Lauret
Savoy's Baccalaureate Address
Following is the
baccalaureate speech delivered by Lauret Savoy, Associate Professor
and Chair of the Department of Earth and Environment, for the
2002 commencement weekend.
Acting President Tatum,
trustees, colleagues, parents and friends, and most of all you,
class of 2002, good evening, congratulations, and thank you for
this privilege.
I'll be honest with
you. I know little of real importance. What can i tell you that
you have not learned or heard, that you do not know in your heart?
So let me say just
a few simple words from my own heart.
When i was a little
girl, i wanted a horse--i wanted to be a horse--this creature
full of wonder, strength, and speed. I'd pretend by running as
fast as i could, just to hear wind rush by. I felt safe, strong--partly
because i imagined I could run away from all i feared or did not
understand.
And in the late 1960s
and early 70s there was much i did not understand: race riots
where we lived, the Vietnam "war" with its casualties
there and at home, and in my own family a silence and bitterness
that were palpable.
There was also much
i feared: like words spat on me, at eight years old, that said
i could be hated not for who I am but for what i look like. As
a child becoming a woman i made many mistakes, took many turns.
The path was not straight.
Have you ever felt
at the edge of something--at a bright threshold maybe or at a
steep cliff or abyss?--not knowing how or where to move; afraid
of taking a wrong step, of making mistakes? Afraid to leap? Or
have you ever felt alone, even among friends or in a crowd? Maybe
some of you have felt these things before or feel them now or
will in the future.
I've been there before,
and was there again last September and in the months since when
death and despair became large and too close.
I wondered,What is
really important for me to be as a human being, to do in this
world?
What could I say
about my life as a woman who is Black in this America but also
mixedblood, as a natural scientist, teacher, and writer who creates
stories and images of land and human history but knows little
of her own family's origins? Full of uncertainty and fear, i came
close to quitting and ending many things because I did not know
what to do.
You special women
helped me find direction and courage. Those among you who worked
with me this past year reminded me of many things well-said by
the poet Rilke:
- to look inward
and test the deeps in which my life takes rise - to be patient
toward all that is unsolved in my heart - to live and love the
questions - to hold to what is difficult - to keep growing quietly
and seriously throughout my whole life
You also taught me
to honor and embrace the experiences, dreams, and hopes that have
stayed with me from childhood to womanhood.
Above all you showed
me generosity, caring, and love.
To be in relation
with another--as daughter and parent, as student and teacher,
as friends, as partners--is always an exchange (never one way).
In each of us is
a self distinct from and inclusive of the world around us. As
we determine who and what we are we will always confront issues
of identity within frames of class, race, culture, community,
family--and the world. And we are part of the world.
There is nothing
wrong with feeling uncertain or scared--each of us will be at
an edge ats ome point. I just wish us all the strength to continue
the leap into life.
And to you who gave
me this engraved compass, the fire you hold inside of you is fire
you returned to me.
I am deeply honored
to be your teacher and so grateful to be your student.
Thank you.
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