Actor, director, advocate and commencement speaker Christopher Reeve was welcomed by a standing ovation from the entire stadium.
“You should know, that I have enjoyed watching Ohio State football on television for many years,” he said.
However, there was a more serious note to Reeve’s agreement to speak at graduation.
“I wanted to be here today to pay tribute to the longstanding ideals of this university – Compassion for our fellow human beings, the aspiration and the desire to make a difference,” Reeve said.
Reeve offered words of encouragement as well as advice for the new graduates. He told graduates to take caution as they enter the real world.
“You’ve been taught to work hard, not to cheat,” he said.
He reminded the graduates of recent exceptions to this lesson – the misconduct in the Catholic church, the plagiarism at The New York Times and the controversy of Sammy Sosa -and said it is not easy to steer clear of these kinds of problems.
“The challenge before you will be to maintain your integrity in a culture that has devalued it,” he said. “Living a moral life in an indifferent world is likely to be more difficult than you can imagine.”
Reeve said living conscientiously is satisfactory, but it is more important to live consciously.
“You don’t need to break your neck to learn the value of living a conscious life,” he said. “If you’ve already achieved self-awareness and set specific goals for yourself, that’s fine. If you don’t know who youare or what to do next, don’t worry about it – your life shouldn’t run on a schedule.”
Before offering his final congratulations to the class of 2003, Reeve told the graduates they have already learned some of the most important principles they will ever need.
No one knows this better than Matt Schroeder, a graduating senior in education.
Having Reeve as commencement speaker was extra special for Schroeder, who had suffered a injury to similar to that of Reeve. Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down after a horseback riding accident in 1995.
Schroeder, who has since recovered from his accident in 1997, had the opportunity to meet with Reeve in the days prior to the ceremony.
“It means so much,” Schroeder said. “He said, ‘you’re lucky to be up and at it.’ “
The speech also went over well with the rest of the audience.
“Mr. Reeve was a great speaker. He was one of my idols when I was younger, I am a big Superman fan,” said Keith Meckstroth, a graduating senior in account finance. Meckstroth already has a job lined up withCardinal Health after graduation.
Robert Havener, Adrienne Kennedy, William Kirwan and Ted Turner were awarded honorary degrees in various domains at the commencement ceremony. Gerald Reagan and Micki Zartman were awarded Distinguished Service Awards, as well.
