“Your blueprint for the future also includes an ability to interact with the world around you. Inside and outside the classroom you have been asked to engage with people from all over the state, country and world and I hope that you have learned that engagement like that makes the world stronger and enriches our lives.
We live in a world where you are pushed to define yourselves by the differences between us, but instead you came to Fairmont State and you found ways to live, learn and grow together. You discovered that instead of tearing us apart our differences have the ability to make us stronger and that in embracing those who see the world differently we find better solutions to those problems in front of us.
That blueprint for your future also includes a strength that is earned from being challenged. A big part of the reason I love being president of Fairmont State University is that I get to see all of you thrive. You have likely heard me say before that college students get a bad rap. There are naysayers who do not believe you are up to the challenge because you don’t want to be engaged and or work hard.
As someone who has stood alongside you for the past year and half, I can say without hesitation that your doubters are WRONG.
I have watched you rise to challenge after challenge every single day. Including many that no other generation of college students were asked to tackle. And you have done it with poise and toughness that will serve you well for the rest of your lives. Do not ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do it or that you are not worthy of greatness, because I have seen you thrive, and I know you will do great things!
The final part of that blueprint you created is actually not for you. You may not know this now, but you helped build a better, stronger Fairmont State while you were here. You started traditions that will live on for years; you achieved academic, athletic and artistic feats that set the standard for future generations of Falcons; you built community on and off campus that people will feel for years.
You have left a legacy here. As our alumni in the crowd can tell you this place will evolve after you leave. We will build new buildings, add new academic programs and innovate in ways none of us can begin to imagine.”
See more from the 2025 Fairmont State University Commencement.
Fairmont State University Commencement was one of seventy campuses participating in From Campus to Community a new national campaign to champion civil discourse and democratic engagement in this year’s commencement season. More from President Michael Davis.
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