Dr. Coleen Grissom's Toast to the Class of 2005
I realize that my opening of these remarks is going to be disconcerting to some of you and that it might make the rest queasy. But, here’s the truth: I was just a few years older than members of the class of 2005 when I first came to work at trinity. I realize that most of you simply cannot imagine that someone so aged was ever young. Well, try this: someone so aged can’t believe that she got so old. 38 seems about right to me.
But, that can’t be right - I first came to work here 47 years ago in June, so, it seems unlikely that I am 38 years old. I’m not mathematically gifted, but I’m not stupid. I don’t think I could possibly be only 38.
But, I have stayed here these many decades because I have loved much about Trinity University.
Here’s some of what has caused me to devote my life to this place and some of what I think makes it hard for you to leave:
I have loved and do love the commitment to a liberal arts & sciences education because I sincerely believe that the truly educated, the truly liberated, person is one who has had that focus.
I have loved and do love that by mandate of several generations of trustees, trinity’s enrollment is limited.
There are too many of us for any body to know everybody, but classes are small, people - even the powers that be - are accessible, and, if you try, you can know many bright, interesting people of various backgrounds, interests, and even ages. And, if you work at it, not always but occasionally, you can see in this place, a sense of community. A pretty gossipy community, but a community. I sincerely hope you’ve gotten to know many people here, and I can only pray that they weren’t all white classmates from Houston.
I hope you’ve gotten to know some members of the faculty, but, also, some of the men who care for these beautiful grounds and those who keep the facilities functioning and repaired. I hope you’ve gotten to know and to value some of the men and women who run the offices through their roles as secretaries and administrative assistants - the residential and student activities staffs - some of the folks in food service, the mail room, the bookstore, and campus safety. I even hope you’ve gotten to know - in positive ways - some of the senior administration. I hope you’ve expanded your horizons by wide and varied associations in this remarkable community.
3. Third of what I love and also bet you love is the beauty - not of the lilies - but of this campus. That aesthetics matter gives me much joy. When all over this planet, people are cutting down trees to put up parking lots, trinity is focusing on the humongous oaks hauled in on Gretchen Northup’s flat bed trucks years ago from the hill country - on flowing waterfalls and fountains - colorful wildflowers, audacious, albeit cute squirrels, green, well manicured lawns.
O.K. We did get carried away once with this beauty thing when someone cracked up, and, in advance of a trustee meeting, spray painted the grass green. Only one golf cart had to drive across the grass and then the sidewalk for the truth to be known, thanks to the tell-tale green tire treads. But trinity is beautiful. I love that.
Another thing I love and hope you love about this place, might benefit from this confession: I am an intellectual snob - my friends are bright, my colleagues are bright. I am bright. So when president Calgaard and the trustees announced in the 1980s that this institution would become selective in admissions and would devote significant resources to attract intelligent, gifted, serious young adults and intelligent, gifted, serious faculty worthy of teaching them, I was ecstatic, even though there was a lot of negative reaction from some faculty & many students.
Current students of the time feared that all the future students would be nerdy.
Some faculty of the time didn’t want the challenge of teaching smart students. What if some of them had a sense of self? Or, worse yet, assertive skills? What if they thought they had rights? What if they thought they should get their money’s worth? It was a scary time.
In spite of all the anxiety, this institution seems to be thriving - and, happily, not quite every student is a nerd. There may be a couple - there may even be one or two undisciplined, disruptive, lazy little weasels, but they seem to avoid me, and I, them, so I can honestly say: I love the people of trinity, and I trust you do as well since they are going to be your life long friends, even partners.
5. Finally of what I love about this place and hope you also value is the effort we’ve made to help you appreciate the importance of taking care of yourselves - your physical, psychological, and spiritual health I love that we’ve tried to impress upon you the importance of useful skills for this world: balanced perspective, perseverance, integrity, and, maybe most important of all, an appreciation of the absurd. (I know I’ve certainly done my part on that one.) Really excellent institutions, founded on Judeo-Christian values, can do this, and, I do believe, most of the time, this one does.
As we’ve all discovered, trinity is not perfect, but it’s very good. I sincerely hope your experiences here, like mine, have been far more positive than negative.
I also dare hope that you will, as I try to do, always support this place in thought, word, and deed throughout your life - and beyond. If you don’t understand that phrase, “and beyond,” just contact someone in the development office.
What toast dare I give members of the class of 2005 as you prepare to leave this quite wonderful place? As many of you know, I’m quite the nerdy little bookworm, so I happen to have applicable quotes for this occasion:
There’s Janis Joplin’s “Don’t compromise yourself. It’s all you’ve got.”
There’s Albert Schweitzer’s “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”
There’s the artist, Tinka Tarver’s “I am replacing the desire to be good with the desire for authenticity. I am replacing the desire for perfection with the desire for wholeness.”
There’s John Hoyt’s “Figure out what you care about and live a life that shows it.”
But, wait, I think I’ve got it: there’s the marvelous Kurt Vonnegut with this: “Hello babies. Welcome to earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies. God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
So, there you have it, and here it comes. Ladies and gentlemen of the Trinity University class of 2005, please raise your glass with its teensy dollop of lukewarm, cheap champagne:
Here’s to being authentic.
Here’s to being an example.
Here’s to living a life that shows what you care about.
Here’s to being kind.
Here’s to you.
Go with god.
Salud!
But, that can’t be right - I first came to work here 47 years ago in June, so, it seems unlikely that I am 38 years old. I’m not mathematically gifted, but I’m not stupid. I don’t think I could possibly be only 38.
But, I have stayed here these many decades because I have loved much about Trinity University.
Here’s some of what has caused me to devote my life to this place and some of what I think makes it hard for you to leave:
I have loved and do love the commitment to a liberal arts & sciences education because I sincerely believe that the truly educated, the truly liberated, person is one who has had that focus.
I have loved and do love that by mandate of several generations of trustees, trinity’s enrollment is limited.
There are too many of us for any body to know everybody, but classes are small, people - even the powers that be - are accessible, and, if you try, you can know many bright, interesting people of various backgrounds, interests, and even ages. And, if you work at it, not always but occasionally, you can see in this place, a sense of community. A pretty gossipy community, but a community. I sincerely hope you’ve gotten to know many people here, and I can only pray that they weren’t all white classmates from Houston.
I hope you’ve gotten to know some members of the faculty, but, also, some of the men who care for these beautiful grounds and those who keep the facilities functioning and repaired. I hope you’ve gotten to know and to value some of the men and women who run the offices through their roles as secretaries and administrative assistants - the residential and student activities staffs - some of the folks in food service, the mail room, the bookstore, and campus safety. I even hope you’ve gotten to know - in positive ways - some of the senior administration. I hope you’ve expanded your horizons by wide and varied associations in this remarkable community.
3. Third of what I love and also bet you love is the beauty - not of the lilies - but of this campus. That aesthetics matter gives me much joy. When all over this planet, people are cutting down trees to put up parking lots, trinity is focusing on the humongous oaks hauled in on Gretchen Northup’s flat bed trucks years ago from the hill country - on flowing waterfalls and fountains - colorful wildflowers, audacious, albeit cute squirrels, green, well manicured lawns.
O.K. We did get carried away once with this beauty thing when someone cracked up, and, in advance of a trustee meeting, spray painted the grass green. Only one golf cart had to drive across the grass and then the sidewalk for the truth to be known, thanks to the tell-tale green tire treads. But trinity is beautiful. I love that.
Another thing I love and hope you love about this place, might benefit from this confession: I am an intellectual snob - my friends are bright, my colleagues are bright. I am bright. So when president Calgaard and the trustees announced in the 1980s that this institution would become selective in admissions and would devote significant resources to attract intelligent, gifted, serious young adults and intelligent, gifted, serious faculty worthy of teaching them, I was ecstatic, even though there was a lot of negative reaction from some faculty & many students.
Current students of the time feared that all the future students would be nerdy.
Some faculty of the time didn’t want the challenge of teaching smart students. What if some of them had a sense of self? Or, worse yet, assertive skills? What if they thought they had rights? What if they thought they should get their money’s worth? It was a scary time.
In spite of all the anxiety, this institution seems to be thriving - and, happily, not quite every student is a nerd. There may be a couple - there may even be one or two undisciplined, disruptive, lazy little weasels, but they seem to avoid me, and I, them, so I can honestly say: I love the people of trinity, and I trust you do as well since they are going to be your life long friends, even partners.
5. Finally of what I love about this place and hope you also value is the effort we’ve made to help you appreciate the importance of taking care of yourselves - your physical, psychological, and spiritual health I love that we’ve tried to impress upon you the importance of useful skills for this world: balanced perspective, perseverance, integrity, and, maybe most important of all, an appreciation of the absurd. (I know I’ve certainly done my part on that one.) Really excellent institutions, founded on Judeo-Christian values, can do this, and, I do believe, most of the time, this one does.
As we’ve all discovered, trinity is not perfect, but it’s very good. I sincerely hope your experiences here, like mine, have been far more positive than negative.
I also dare hope that you will, as I try to do, always support this place in thought, word, and deed throughout your life - and beyond. If you don’t understand that phrase, “and beyond,” just contact someone in the development office.
What toast dare I give members of the class of 2005 as you prepare to leave this quite wonderful place? As many of you know, I’m quite the nerdy little bookworm, so I happen to have applicable quotes for this occasion:
There’s Janis Joplin’s “Don’t compromise yourself. It’s all you’ve got.”
There’s Albert Schweitzer’s “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”
There’s the artist, Tinka Tarver’s “I am replacing the desire to be good with the desire for authenticity. I am replacing the desire for perfection with the desire for wholeness.”
There’s John Hoyt’s “Figure out what you care about and live a life that shows it.”
But, wait, I think I’ve got it: there’s the marvelous Kurt Vonnegut with this: “Hello babies. Welcome to earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies. God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
So, there you have it, and here it comes. Ladies and gentlemen of the Trinity University class of 2005, please raise your glass with its teensy dollop of lukewarm, cheap champagne:
Here’s to being authentic.
Here’s to being an example.
Here’s to living a life that shows what you care about.
Here’s to being kind.
Here’s to you.
Go with god.
Salud!