Mr. Chancellor, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to add my warm welcome to this Convocation of SFU and to join with you in congratulating the graduates whose achievements we celebrate today.

Thank you, Mr. Chancellor, for your very generous recognition of my tenure as President of Simon Fraser University.  After over 100 convocation ceremonies and shaking the hands of some 40,000 graduates, today’s ceremony has a special significance for me.  I share the sense of graduating with those receiving their degrees today.  I share their pride and their mixed emotions as we face our future.  I also hope that we share an appreciation of what has been critical to our success at SFU, and what will be our greatest assets in the future.

Members of the graduating class, although we are proud of our individual achievements, I am sure you agree that our success has depended most on the opportunity to be part of a great university whose collective strength is much greater than the sum of the individual contributions of its faculty, staff and students.  And we have depended equally on the love and support of family and friends without whom we could not have achieved what we have at SFU.  Our greatest satisfaction today must be the opportunity to acknowledge all those who have made our success possible.

Graduates, we are humbled by recognition of how much our personal success owes to others, and we are humbled also by the enormous challenges we now face, as we now move from SFU into the wider world.  A world of increasing complexity, with its obdurate environmental, economic and social problems; the mystery of its origins and the unpredictability of its future; the rich diversity of its cultures on which we draw for meaning and creativity, but also for the xenophobia and religious fundamentalism, which create conflict and violence across the globe; the ubiquity of human irrationality and the rarity of genius and originality.

This pessimism of the intellect must not dull the optimism of the will, our capacity to commit to social engagement in the hope and expectation of bettering the world we inherit, especially for those less privileged.  The distinctive legacy of Simon Fraser University, its embrace of risk and bold initiative, its commitment to deep engagement in the community and to “thinking of the world,” must be the compass points that guide our future careers, just as they have governed our lives at this university.

In balancing pessimism and humility against optimism and will, our greatest assets for the future will no doubt be our formal education.  Just as important in my experience will be our love of people, which enables collaboration and engagement; our sense of humour which moderates cynicism with amusement at our own and others’ foibles, and our curiosity without which our intelligence and learning stagnate.

So, I celebrate with you our time at SFU.  I join you in thanks for all the support and friendship we have enjoyed here.  I look forward to the future with you, aware of our limitations, but passionately committed to action and leadership in the world.  May our futures continue to be enriched by curiosity, good humour and, best of all, by love, and may we be truly worthy of the privilege of our association with this great university.

Congratulations to you all and my very best wishes for your future success and happiness.

Thank you.