Most Northwestern students I know in the Class of 2006 were pleasantly surprised to learn that U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., will be our commencement speaker. Furthermore, a few 2005 graduates I spoke with were slightly jealous of our good luck. They thought John McCain, last year's commencement speaker, was disappointing because his foreign-policy focused address was "too political." Most students believed Obama would do better.
"I hope he'll say something inspirational," was one sentiment that caused me to cringe. When I hear the word "inspirational," I think "contrived, maudlin and just plain cheesey." I hope that students from a university as good as NU want more than just cheap inspiration and a pat on the back, more than a verbal rendition of those trite posters with captions that say "Teamwork" or "Succeed." If that's all we can stomach, maybe Obama isn't our guy.
After all, in his address to the class of 2005 at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., he brought up some harsh realities which some students might call "too political."
"Like so much of the American story," Obama said, "once again, we face a choice. Once again, there are those who believe that there isn't much we can do about this as a nation. That the best idea is to give everyone one big refund on their government - divvy it up by individual portions, in the form of tax breaks, hand it out and encourage everyone to use their share."
When people say they don't want to hear about politics in a commencement address, they are in part speaking of not wanting to hear about the outside world and its problems. We students have been insulated enough for the past four years that it shouldn't hurt us to be challenged for 30 minutes, especially on a day that marks our commencement into the "real" world.
The problem with McCain's address was not so much that it was "too political," but that it did not entrust in new graduates the ability to become informed and active. Yes, McCain did tell students that "the world is about to become your responsibility," and he spoke of the immorality of genocide, but who disagrees with that?
McCain went on to say that it was students' place to "support action" in the case of our government's response to such oppression, but because his address seemed to lump all military action together under relieving oppression, it came off as "don't question your government."
Obama, on the other hand, put a real challenge to the Knox students, asking them to question the direction of their life, and to contribute to the common good.
"If you want, it will be pretty easy for you to leave here today," he said. "There is no community service requirement in the real world; no one is forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and go chasing after the big house, and the nice suits, and all the other things that our money culture says that you should want, that you should aspire to, that you can buy. But I hope you don't walk away from the challenge."
On graduation day, I neither want to hear a McCain-style foreign policy explication, nor do I want to hear a cliched address.
I want to hear Obama.
Elaine Meyer is a Weinberg senior. She can be reached at e-meyer2@northwestern.edu.
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