{"id":3211,"date":"2016-06-18T14:38:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T18:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/news\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2016-06-18T14:56:29","modified_gmt":"2016-06-18T18:56:29","slug":"titans-for-the-21st-century-u-s-education-secretary-gives-commencement-speech-at-t-c-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/news\/?p=3211","title":{"rendered":"“Titans for the 21st Century” \u2014 U.S. Education Secretary Gives Commencement Speech at T.C. Graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The following is the address given at T.C. Williams High School Commencement by U.S. Education Secretary John B. King, Jr.
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Good morning, T.C. Williams graduates! You make us proud. You inspire us. You are the reason the outstanding educators here\u00a0\u2014 Superintendent Crawley, your school board members, Dr. Dingle and his exceptional team\u00a0\u2014 are working passionately to make T.C. a state-of-the art, high-performing high school, where all students succeed.<\/p>\n

Thanks, too, to all the family members and friends whose love and support helped you reach this day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Congratulations, Class of 2016. This is a huge milestone for each of you, and for your school. Together you\u2019re making history, and marking 50 years of T.C. graduates.<\/p>\n

This week, as I thought about speaking to you today, I couldn\u2019t help but also think about the nightmare of hateful violence that occurred just a week ago in Orlando. I ask that, even as you and your families celebrate today, please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers.<\/p>\n

I also reflected on the critical role of schools in knitting our diverse nation together, in strengthening our common commitment to tolerance and in honoring all the ways we are different even as we celebrate all that we have in common.<\/p>\n

That is what T.C. has done from the time it opened, with a mythical family of giants\u00a0\u2014 the Titans \u2014 as your mascot. You\u2019ve spent this anniversary year \u201cremembering the Titans\u201d: celebrating contributions by T.C. students and staff to your community, your state and the United States.<\/p>\n

Chief among those contributions is the fact that, through the years, T.C. has been a proving ground for civil rights. That was true in the 1960s and 70s, during those challenging first efforts to integrate the region\u2019s segregated schools. And it\u2019s true today, in ongoing efforts to ensure that every learner, from every background, graduates with the skills to reach their college, career and life goals.<\/p>\n

All of America\u2019s schools have a part to play in the nation\u2019s march toward full equality and social justice. And that is at the heart of what T.C. Williams is all about.<\/p>\n

You can take pride in your Titan heritage. After all, how many schools are immortalized on film? How many communities see their heroes portrayed on the big screen by Denzel Washington?<\/p>\n

All year, you\u2019ve paid tribute to the Titans of the 20th century. But now, it\u2019s time to ask: What does it mean to be a Titan, today, in the 21st century? What does greatness mean to you?<\/p>\n

You have many different talents, dreams and definitions of success. But all of you can have an impact far beyond yourselves.<\/p>\n

So today I ask you to work, not just to make your own lives better, but to uplift others\u00a0\u2014 not just to realize your dreams, but to help others achieve theirs. When you make this choice, you help to shape America and the world beyond our borders.<\/p>\n

You see, the work of building America is never done.<\/p>\n

Throughout our history, each new generation has helped to expand what it means to be an American, and to make opportunity more real and inclusive for everyone. Many T.C. alumni have risen to this challenge, helping to perfect America through their actions and moral leadership.<\/p>\n

Titans like Herman Boone, Bill Yoast, Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell did just that. Their teamwork\u00a0\u2014 and friendship\u00a0\u2014 narrowed the gap between the inequities of their time, and our nation\u2019s timeless ideals.<\/p>\n

When even one person makes that choice, it means progress for America. Let me tell you about someone I know who made that choice.<\/p>\n

My uncle, Haldane King, grew up in 1920s New York City\u00a0\u2014 a time when America was deeply segregated. Discrimination against people of color was a cruel and daily reality. Yet my uncle volunteered to fight in World War II, earning a place among the elite Tuskegee Airmen.<\/p>\n

Even as he served his country, my uncle often met hostility and bigotry. On most bases, he was barred from the officers\u2019 club. He took food with him on trips because he could never count on being allowed to get a meal.<\/p>\n

Yet every day, my uncle chose to reject resentment and frustration. He countered hatred with dignity, bravery and uncompromising excellence.<\/p>\n

Back home in New York after the war, he applied for accounting jobs. But, even a Black war hero wasn\u2019t welcome in the profession he\u2019d trained for. Once again, facing society\u2019s scorn<\/p>\n

despite his skills and sacrifices, my uncle chose to serve, first as a firefighter, and then by re-enlisting for the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, after working at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

When my uncle was born, many African Americans were denied even their legal right to vote. Yet he always believed that the wrongs he suffered would someday give way to the righteous American values he loved and fought for. And by the end of his 91 years, this nation had elected President Obama. The way my uncle lived his life, and the choices he made\u00a0\u2014 along with countless other men and women, from every race and background\u00a0\u2014 helped that profound change happen.<\/p>\n

My uncle also had a profound impact on my life when I was going through a difficult period in high school. My mother passed away when I was eight. I lived with my father who was very sick with undiagnosed Alzheimer\u2019s disease until he died when I was twelve. After that, I moved around between family members and schools. Throughout that period school sustained me\u00a0\u2014 it was the place where I felt engaged and nurtured. I had wonderful New York City public school teachers who believed in me and gave me hope. But by the time I was a teenager, anger and frustration often drove my actions. I got in trouble in high school and even got kicked out of high school. After that, I went to live with my Uncle Hal and my conversations with him changed the course of my life. He challenged me to take responsibility for myself. He made clear that neither he nor I could do anything about the things that happened to me earlier in my life\u00a0\u2014 losing my mom, struggling with the effects of my father\u2019s illness, feeling abandoned by adults. But now, he told me, I was a man, responsible for myself. He taught me that my future did not have to be defined by my past. That conversation and my uncle\u2019s example of perseverance shaped my path to Harvard, Columbia and Yale.<\/p>\n

T.C. graduates, wherever your plans take you next\u00a0\u2014 to college, the armed forces, or the workforce \u2013 you can show that same grace and greatness that defined my uncle\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

We stand on the shoulders of giants like my uncle and the Titans of decades past. Thanks to them, today\u2019s world offers you unprecedented opportunities and endless possibilities.<\/p>\n

Yet, the work isn\u2019t done. We need to keep building that \u201cmore perfect union,\u201d for ourselves and our neighbors. We need to heal the heartbreak in places like Ferguson, Baltimore, and Flint, and end the injustices that cause these tragedies. We need to fix our broken immigration system, and give DREAMers and their families paths to citizenship. We need to fight poverty and climate change. We need to build strong multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-lingual communities that celebrate diversity and collaborate to solve big challenges.<\/p>\n

As T.C. graduates, you are prepared to shape how we confront these issues.<\/p>\n

You also have experienced the great gift of being part of a school culture that meets the needs of an incredibly diverse community\u00a0\u2014 including speakers of over 25 languages from 44 different countries. You know what it means to experience racial, economic, and linguistic diversity. And you ALSO know the importance and value of unity, despite our differences.<\/p>\n

Wherever you live, work or travel, and whoever you meet, you\u2019ll feel at home\u00a0\u2014 because of the lessons of understanding and respect you learned at T.C. It will be people like you who will help our nation recover from traumatic events like those in Orlando.<\/p>\n

The T.C. story reflects the belief that every student deserves a great education, and that each of us is at our best when we help bring out the best in others. And graduates, by striving to be your best selves, and helping others to do the same, you can achieve greatness.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sustaining the commitment to equality, justice and freedom that defines our democracy and inspires the world.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s daring to dream big, like those of you who\u2019ll be the first in your families to get a college degree, and mentoring others so they, too, can realize their dreams.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s doing what it takes to shatter limitations, like the Class of 2016\u2019s pair of record-setting track and field star brothers<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 who may both represent the U.S. in the Rio Olympics.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It is recognizing that our destinies are intertwined. At T.C., you\u2019ve understood that you are part of the worldwide community\u00a0\u2014 like your fellow graduate, whose early years in Africa exposed her to inequities in health care on two continents and fueled her passion to treat patients in developing nations.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s being willing to find solutions to tough problems, like your fellow graduate who created an app to help people with disabilities communicate more easily.<\/p>\n

What is greatness?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s acting with compassion and generosity of spirit. At T.C., you\u2019ve volunteered to deliver meals, collected toys for kids in need, registered voters and supported local charities. Some of you will choose service as a career, like your classmate, bound for the military, who says he wants \u201cto be a better man and a better citizen for the community, and pave the way for my little brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Obama has observed that, through the years, America has made progress because \u201cwe seized the future and made it our own.\u201d And I agree with him that \u201cit\u2019s always been young people like you that have brought about big change.\u201d<\/p>\n

T.C. Class of 2016, you\u2019re ready to seize and shape the future. You\u2019re ready for greatness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Live lives that make a difference\u00a0\u2014 lives that make our country, and our world, better than ever before.<\/p>\n

Be bold. Be resilient. Be Titans for the 21st century.<\/p>\n

See video of the graduation ceremony, including Secretary King’s speech:
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