Kenneth R. Feinberg, ’67, Commencement Speaker

Thank you President Bulger, Chancellor Williams, distinguished Members of the Massachusetts General Court and Board of Trustees.

Distinguished guests, faculty, parents and graduates of the University of Massachusetts:

Some 35 years ago, I actually made it to this podium on my own, joining President Lederle and Governor Volpe, as a graduate of the class of 1967. You see, I was the first student commencement speaker. Now, only 35 years later, I am invited to return! I cannot begin to tell you how encouraging it is for my future career to know that my words of wisdom 35 years ago resonated so well that I have been invited to return so quickly. What a self-confidence builder!

When I received my invitation, I asked President Bulger what I should say. He suggested that I summarize my life over the past 35 years. I asked him how I could undertake such a task in just a few minutes and he advised, "Speak slowly!" Again, a true confidence builder. The President has not lost his touch.

I will obey the first principle of an effective commencement address - be brief! Since you are so close to liberty and freedom you should not be unduly delayed by homilies about life, responsibility and obligation. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to confront all three after today's celebration.

I wish to highlight just two basic points.

First, this wonderful school is a very different university than it was 35 years ago when my sister, brother and I left Brockton to attend UMass. Not only was there no Dr. J., no Marcus Camby, no national football champion, there was also no Mullins Center, no library tower, no art center or Whitmore building. The Southwest Dorms were a national experiment in university housing.

But the spirit of this great university was the same as it is today - a special place to learn, to grow, to cultivate new ideas and opportunities. I do believe there is a unique UMass spirit that is both pervasive and lasting. The physical environment may change; but the identity and vision of the University of Massachusetts - education, growth, and opportunity - remain. This determination to maintain this University as a "special place,'' decade after decade, is very important and helps define and identify why this school occupies a unique role in the
Commonwealth and our Nation.

Second, our country is, of course, different than it was in 1967. But, perhaps, not quite as different as might first appear. In 1967, the war in Vietnam and racial intolerance cast dark shadows over our Nation. Today, Vietnam is a memory, but international terrorism and the horror of September 11 are very real. As for racial injustice, our Nation has made great strides; but we still have a long way to go. Fundamental social change does not occur by magic. It requires both a collective and individual effort.

And this is where you, the distinguished class of 2002, enter the picture, confronting your own individual challenges while making a small but vital contribution to this collective effort. One looks back over the past 35 years and sees challenges different in degree but not in kind. September 11 is but the latest example. The September 11 Fund is a determined response by the American people to an immediate, tragic event. The American Civil War, Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the events of September 11 - four bedrock events in our history that required an unprecedented collective response. The September 11 Fund to assist the victims is a response by our Nation exhibiting two of its fundamental characteristics: generosity and compassion. But the idea of a compensation fund did not miraculously appear. It was carefully crafted by individuals like each of you, exhibiting a healthy dose of creativity, vision, practicality and understanding. Individual Americans acted as fiduciaries for the rest of us, responding "in trust," in a manner that reaffirmed the best of our heritage.

When the Attorney General asked me to administer the September 11 Compensation Fund, I assumed my own unique challenge, and made my own personal contribution. In administering this Fund, I must, in a sense, act like Solomon and value a fife. But, how can one possibly place a dollar value on the lost life of a loved one - In performing this task, I must combine different personal skills - 10 percent lawyer, 40 percent rabbi, 50 percent shrink!

You will now go forward and meet your own individual challenges using your own personal skills. For most of you, your daily efforts to make a life will probably not be as visible as a September 11 Fund. But you will make your own life's dream. It can be the challenge of public service; we certainly need the talents of graduates like you engaged in the public arena. But public service is only one chosen profession. Many of you will confront and conquer other challenges in business, education, the professions, the arts and sciences. You will reach your own spiritual and practical fulfillment in countless individual ways.

Indeed, some of you may graduate today and immediately enter family businesses, working in the community along side family and relatives. This can be a very rewarding but dangerous occupation, working for, and with, relatives. One example will demonstrate what I mean. During the 1930's, Jack Warner was President of Warner Brothers Pictures, making movies in Hollywood. He worked along side his brothers, and sibling tension was always high. One day he was visited by Albert Einstein, who was introduced to Jack Warner as "the man who discovered the theory of relativity." Warner responded, "I know all about the theory of relativity. Never hire a relative!"

The spirit of America - its diversity, its generosity, its commitment to personal freedom and choice - resides in each of you. Every person's life is a story, with its highs and lows, its successes and failures. Personal choice - the road taken or not - make out a life and help define the character of our Nation. No flag, no Constitution, can act as a substitute for the commitment and determination of each of you to make a life, and in so doing, determine our Nation's course. It is imperative that, whatever your personal choices, you make our Nation better in some small way. Individual successes, when combined, determine the health and vision of our community.

I hope you will go out today and fulfill your own individual dream, whatever it might be. Remember the important message of that great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!" Do not be defeated, do not shirk from seeking your life's goal, and do not lose heart. You are our future - and the future is now! Enjoy today's celebration and prepare to live life to the fullest

And let me assure you, that I will return in 35 years for the third time, to address the class of 2037 knowing that my pearls of wisdom today will again demand an immediate return engagement.

Congratulations.