Robert F.X. Sillerman, Chancellor, Southampton Graduate Campus
Address to Graduates
Commencement, May 19, 1996

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I stand before you today, not as someone simply older and supposedly wiser, but as someone who has many times attempted, and thankfully a few times succeeded, at making the journey back to what you, the graduating class of 1996 represent -- the larger truth of the simplicity of youth and the joy of the beginning of things.

All of you who have battled and struggled to be here today have completed one journey, one part of your life. But you come to this commencement reflecting, I hope, on where you have been and wondering where you are going. For that's just what graduation is all about, the completion of one journey, marking the ability to embark on another. Whatever travels lie ahead for you individually, today is about where you started from, what you went through, and where you are going.

The start, the beginning. What a wonder this journey we call "education" is. You see, I have a renewed perspective on that journey, a perspective informed by Mackinley Jo X. Sillerman, our new three-year-old. I watch in awe as she begins her education, digesting more in a day than I learn in a year. Education? Learning? Knowledge? What a journey. And as I watch her, my thoughts wander to the future. Who will she be? What will her journey be like? And who will she learn from? My wife Laura and I certainly; but so many, many more people and influences, potentially harmful influences. The thought of her journey sometimes frightens me. But the fear eases when I see her smile at and learn from our many friends, "teachers," if you will, who surround her. And the fear disappears when she strolls down Sesame Street.

And that's why this ceremony today seems so consistent with what I believe your journey has so far been all about, and I hope will be for Mackinley.

You were so lucky to have Kermit and his friends as your first teachers.

You began your journey with laughter, sensitivity, relevance, giggles, silliness, understanding, humor, conscience and you didn't even know it. Kermit and his friends were more than playmates, more than baby-sitters, more than entertainers; they were your first teachers.

How lucky to begin your journey with their support. How fortunate to grapple with new ideas, like numbers and letters and friendship and sharing, without fear of failure. How powerful to learn while being entertained.

If it were somehow possible to maintain that sense of wonder and openness, all else would be easy.

So, as you now look forward to a new journey, try not to forget how you started, and where you came from. Try to continually recapture all that Kermit and his first lessons represent. And let's hope that Kermit lives forever inside of you. Not as a puppet, not as a symbol, but as something that is real, animate and full blooded. And so, though there is a fine and inscrutable line between reality and fantasy, there are times to ignore the line and let the two worlds blend. What is finer about being human than the capacity for imagination? What is more valuable than holding onto the character lessons that were learned from imaginary friends like Christopher Robin, Charlotte, Barney and so many others. And what is more real than the lesson that our journey is meaningless unless we take care of this fragile earth home of ours? What is more important than knowing we must have the fearless ability and conviction to continue to be green no matter how hard it is.

You are, at this commencement, then, all over again, the simplicity of youth, and at the beginning of another journey.

And as you begin...

Be good citizens. Obey the golden rule. Succeed at kindness first, and all else will follow. Remember that there is something bigger than yourself in the truth about life. These are the lessons you learn from today's speaker. Let that great gift of imagination that you brought to the beginning of your first journey accompany you today and on all your new journeys. On this day of launching into a world that is all too real and often too muddled, remember how much fun it was when it all started. So, as you journey on, have the courage to access the difficult green part of all of us and say "yes" together. Remember the joy and the laughter and the smiles.

Stay close to your dreams, to the stars, to the magic.

It won't be easy. It aint easy bein' green, or kind, or involved. But it is worth it. It's what the journey is all about.

May your journey be what you want it to be.