“Looking Back and Paying it Forward”

Senior Salute Speech
Beverley J. Pitts
April 6, 2008

When I talked with the incoming freshmen this fall, I told them to think not so much about the future, but about their present. I tried to remind them that they weren’t just working for a future, they were going to live as part of the UIndy family for four years.

I told them to enjoy the experience, relish every moment of their next four years because they were creating lifelong memories and friendships. I told them to live here over the next four years. I hope they are doing that. I didn’t get to say that to you four years ago, but I hope you have done that too.

I know right now you are recognizing that the days and months of this academic year, even your whole college career—have flown by. Memories dash past almost like the colors and shapes of a fast cut movie.

A big test,
a great party,
a new friend,
clothes,
the tough paper,
the great golf cart Homecoming parade and the victory,
computer software glitches,
a hard-earned A,
the new roommate,
midnight breakfast on finals week,
the Mikado,
the food line,
the match you won for the team,
Ted’s Christmas dinner,
sleepy mornings,
first day in an eye-opening course,
the relationship that didn’t work out,
the one that did,
the time you almost got hit crossing Hanna talking on your cell phone, (I put that one in for me!)
late night pizza,
the trip to Athens,
the faculty member who helped you find your direction,
the Ceremony of the Flags,
library searches,
the scary first day at the internship,
finals.

As you look back, the events of this year or even this last semester may seem to stand out most boldly, but the immediacy of this academic year and upcoming graduation can overshadow the bigger picture of this place in which we all have so much invested.

So I’d like to ask you to step back for a minute to think not just of the last few months or year, but about the bigger picture this place and your part of it as—UIndy seniors. There is a common ground here for all of us. You as the senior class are not just the combination of individual memories. We are all part of a shared culture.

That culture goes back more than 100 years. And it is shaped by more than 20,000 alumni throughout the country and world.

Faculty, graduates and administrators long before us built an institution based on personal responsibility and concern for others, quality learning, and a sense of service to others.

Do you remember the movie “Pay it Forward”? It’s the story of how a good deed done for you puts the expectation on you to pay it forward to someone else you can help? Well that’s exactly what those graduates before you, who are now alums, have been doing for decades—giving back to the institution so the next generation can have even better opportunities than they had.

This is why, today, we have a strong international program, and we are able to send some of our best and brightest to explore the far corners of the world, passports firmly in hand.

It is why our US News & World Report rankings have elevated us into the top tier of universities in our class. It is why we can boast of doctoral programs that are recognized nationally.

It is why our students, a highly diverse group hailing from all over the U.S. and nearly 60 other nations, are able to gain practical experience from student teaching in a preschool, to after-school neighborhood arts programs, to anthropology digs, to entrepreneurship competition, to clinicals in the hospital.

It is why we value the personal, spiritual, and academic experiences of everyone.

It is why we have small classes and faculty who worked directly with you.

It is why there were so many opportunities for you ranging from study with students from Greece, India, China and all over the world, to participation in a division II athletic program, to serving food at Fletcher Place, to leadership experiences in student government, to great internships in the Indy community.

It is why you are graduating. People along the way, especially faculty members made sure you stayed in school, achieved your best, and are ready and prepared for your next step in life.

Your university has a long and solid history, filled with tradition. It has a faculty dedicated to your learning. It has programs that are among the best in the nation.

It has promise for the next generation of students, and it has pride in the alums who share this common experience with you.

The continuum is there. Each of you is not only the beneficiary of these university strengths; you have contributed to the shaping of our culture for the next generation to follow you.

Each one of you has a different story, a different set of very specific memories that make your years at UIndy special for you.

Step back and remember the personal friendships, special moments, great accomplishments that are part of your own journey to today.

New things are coming for each of you—grand new opportunities for which you are well prepared. We know you are going to be successful, because we have seen what you have accomplished already.

As time goes by, the years you lived as a UIndy student will become more and more important to you and you will want to pay it forward so that a new generation can know the UIndy way.

Right now, everyone is telling you to look to the future, and there are wonderful things ahead for you, but I’m asking you to turn around one more time. Take this moment to look back and remember well. Be proud of your accomplishments. Be proud of your alma mater as all of us are proud of you. We want you always to be part of UIndy.

Congratulations and best wishes to all of you.