Binghamton University Commencement Address
My remarks to the College of Community and Public Affairs Class of 2024
Last Friday I had the honor of giving the commencement address to the College of Community and Public Affairs at my alma mater Binghamton University. It was inspiring to see so many young people deciding to enter public service, with the dream of bettering their communities. I hope I was able to impart some unique insight into the challenges they might face and how to overcome them. Beneath my remarks, I have included links to stories covering the ceremony.
“Good afternoon, Class of 2024. Congratulations on this terrific achievement. As you sit here today reflecting on all the hard work it took to get to this point, I ask that you also take a moment to consider how you will deploy your hard-earned skills for the common good going forward.
Each of you chose to enroll at Binghamton’s College of Community and Public Affairs, so clearly the importance of working together to solve the major issues of our time is not lost on you. I thank you all for deciding to use your talents for our collective benefit. My experience in the ROTC program when I was a student at Binghamton helped instill those same values in me.
When I was preparing to set out on my career journey, I had big hopes about serving the nation that gave me and my family so much when we arrived here as refugees. Thankfully, I was able to do so in the U.S. Army, in American embassies abroad, in the White House, and now as an academic and activist.
While not all of you will follow my path into the military, the importance of moral courage rings true across all spheres of public leadership. That is why today, I wish to speak about values, and how to use them to navigate the treacherous situations you will inevitably face as you seek to improve your communities.
During my youth and as a young professional, there were instances when I regretted missing an opportunity to do the right thing. I turned away when I saw something wrong. I am sure everyone here can relate to that feeling.
Perhaps you saw someone being bullied but looked the other way. Or maybe you heard someone disparage a friend and remained silent, later wishing you had defended them. Whatever the context, you witnessed injustice within your community and did nothing.
When placed in a difficult environment, it’s easy to rationalize inaction. You may tell yourself “It’s someone else's responsibility” or “I wouldn’t make a difference even if I tried.” It’s far more difficult to stand by your principles and convictions without hesitation.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it beautifully: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
Accepting personal responsibility to do the right thing is rarely easy. But as people who have decided to take up the mantle of public leadership, this is what you will be called to do. Morally courageous individuals recognize that if they want things to change, then they must be willing to speak up and be a catalyst for that change.
I used to think courage was a physical feat. In the military and society, it is often physical courage that receives honors. Throughout my two decades in the Army, I learned that this was wrong. I discovered that physical courage is hard but still easier than moral courage. Physical courage occurs in a moment of crisis with little time to reflect on consequences. Moral courage is harder because it requires forethought and a clear understanding of personal consequences. I also learned that the fortitude required to do the right thing is something that you can train yourself to practice so that you will pass the test when truly challenged. Having moral courage will allow you to not lose yourself in the middle of difficult situations and to be at peace with your actions and their consequences.
Anyone, including you, can train themselves to do the right thing. Anyone can strengthen their moral courage, as you would a muscle. And if you work at it, then when it comes time to defend your values and choose the difficult right over the easy wrong, I guarantee you that those muscles will be strong.
Small habits, practiced often, can change your life and prepare you for its hardest parts. The idea is to reach a place where you are trained to do the right thing as a matter of reflex. Moral courage should become second nature. Others will not hesitate to assault, undermine, and desecrate your values. So, you should not hesitate to defend them.
As some of you may already know, several years ago, I was called upon to defend my values and flex my moral courage muscle in front of millions of people. I’m glad I was ready.
I was not born ready, with some innate moral compass. No one has that. Instead, like so many others, a combination of life lessons and training allowed me to learn, over time, how to do the right thing, even in unpredictable situations.
My decision to report Presidential corruption was simply keeping faith with my oath as an officer. I made a binary decision between right and wrong regardless of personal risk.
Values are a compass to living a life without regrets. In my testimony during the impeachment trial, I stated my view about America – that “here, right matters.” Upon reflecting on that impromptu comment, I realized that “Right Matters” is a layered notion that represents a host of beliefs. Right mattered in the context of the impeachment investigation. Right mattered for the integrity of our country. And right mattered – and still matters to me, personally – when my values are being challenged.
The Army has a useful values paradigm. There is an acronym, of course – because it is the military.
That acronym is LDRSHIP: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.
As a young officer, I observed others go through the same evolution that I did. It is a testament to the Army’s values that people from diverse racial, political, economic, and religious backgrounds can live according to a common set of rules. We rally around them and use them to form a cohesive unit that endures even through the test of combat.
The Army trained me like all of its leaders. We do not ignore wrongdoing. We do not stand idly by when someone challenges our values. We make corrections on the spot. As part of my command philosophy, I said, if your correction is justified, and it's delivered with respect, you can correct anyone. If there is a wrong, you have a responsibility to make it right.
Through repetition and training your values muscles, you develop the ability to stick with your convictions, regardless of the circumstances.
The acronym that I mentioned earlier – LDRSHIP – can be used by anyone in their personal and professional lives. In any situation, you can run your actions or behavior against this test: Am I displaying leadership? Am I fulfilling my duties and responsibilities to my institution and myself? Am I being respectful? Is this an act in the service of the public interest? Am I behaving in an honorable way? Am I conducting myself with integrity? Am I exercising personal courage? Each one of these values is important on its own merit, but when you combine them, you have what I refer to as ‘Doing the right thing in the right way.’
Public service has been my way of exercising these values. For me, this was a decades-long commitment to our armed forces.
You all will engage in public service in diverse ways. Public service means focusing not only on what is best for you but also on what is best for your community and society. Therefore, you will have plenty of opportunities to develop your values muscles.
As a military guy and a history buff, I’ve often thought of the way that Joseph Welch stood up to Senator Joseph McCarthy. For years, McCarthy attacked the character and patriotism of everyone around him, making a mockery of the truth and due process. Joseph Welch, then the Chief Counsel for the Army, was in a hearing in front of McCarthy in 1954 when he could not hold back anymore, asking the senator “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” The demand for accountability at that moment turned back the rising tide of McCarthyism.
A single act of moral courage can have the power to change the course of history. So long as you speak out, you cannot fail.
So, if you want leaders of integrity and conscience, demand it. If you want to hold your officials accountable, demand it. And if you want better for your community, don’t just demand it. Engage with your community and be the leaders that you wish to see. Because this is America and “Here, Right Matters.”
As a former Army officer myself, I am so glad you focused on moral courage as it seems to be lacking so much. Also taking responsibility for what your people do and fail to do. Most of my civilian coworkers don’t understand why I would take responsibility for someone that I am managing.
Excellent speech, sir. I wonder, do college kids these days even know who Joe McCarthy was? One would hope so.