
Biloxi, Mississippi

May 11, 2006

    Thanks for the warm welcome. President Lott; members of the faculty, 
staff, and administration; distinguished guests; family, friends, and, 
most importantly of all, the graduating class of Mississippi Gulf Coast 
Community College.
    This afternoon, we celebrate commencement in a stadium that is still 
under repair, near streets lined with temporary housing, in a region 
where too many lives have been shattered--and there has never been a 
more hopeful day to graduate in the State of Mississippi.
    I am proud to stand before some of the most determined students at 
college or university in America. Over these past 9 months, you have 
shown a resilience more powerful than any storm. You continued your 
studies in classrooms with crumbling walls. You lost homes and slept in 
tents near campus to finish courses. You cleared debris during the

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day, and you went to class at night. You worked past exhaustion to catch 
up. By your determination to reach this day, you have sent a message to 
our Nation and the world: Mississippi is coming back, and it's going to 
be better than ever before.
    You have sent a message, and I've came with a message of my own: 
This Nation honors your dedication. We're inspired by your optimism, and 
we're going to help this great State of Mississippi rebuild.
    I'm honored to be the first sitting President to address a community 
college commencement. Recognizing this is a grand occasion, I wanted 
some tips from the best speaker I know--so I went to the First Lady, 
Laura. [Laughter] I asked her what I should talk about, and she said, 
``You ought to talk about 15 minutes.'' [Laughter] Listen, I've learned 
her advice is worth taking. She sends her best to you all.
    Today I want to share a few thoughts on the history you've seen this 
year and the history you will make once you leave this fine college. For 
some of you, graduation day has been a long time in the making. Many of 
you have large responsibilities beyond school, such as jobs and families 
to care for, and none of those roles are part-time. Others here are 
taking a first step toward further education at one of Mississippi's 
fine universities. And on this special afternoon, some of you are 
fulfilling the dreams of generations by becoming the first person in 
your family to graduate from college.
    This college is also part of a strong military community, and it's 
obvious some of you have earned your degree while serving your Nation in 
uniform. And I'm proud to be your Commander in Chief. There are also 
military family members in the graduating class, including the Levens 
family of Long Beach. Margaret Levens and her son, Matt, are getting 
their degrees, and they're both carrying pictures of a loved one who 
they remember today. Earlier this year, Donnie Levens, Margaret's son 
and Matt's brother, was killed in a helicopter crash while his Marine 
unit was fighting terrorists near the Horn of Africa. Margaret says 
Donnie's courage inspired her to complete her studies. She said, ``I've 
never been a quitter. Donnie was never a quitter either. He had a job to 
do, and he did it well. And I am graduating for him today.'' America 
honors the service of Donnie Levens, and we honor the strength and the 
sacrifice of our military families.
    This day of accomplishment would not be possible without the faculty 
and the staff and the administration of this college. They reopened this 
school just 17 days after the worst natural disaster in American history 
struck your campus and your State. All who work at this college have 
dedicated themselves to this school's stated mission of making ``a 
positive difference in people's lives every day.'' You have fulfilled 
that mission and so much more. Your students will always remember your 
unselfish service in an hour of need, and the United States of America 
is grateful for your service.
    This is my 10th visit to Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina hit. 
I've seen firsthand the devastation in Gulfport and Gautier, Poplarville 
and Pascagoula and Pass Christian, Bay Saint Louis and Biloxi. This was 
the first city in your State I visited after the storm. I remember 
walking down the street with your fine mayor through a neighborhood 
where every house had been destroyed. I remember sitting on a doorstep 
that was surrounded by boards. I remember looking in the eyes of people 
who were stunned and saddened, longing for all they had lost.
    I remember something else, too--a quiet, unyielding determination to 
clear the wreckage and build anew. People who saw their own houses 
flattened rose to the aid of neighbors. One group of men tied themselves 
with a rope, dove into a flooded street, and pulled 20 others to safety. 
Churches and congregations gave to their limit of their resources and 
then found a way to give more. Thousands lost their homes, their cars, 
and their businesses--but not their faith in the future. Across this 
State, a powerful spirit has emerged, a Mississippi spirit that sees 
hope in adversity and possibility in pain and summons a strength that 
wind and water can never take away.
    And that Mississippi spirit is embodied by your great Governor, 
Haley Barbour. Haley spoke for the State when he said, ``People aren't 
leaving. They're hitching up their britches and rebuilding 
Mississippi.'' That Mississippi spirit is carried to Washington by

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your superb United States Senators, Trent Lott and Thad Cochran and by 
an outstanding congressional delegation. And the Mississippi spirit is 
sustained daily by your mayors and county officials and local leaders, 
and many of those leaders are here today. And I appreciate your service, 
and you can count on a steady partner in my administration.
    Over the past 9 months, we have seen what the Mississippi spirit can 
achieve. The population of coastal Mississippi has returned almost all 
the way to full strength. Every school district that closed after the 
hurricane has reopened. More than 90 percent of the debris has been 
cleared. Highways and bridges are being repaired. Homeowners are 
rebuilding with the help from the State and the Federal Government. 
There are more jobs available in Mississippi today than before the 
storm, and the resurgence of this great State has only begun.
    The renewal of the gulf coast is one of the largest rebuilding 
efforts the world has ever seen, and all of you will play a leading 
role. Your experience at this college has prepared you to shape the 
future of your State. I ask you to rise to the challenge of a 
generation: Apply your skill and your knowledge, your compassion and 
your character, and help write a hopeful new chapter in the history of 
the gulf coast.
    A hopeful future for the gulf coast will require your skill and your 
knowledge. The destruction left by Katrina reaches beyond anything we 
could have imagined. Rebuilding will create an immediate need for 
workers with a wide range of skills. I appreciate how this college 
responded, by offering courses in carpentry and plumbing and electrical 
and drywall and other skills in high demand. Federal funds allowed 
students to complete these courses for free, and many have moved 
straight into good jobs with Mississippi companies. When it comes to 
rebuilding this State, there is no question ``if;'' it is a matter of 
``when.'' Mississippi will rebuild, and you will be the ones to rebuild 
it.
    Ultimately, rebuilding this region will require more than the 
reconstruction of building and bridges that were destroyed. A renewal of 
the gulf coast will also require creativity and innovation and 
enterprise in every aspect of society. The growth and vitality of the 
gulf coast will come from people who open new stores, design new urban 
plans, create new jobs, teach children, and care for the sick. The key 
to unlocking these opportunities is knowledge, and millions who want to 
gain new knowledge come to community colleges just like the one you're 
graduating from. In the gulf coast and beyond, community colleges are 
the centers of hope and the gateways to social mobility. At any stage in 
life, you can come to a community college, and you can learn something 
new, and you can put yourself on a course to realize your dreams.
    The class of 2006 is filled with people determined to use their 
knowledge to revitalize the gulf coast. It's full of people determined 
to realize dreams. Today I met Tracy Malosh, and she's graduating with a 
degree in nursing. Tracy was born nearby at Keesler Air Force Base, and 
she has lived in this part of the country for her whole life. She 
married her high school sweetheart, Charles, 13 years ago, and they have 
three children who, by the way, are proudly watching their mom graduate 
today. After Tracy's son Trevor was born with a heart condition, she 
decided to come to this college to become a pediatric nurse. When 
Hurricane Katrina hit, Tracy's family lost everything they owned, but 
she kept coming to class. She was determined. The family is now looking 
for a new home in the area. Today Tracy gets a degree, and she's 
planning to work in pediatrics at a local hospital. And here is what she 
said, ``I can't even begin to describe to you how good it feels to 
finish this. I always knew I'd go back to school, but I never knew I'd 
face the difficulties that I did--and I conquered this.''
    Tracy's story is a clear lesson: It's never too late to get a fresh 
start in life. And people all over the gulf coast are following her 
lead. Out of the devastation of Katrina will come great opportunities to 
get a fresh start in life. And for many in this great State, the road to 
a brighter future will run through a community college.
    A hopeful future for the gulf coast will require your compassion and 
your character. Our whole Nation has been moved by the outpouring of 
kindness and decency shown by the people of this great State. Neighbors

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have joined forces to care for the weak and the vulnerable. Strangers 
have come together to help each other cope. Now you must work to sustain 
the compassion inspired by this storm long after the damage has been 
cleared away. I urge you to take the same determination you brought to 
rebuilding schools and use it to ensure that every school provides a 
good education. Use that same bravery it takes to rescue people from 
water to rescue communities from poverty. My hope is that one day, 
Americans will look back at the rebuilding of Mississippi and say that 
your work added not only to the prosperity of our country but also to 
the character as our Nation.
    Earlier today I met one of your classmates who represents the 
character necessary for the gulf coast to succeed. Kendrick Kennedy grew 
up here in Biloxi. He's a proud graduate of Biloxi High. At age 30, an 
illness caused Kendrick to go blind, and eventually he lost his job. So 
he decided to come to this college. He recorded each of his lectures on 
tape, and he scanned his books into a computer program, provided by the 
school, that reads them aloud. When the hurricane hit, Kendrick opened 
his home to family members in need, and he returned to school as soon as 
possible. Today this good man is graduating at the top of his class, and 
he hopes to attend law school one day. Here is what Kendrick said: ``I'd 
be doggoned if I was going to let Hurricane Katrina stop me. I thought, 
`You started school when you were blind, and you can overcome this 
hurricane.' '' Kendrick is right, and today we honor his inspiring 
example.
    That same optimism is present in many of the graduates today, and so 
many others across the gulf coast. And optimism is justified. There is 
going to be a day when communities across Mississippi sparkle with new 
homes and businesses bustle with customers and this college is filled 
with more students than ever before. I plan to return one day to the 
Biloxi neighborhood I visited on my first trip and see beautiful homes 
with children playing in the yards. Across this entire region devastated 
by the storm, new vitality will emerge from the rubble, and cities from 
Mobile to Biloxi to New Orleans will be whole again.
    It's going to take time for that vision to be realized, and it will 
demand the skill and knowledge and character of all of you. Yet you can 
leave this college with confidence in your future and with certainty 
that you're not going to work alone. In these trying months, we have 
been aided by a Power that lightens our struggles, reveals our hidden 
strength, and helps conquer all suffering and loss. We can never know 
God's plan, but we can trust in His wisdom and in His grace. And we can 
be certain that with His help, the great State of Mississippi will rise 
again.
    Congratulations to the class of 2006. May God bless you, and may God 
bless the United States of America.

Note: The President spoke at 2:29 p.m. in the Mississippi Coast 
Coliseum. In his remarks, he referred to Willis Lott, president, 
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; and Mayor A.J. Holloway of 
Biloxi, MS.