Full text follows--The Flat Hat, Williamsburg, VA
Was I the only one who thought President Sullivan’s remarks during Opening Convocation this year were rather somber? When the speech was over, I spoke with a friend about it, and we agreed that while it was an excellent speech—better than the featured speaker, even—it left a very serious taste in our mouths. Of course, I don’t think I know what seriousness tastes like, so the comparison is bland.
The speech, however, was not. It was based around a Rudyard Kipling story called “The Eye of Allah,” which ends with an abbot (apparently an ex-Bio student) shattering the newly-invented microscope because he deemed the world unready. The cleric had to make a decision: allow the new technology for its educational value, or forbid it because of the damage it may cause? I was immediately reminded of recent scientific debates that crept into politics: human cloning and stem cell research. I was puzzled by Sullivan’s choice of topic.
Towards the end of the speech, our President said something that I took to be an eloquently worded, if veiled, comment on the current political climate. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a transcript anywhere, but it went something like this: “we mustn’t mistake a choice between bad and worse for a battle between good and evil.” I was focused on this statement for the rest of the speech, so all I caught of the rest was an unusually dour assessment of the big choices that will undoubtedly confront us in the rest of our lives. As William and Mary students, he said, we will always be capable of shouldering the responsibility of intelligence. It is our duty, then, to make the right choices and bask in the honor of that responsibility.
Strong and serious words for President Sullivan’s final Convocation. I thought he was going to wax poetic about the last twelve years at William and Mary, or unleash another surprise announcement as he has in years past. He did not. Instead of mere encouragement, the class of 2008 had its great intellect recognized and, with it, was given responsibility. Somewhere, Spider-Man smiled beneath his mask (while rolling in film royalties).
Superheroism aside, though, the “good and evil” statement especially seemed to allude to the poor quality of the dialogue in politics. I write this having just seen the first night of the Republican National Convention, where John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani reminded us of the post-9/11 America when we blissfully put aside our divisions. Then, as per usual, they immediately proceeded to attack the Democrats and other liberals on the same tired charges we’ve been hearing for months. The left has done the same by ruthlessly attacking Republicans while promising to unite the country as “one America.” Neither side is able to recognize that reasonable people may disagree. Giuliani seemed to understand this for a moment, but shortly thereafter turned it into an (admittedly hilarious) attack on the Democrats. So much for improving the dialogue.
I’m not sure if the “good and evil” statement was Sullivan’s way to talk about national politics or if it was directed at his opponents during budgetary debates in Richmond. It could have been about Spider-Man, but Sullivan strikes me more as an X-Men kind of guy. Though Magneto wants to utterly destroy humanity, the X-Men strive not towards annihilation, but to coexistence. Democrat or Republican, I think we should agree that we should at the very least be civil with one another.
Back to Williamsburg, though: I should concede that the speech may only have been somber because it was Sullivan’s last. He could have spoken for twenty minutes about the cuteness of puppies and I would have been thinking about how much I’ll miss his speeches when he (and I) leave this place. The finality and the seriousness of senior year made their first knocks on my door that afternoon, knocks I happily ignored. Sullivan’s beautiful, but sobering speech was much more difficult to ignore. Sullivan’s tenure can only be properly followed by another act of superheroism. I for one would love to try, though I doubt I’d look good in tights.
