If you are subscribed to Henry Rollins’ dispatches you will have read that he recently gave the Commencement Speech at Sonoma College (You can read it here, dispatch 05-24-09). This was a rather timely thing for me to read as I’m about to return to University after a 6 month break to finishing writing up my PhD,  something that will keep me occupied for the next 12 months. I’ve had two previous opportunities to attend a graduation ceremony for my undergraduate and honors degrees, but have passed both times. The pomp and ceremony is just not my thing. Although I’ve not participated in a graduation ceremony, I have witnessed a few.  I only wish that the graduates at those ceremonies could have received a speech of the same caliber as delivered by Henry. Nice job I thought.

Although I must say the cynic within me kicked in to gear when Henry said “I believe we are in challenging times that are in need of bold thinking, fresh ideas and new ways of going about old things. This is where you come in.” I do hope that some of the students do indeed come in and do their bit to meet the challenges we face. However, although I can not speak for the quality and type of education of Sonoma College,  I know that  many students who graduate this year and in the years to come will not have received an education that developed their critical and independent thinking to a level that higher education should, and thus leave them less likely to generate the “bold thinking, fresh ideas and new ways of going about old things” that Henry desires.

When I did my honors at a small regional college years ago, the business and arts students were all lumped together into the same class. Throughout the year it was clear that the business students, although wonderful and capable people, did not have receive the same opportunity throughout their degree to  develop critical and independent thought to the extent that the arts students had. Consequently they were under prepared for the challenge of  honors and research, which requires one to make an original contribution to knowledge.

This would come as no surprise to business leaders who often complain that the new graduates they’ve recruited over the past decade  are seriously lacking in this area. This is not a criticism of the students, but of the system and content of education they receive. They are no less intelligent than the arts students, their degrees just aren’t up to scratch.  I would have thought in business schooling, particularly considering the mess the world economy is in now, is where more independent and critical thought is most sorely needed. But I digress. Oh how I have digressed!

Two readers of Hello Henry, Indi and Rob, today alerted me to a video of Henry’s speech. Thanks guys!

There are two videos, one for the morning graduation, and one for the afternoon. In the morning video the speech is at the 1hr 54 minute mark, in the afternoon video is at the 1 hr 40 minute mark. You can view them at the following link: http://streaming.sonoma.edu.