Two years ago my sisters and I buried our 94 year-old Aunt Sallie.  We were her only children, and we cared for her as if she were our mother.    She was living in a very elegant life-care retirement community in Raleigh, N.C.  With her boundless good humor ever present, she described that beautiful retirement community as her “finishing school.”  Indeed it was.  She finished her life on that campus May 18, 2001.

Many of you will make Greensboro College your “finishing school.”  Approximately 35 percent of you will continue your formal education somewhere.  For the rest of you, Greensboro College will be the last step in your formal training.  This is your “finishing school.”  

Today, as the faculty and I look at you from our perch on this platform, I want to tell you how you look to us.  I will make a suggestion as to how you should look at Greensboro College.  And then I will strike up a little conversation I want you to have with yourself.

The theme for this Convocation was first suggested by Dr. Dick Merriman, the President of Southwestern College.  He reminds us that we tend to look at everything in our society from the perspective of the consumer.  We want to be smart shoppers, make smart buys…no one wants a bad deal!  If you use that “consumer” perspective you might think you are now a customer of Greensboro College.  You have come here to purchase your college education.  Last year as you visited different institutions, you may have told your friends you were “shopping for a college.”  

Let’s get one thing straight, you are not a customer here.  You are far more than that.  Greensboro College is not merely a business.  A college is a philanthropy.  The word, philanthropy, has two parts -  “phil” and “anthropy.”  It means “for the love of humanity.”  This college exists because thousands of people, most of whom you and I will never know, have built this college over the last 165 years.  They built it for your benefit.  The buildings, the curriculum, the mission as a college of the church, were all built for you.  

This faculty has degrees from 104 different institutions around the world, and they are all here to bring the classical and practical wisdom of the world to you.  Would you like for me to read the list of 104 colleges and universities where they have studied?  Probably not.  Believe me, you would be impressed, as I am.  As the year goes along, you will be impressed by more than their formal academic credentials.  You will be impressed by how effective they will be in guiding your learning experiences.  

Not one of you, not even the rare one among you who receives no financial aid, is paying the full bill for tuition, room and board.  Not one of you will come close to paying Greensboro College what it is going to cost us for your education.  That’s not a problem.  That’s okay! In fact, that’s the whole idea, because you are not a customer, and the college is not merely a business.  Remember, we are a “phil” – “anthropy.”  For the love of humanity, we have a wonderful gift to give you – a better education than you can afford – and we are able to give it to you because of the financial support of thousands of alumni and friends.

What I am trying to say is that you may believe you are here because you chose Greensboro College.  Oh sure, you had some say about it.  But it would be truer to say that you are here because Greensboro College chose you.  This isn’t a public university that has to educate all comers. We get to pick and choose.  We chose you!  We had over 1,000 applications.  We denied admission to many.  But we chose you!

“So what?” you ask.  What does it mean to be chosen this way?  “Big deal,” you say, “so you are a phil-an-thro-py. So what?” Here’s so what. It means we expect something special from you.   We expect you to have this conversation with yourself from time to time: “Self, there is something I am supposed to be.”  And then you will answer yourself, “What is it you are supposed to be?”  “Self, there is something worthwhile I can do with my life, something that will be of benefit to my family and the world.” And self will respond, “Oh, what is it?”  

That is the conversation Lance Armstrong, winner of five consecutive Tour de France, 23-day bicycle marathons, had with himself in 1996.  The previous year he had nearly died of lung, brain and testicular cancer.  He says in his book Every Second Counts: “Once you figure out you’re going to live, you have to decide how to live. …You ask yourself, now that I know I’m not going to die, what will I do? What is the highest and best use of my life?”

Lance Armstrong concluded that the best use of his time was to race the Tour de France, clearly the most grueling sporting event in the world.  For you, the answer may be less grueling but more important than riding a bicycle over the Alps and Pyrennes for 2000 miles.  You may find yourself thinking, “Self, I think I‘ll get out of bed and make it to class on time.  Self, I think I’ll take it easy on the party tonight so I can focus a bit more on my class work tomorrow.  Self, I’m going to plan my days better to be sure my work is done before my play begins.  Self, I am going to sit down with my faculty advisor and talk about, ‘how I’m doing?’  I am going to ask my advisor, ‘What are my career options?  Should I begin thinking about graduate school or is this really my finishing school?’”

It’s pretty nice to be independent and to be able to choose the things you want to do.  As you make those choices remember this: we have a marvelous gift to give you; you are fortunate to have these opportunities; and we very much want you to make the most of your time at Greensboro College.  

Say farewell to your parents or whoever brought you here, and thank them again for making it possible.  Then believe me when I say, we are glad you are here.  Of all the students we could have had, you are the one we wanted.  We chose you.  Let’s get started!