Commencement 2016: Justice Clarence Thomas Exhorts Graduates to Lead by Example
Before a capacity crowd in the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center, the 353 undergraduate and 14 graduate students of the Class of 2016 joined the ranks of Hillsdale College’s alumni, completing what President Larry P. Arnn called “the highest human activity—talking, thinking, and carrying on together what they know to keep it alive.” Such activity, the very purpose of a college, Arnn said, leads to joy, improvement of character, freedom, and a connection with God.
In introducing Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, Arnn, who has known Thomas for nearly 30 years, described him as “the greatest public servant I know.” No stranger to Hillsdale, Thomas has spoken at College events through the years and taught a seminar on campus in 2004. “I admire the work being done at Hillsdale College,” Thomas said.
In his address, Thomas recalled growing up on a farm and the hard work that came with such an upbringing. “If you didn’t discharge your responsibilities, there would be no crops, no self-sufficiency, no freedom,” he said. Along with the importance of carrying out his duties on the farm, his grandparents instilled in him a sense of obligation toward his neighbors and his country, even in the midst of the injustices they endured in the segregated South. While the ideals of duty, honor, and country were commonplace in Thomas’s youth, “the focus today is on what we are owed rather than our obligations,” he said.
Liberty depends on good citizens discharging their duties, Thomas continued. “If we don’t make deposits on liberty, we will eventually deplete it.” But Hillsdale students understand the heritage of self-government under law. Thomas exhorted the graduates to use what they have learned to be good citizens that will carry out their obligations and thereby make deposits on liberty. “What you do will matter more than what you say,” he concluded. “Be an example to others. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Your efforts will help form the fabric of a free and prosperous society.”
President Arnn bestowed an honorary doctor of laws degree on Thomas. He also awarded honorary doctor of public service degrees to Hillsdale College Woman Commissioner Janet Piwonka Brodbeck, ’67, friends of the College Peter and Diane Plotkin, and a posthumous degree to Hazel Hare, a longtime member of the College’s Board of Trustees who passed away in March. Her niece, Tracey Kane, accepted the degree.
In his remarks to his fellow classmates, Senior Class President Nick Brown lamented how, at most other colleges, the liberal arts are under attack. But Hillsdale offers the best defense for them. Brown, who aspires to become an entrepreneur, likened the liberal arts to entrepreneurship. “Both are inherently risky, but the liberal arts and entrepreneurship lead to discovery and truth,” he said. “When the discovery of opportunity is followed by action, we begin to serve others.” By embracing the liberal arts, “we become equipped to lead the lost,” he said.
Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Brodbeck, ’66, offered his congratulations to the class and saluted them and their parents for choosing a place as unique as Hillsdale College. “If this country is to be saved, it will be through the efforts of young men and women who have graduated from Hillsdale,” he said. “Share what you know with the rest of the country.”
Printed in the Spring 2016 Alumni Magazine