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This year’s Finals Weekend wasn’t lacking star power, with U.Va. alumnus and Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley delivering the valedictory address on Saturday, May 19. The next day, bestselling author John Grisham addressed the Class of 2007 during Final Exercises.

ABRIDGED VERSION OF JOHN GRISHAM'S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

What I’m going to do is pass along three lessons I have learned in the past 30 years. I hope I’ve learned more than three things, but I’m just going to share three with you. These are not connected. They are totally random. But sadly, that’s the way I think.

I do remember sitting through my commencement being pretty smug: I was graduating from college; I had been accepted to law school; and I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to study tax law. I wanted to be a tax lawyer because I was convinced I could make a lot of money representing wealthy people who did not want to pay all their taxes. That was my dream, and I had it all planned.

I don’t know where this idea came from. I did not like tax law. I sure didn’t know any wealthy people. Looking back, I cannot begin to remember where this idea was planted, but that was my dream.

The idea of writing a book had never crossed my mind. I had never written anything that had not been required by school. I had never dreamed of it.

Lesson No. 1: You cannot plan the rest of your life.

We love to plan things. In our culture, it’s all plans. It’s all written down—our daily calendars, our monthly planners.

We waste so much time making plans, and the plans don’t work because life has other plans.

John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re making all of those plans.” Think about today and tomorrow and next week, maybe. Have a goal. Don’t confuse planning with dreaming. Dreaming is a worthy pastime. Planning is a waste.

The Class of 1977 … grew up with Vietnam. At first we were good patriots, and we were told it was a just war and we believed that. As we grew older, we grew to fear it. As we got closer to the draft age, we really began to fear this war. And then we grew to hate it as it dragged on for 10 years and tore our country apart. We all knew someone who went to Vietnam and came home in a box, 58,000 boxes. We were told it was necessary to protect our interests. We were told that we had to attack communism before it found us. We were told we were winning and winning and winning and more troops were needed. As the war dragged on and grew worse, so did the lying.

Lesson No. 2: When politicians get the itch to go to war, don’t believe much of what they say.

During our freshman year in college, a truly unique and traumatic and frightening event happened in our country—oil was embargoed for the first time. For a nation addicted to cheap gasoline, we couldn’t get it.

For the next three years in college we listened to these fierce debates about cutting off our dependence on foreign oil, creating a sensible energy policy, developing alternative fuels, conservation, conservation. The same rhetoric that we hear today, except this was long before we ever heard the term “global warming.”

Lesson No. 3: Your generation must have the courage to save the environment because prior generations did not.

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ABRIDGED VERSION OF BOYD TINSLEY'S VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

Somewhat over 20 years ago, I studied American history here. Just looking around at some of the buildings brings back memories.

It’s hard not to take an interest in history living in Charlottesville and Central Virginia—the home of three of our founding fathers: Madison, Monroe and, of course, Thomas Jefferson, who, I realized over the years, I share a few things in common with. One, we’re both from Charlottesville. Two, we’re both violin players. We both had hair that stood out in a crowd. Mr. Jefferson experimented with hemp, and so did I.

But most important, we’re both dreamers.

He dreamt that 13 colonies could rise up against the British empire and create a nation governed by the consent of the governed.

I dreamt that a poor kid from Charlottesville could one day grow up to play violin in a rock and roll band.

Against conventional wisdom, both our dreams came true.

But frankly, I don’t believe in conventional wisdom. And I don’t think Mr. Jefferson did either. Who would have thought in 1776 that America would be a free nation and I would be up here talking to you today?

Dreams are a powerful force. They have brought down empires; they have righted injustices.

Every invention has started with a dream: the light bulb, automobiles, planes and computers. Dreams put a man on the moon.

All of these accomplishments started from a thought to an idea and on to a dream. When we dream and believe and persevere and use every bit of our hearts, our minds, our blood, sweat and tears, we can accomplish anything.
Men and women throughout history, by their actions and their faith, have changed the world.

Now that legacy has been passed on to you.

I’ve met a lot of you, and your generation gives me a lot of hope for the future.

In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he refers to the generation of his grandchildren living in a country where people would be judged by who they were on the inside and not what they looked like on the outside. You are that generation. And from what I see, I think you are living up to that dream.

Even though we have come a long way, there is so much left to do.

I believe that you can end poverty in America and greatly reduce it around the world.

I believe that you will find a cure for diseases like AIDS and cancer that kill thousands every day.

I believe that you will find a way to reverse global warming.

I believe that you can create a more peaceful world—a world where peace is the rule and war is the exception.

And I hope that you will once again bring us back to a time when a person’s patriotism was judged by how much they loved their country, and not by how much they loved war.

And I ask of you to bring us closer to the dream of another prophet who said, “One love, one heart.”

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© 2007 by the U.Va. Alumni Association