6:00 p.m., May 31, 2003--Nothing is more rewarding in life than service to others, former senator and international peacemaker George J. Mitchell told the more than 3,000 University of Delaware graduates during Commencement at Delaware Stadium Saturday, May 31.

“Our society is the most free, most open, most just society in all history,” Mitchell said. But, he said, with these benefits comes responsibility, and the University’s newest graduates will have an important role to play in preserving and improving the American way of life.

Reflecting on the first American graduation ceremony held in 1642 at Harvard, Mitchell said that nine graduates listened to three addresses—in Latin, Hebrew and Greek—and the event took all day. “I speak only English,” Mitchell said, as he promised “to stop speaking before you graduates stop listening.”

Mitchell listed three important challenges for the Class of 2003. If you believe, he said, that every American child is entitled to get a complete and full education, “you must oppose any actions denying it to them. If you believe we have an obligation to have clean air, pure water and unpoisoned land,” Mitchell continued, “you must demand that public policies are there to meet these obligations.” Thirdly, Mitchell said, “If you believe in equal opportunity and equal justice, you must stand up against all forms of injustice. In the presence of evil, silence makes you an accomplice.”

Mitchell told the graduates that life is a never-ending search for respect— first self-respect, followed by the respect of others.

Nothing, he said, is more rewarding than service to others.

“It is inevitable and appropriate to earn a large income and wealth necessary for you and your family,” Mitchell said, “and you will want status and wealth, but something is much more important.”

Fufillment will not come fron acquiring things, he concluded, but by pursuing worthwhile objectives that will help others. "Real fulfullment in your life will come from striving with all of your physical and spiritual might for a worthwhile objective that helps others and is larger than your self-interest," he said. "I hope that each of you is fortunate enough to find such an objective in your life."

Graduates, the family members and friends gave Mitchell a standing ovation.

Chairman of the UD Board of Trustees Howard E. Cosgrove (left), ’70 MBA, conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree upon Commencement speaker George J. Mitchell.

After Mitchell’s speech, Howard E. Cosgrove, BE ’70M, chairman of UD’s Board of Trustees, conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree upon the Commencement speaker.

Hailing Mitchell in his citation as a tireless public servant, champion of the human spirit, esteemed peacemaker, respected environmentalist and citizen of the world, Cosgrove concluded, “George Mitchell, you have served the nation and the world with an inspiring sense of duty and honor. You have upheld the public trust and advanced the common good of our global community—people both known and unknown to you—with a legacy of commitment and service. It has been said that there is a loftier ambition than to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and life humankind higher. This you have done, and for this, we salute you.” (For the complete citation, click here.)

Mitchell Scholar Matthew Huenerfauth and George Mitchell

Mitchell, who served as United States Senator from 1980 to 1995, also is known for brokering an international peace agreement in 1998 among the governments of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the political parties in Northern Ireland. That same year, the George J. Mitchell Scholarships were created by the United States-Ireland Alliance, enabling American citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 to study at universities in Ireland. In 2001, UD alumnus Matthew Huenerfauth, then a senior, received one of the prestigious scholarships for graduate study at the University College of Dublin in Ireland. Huenerfauth attended the May 31 ceremony as one of the alumni delegates.

More recently, he chaired a fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East. The committee’s recommendations, known as The Mitchell Report, were endorsed by the Bush administration, the European Union and many other governments.

Article by Cornelia Weil