By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Education is about persevering and overcoming obstacles, said Bruce Johnson, president and CEO of the Inter-University Council of Ohio and former lieutenant governor. The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented obstacles.
“This class, more than any in 100 years, has overcome incredible obstacles, and you should be very, very proud. It was no joke,” he told those gathered Saturday morning in the Stroh Center at BGSU for winter commencement ceremonies.
They got through nasal swabs and vaccines. They had to study remotely.
He briefly reflected on his own time at BGSU where he met his wife, Kelly. They graduated 40 years ago and were married two years after that. He went on to law school, and then into politics as a prosecutor, state senator, state director of development, and lieutenant governor.
Johnson urged the students “to live life with an attitude gratitude.”
He gives thanks daily for “my country, my community, my university, my family, and my wife.”
But Johnson also offered “a dose of reality.”
His career has taken him to the halls of Congress and the White House. He’s met with leaders in Palestine and Israel, in China and Taiwan, in Europe and Africa.
“Let me tell you,” he said, “this the world is kind of a mess The real world is broken. Our economy is unbalanced. Crime is rising. Democracy is under attack across the world. Rogue states like Russia impose their will on weaker states while international institutions are powerless to impose international law.”
These international challenges no longer bring Americans together they once did, he said.
The nation is deeply divided. “Truth is under attack. Conspiracies theories thrive. Civil discourse is seemingly impossible. In fact, it’s disrespected,” he said. “You’ve inherited a mess.” Earlier in his talk he wondered “why somebody from my generation has any right to give any pointers at all.”
Yet, Johnson said: “I have hope because of you, because of the young people in Ohio and young people across America.”
They have the power to change the world. “You will defend freedom because you got a degree from Bowling Green State University, and more importantly because of the strong family influence. You’ll engage in civil and respectful discourse with those with whom you disagree. You’ll exercise your right to vote and then respect the results.”
These graduates should expect those they elect to work together and hold them accountable if refuse to, he said.
“You’ll expect leaders to not only identify the problems but to devise solutions for them and to walk across the aisle in Washington and engage in bipartisan dialogue and respectful deliberation for the good of the country.”
As graduates from “a public university for the public good,” they will address “head on” the challenges of the environment, crime, immigration, and the economy.
“So, we look forward to the leadership of a new generation,” Johnson said. First, by electing leaders and then becoming those leaders themselves. “The challenges are great, but the opportunities are great as well.”
He was confident that those graduates before him “will make the necessary sacrifices and the necessary compromises to address those challenges.”
If they do, Ohio and the country will be stronger and “the world will respect us again.”
If they can fix the messes left by previous generations, Johnson said. “You will become another greatest generation.”
He continued: “We’re counting on you. I have great hope because you have been trained by this great university to be part of the solution, to seek out worthy projects. … Some of those projects will be small. Some will change the world. All of them will matter.”
He concluded by recalling another time when the country faced a crisis.
At the height of the Cold War, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviets were the first to launch a satellite, and then to put a man in space. President John F. Kennedy promised the country would land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
Ohioans played central roles in achieving that goal. John Glenn was the first human to orbit the earth. Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the moon.
Americans, “and especially Ohioans,” commit themselves to challenging endeavors. Not everything goes as planned, changes must be made. “But, by God, they get it done,” Johnson said.
“We don’t take on the task that’s easy or only choose the path of least resistance,” he said. “We take on the road less traveled and accomplish tasks worth taking on with perseverance and determination.”
As far as these graduates go, he said, they should always stay connected to their roots. “BGSU and Ohio will still be home. You will always be welcomed.”
