Nobel laureate, author, human rights advocate, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a distinguished politician, addressed Michigan State University degree candidates at university commencement ceremonies in May.

Wiesel, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize and Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, gave the keynote address to undergraduate degree candidates and was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Chrétien addressed advanced degree candidates and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws, the first honorary degree he has received from a U.S. university.

Wiesel Urges Passion, Compassion, Respect, and Celebration

Introducing Wiesel, MSU President Peter McPherson reminded the audience of Wiesel's teenage experiences in Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, where most of his family perished. Wiesel's accomplishments since then involve humanitarian efforts on behalf of oppressed people the world over, including Soviet Jews, Miskito Indians of Nicaragua, apartheid victims in South Africa, and prisoners and victims in the former Yugoslavia. He has written more than 40 books on Judaism and human rights issues, the first of which, Night, was published in 1958.

Wiesel addressed the hushed and respectful crowd of undergraduates with an easy, reassuring tone that belied the grief and terror of his Holocaust experiences. He told how impressed he had been, upon arriving on the campus, to see the attachment MSU students seem to have for their school. "I have rarely been at a place where men and women speak about their alma mater with such glory, fervor, such pride," he said.

What could a person of his age tell the class of 1999, he wondered. "Don't abandon your passion for knowledge, don't abandon your passion for learning," he suggested.

In looking back over the century and its tragedies, Wiesel asked the audience to think about what was missing. As he was growing up, he said, it was easy to think that education would function as a shield to prevent those who possessed it "from crossing certain thresholds" of behavior. Then he found that many of the people who operated the concentration camps were highly educated individuals. He termed what was missing in them "ethos"—the quality of being attentive to "the other." To rid ourselves of the cancer of hatred, he told the audience that we must all respect one another and not feel that certain religions, races, or heritages are better or worse than others.

Wiesel argued that, when we are faced with tragic world situations that we seem unable to control, such as the current crisis in Kosovo, it is important to support the victims of oppression in any way we can. At minimum, he said, "we can tell the victims they are not forgotten." We can be compassionate.

At the end of the century, Wiesel admitted, we have not managed to achieve a just world in which we live in peace and atrocities no longer happen. He expressed the feelings of shame he felt upon arrival in this country, being a white person in a land where racial segregation was legal. Although racist attitudes persist, he pointed out that at least we have managed to change laws—a necessary first step.

Wiesel concluded his speech by saying, "Open your eyes and your hearts to those less fortunate than you, who need your help, your smile, your presence." And he expressed his agreement with Albert Camus, who had concluded that "ultimately, there is more in the human being to celebrate than to denigrate."

"Prove it!" he exhorted his audience, who stood and responded with long and resounding applause.

The MSU Alumni Association conferred fourteen Distinguished Alumni Awards for service to community, state, and country at the university's May 1999 commencement ceremonies. Four recipients came from outside the United States:

chosei kabira, who received his bachelor's degree in 1956 and a master's degree in communications in 1960, both from MSU, is professor and vice president of liberal arts and member of the Board of Trustees of Showa Women's University in Tokyo, Japan. He has held leadership positions with the Okinawa Public Broadcasting System, Inc. and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.

john c. kornblum, who received his bachelor of arts degree in history from MSU in 1964, is U.S. ambassador to Germany, a post he has held since 1997. Over the past three decades he has been the U.S. State Department's leading European specialist, having served in Hamburg and twice in Berlin, the second time as U.S. minister and deputy commandant in 1985. Both U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush have recognized Kornblum's skills as a negotiator and desire to promote peace.

richard michael leslie lord, who received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from MSU in 1953, is an engineer, administrator, and consultant specializing in immigration adjudication in Montréal, Québec. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. At one time he was president of Canafric Development Corporation Ltd., promoting Canadian engineering in Africa.

surat silpa-anan, who received his Ph.D. in education from MSU in 1972, has served Thailand as a senator in the National Parliament's House of Senate since 1997 and is currently chair of the Thailand Education Reform Committee. Previously he was permanent secretary in Thailand's Ministry of Education.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (left) and his wife, Aline, stroll across the MSU campus with MSU President Peter McPherson.

Chrétien Promotes Rewards of Public Service

Prime Minister Chrétien challenged MSU advanced degree candidates to become involved in eliminating social injustice in the global community. "Some say we cannot afford to have a social safety net," he said. "The reality is that we cannot afford the costs of social exclusion and despair. An example of this is that it costs less to educate people than it does to incarcerate them. Give a person hope, a chance to contribute, and they likely will. And all of society will be stronger for it.

"What is true within our societies is also true in the global village," Chrétien claimed. "The growing gap between the rich societies in the world and the poor ones is not sustainable. It is bad for interna
tional stability. It is bad for the ecosystem we all share. And in this new millennium of globalism, it is morally unacceptable."

Chrétien urged graduates to enter public service. "I have been in Canadian public life for 36 years," he said, "and I tell you, from my heart, that my efforts have been rewarded in ways that far exceed any material gain I might have made in private life. I ask you to keep that in mind as you prepare to take on the world."

The Prime Minister's remarks struck a positive chord in the audience, especially when he spoke on issues of concern to Americans, including health care and gun control. "Under [our] Medicare, no Canadian can be denied coverage for essential health services, and no Canadian has to worry about medical bills, ever," he said.

Chrétien also claimed that Canada has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world. "And Canadians want to keep it that way. I may be a big supporter of free trade, but believe me, the National Rifle Association is one export Canadians will never buy."

—Jay Rodman and Bill Joyce