As part of the University of Southern California’s 128th Commencement Ceremonies, the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism celebrated the conferral of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees to more than 900 students on May 13. (View photos from the festivities)
As Dean Ernest J. Wilson III congratulated Annenberg’s newest circle of alumni, he lauded the “unique enthusiasm and dedication of the Trojan family” and urged them to carry forward the tradition of helping fellow graduates.
“Trojans carry and display the values of generosity, fairness, public service and respect for the rights and dignity of all. In particular, we possess a special optimism and can-do feeling,” he said, adding: “Now, you have a responsibility to pass along these values and great spirit to everyone – alumni or not – no matter where you are in the world.”
Wilson noted that he feels a special kinship with the Class of 2011, as he started his tenure at USC Annenberg as a freshman dean with them in 2007. “I think it’s been four good years for all of us!” he said.
USC PRESIDENT C.L. MAX NIKIAS to School of Journalism grads: “Be bold in your struggle for perspective and for truth.”
Journalism graduates were treated to a special commencement keynote speech from USC President C.L. Max Nikias, whose daughter Maria received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism today from USC Annenberg.
Nikias emphasized to graduates that their “adventure of learning” will continue throughout their lives.
“I know you have learned much here, at one of the world’s premier universities and a world-class school for journalism and public relations,” he said. “I believe the most precious experience you have received was your ability to live and work and study in an environment that fosters new ideas and experimentation within a community that embraces change in order to guide change – a community that always seeks new ways forward.”
Nikias urged graduates, as they move forward in their careers and personal lives, to keep in mind that true character will take them farther and endure longer than the trappings of notoriety. Character also will help them develop both persistence and courage.
“Persistence is essential to success in your chosen field, a field that is so rapidly changing,” he said. “Courage ensures that you will never see a setback as the final world. And that you will instead have the strength to adjust your course."
Those qualities will help graduates nurture their spirit of adventure, Nikias said. “The person who can embrace adventure has an edge over all those many persons who grow timid whenever the winds of uncertainty blow.”
A fourth characteristic – good judgment – will also take USC Annenberg graduates far, he added.
“When a woman or a man has the persistence and courage and adventurousness to reach the mountaintop, she can use good judgment to maintain her place there and to fulfill her responsibilities as well.
“And you will need all of these, as you seek to lead your generation in defining the journalism and organizational communications of the future in a manner that advances a free and just society.”
He acknowledged the disruption that technological change has brought to journalism and public relations.
“Everyone is in constant search for new business models of news and information,” Nikias said, reminding grads to invest themselves in techniques of the future, so that they may be the ones to guide their fields in the years to come.
Dean Wilson also urged grads, as they navigate new business models and technology, to keep in mind the greater goal of their pursuits.
“The core of what we do to make the world a better place will remain: To tell important stories in interesting, compelling ways.”
“Your challenge will be to sustain and remain committed to the great values and traditional verities of the past – from Aristotle to Confucius, from Lincoln to Walter Lippman – who wrote of pursuing the truth, of ethics, caring and community, while using the ever-new communication techniques and tools to pursue these old values in new ways,” Wilson said.
LINDA DOUGLASS to School of Communication: “Tell the truth. You’ll be surprised what power it has.”
At the School of Communication ceremony, Linda Douglass (left), vice president and head of corporate and strategic communications for Atlantic Media Company, recalled her own career in journalism and communication since she graduated from USC 40 years ago.
Douglass related working in “every conceivable form of communication,” from being a gopher on a political campaign, to working as a TV reporter here in LA – a job she jokingly said came to her because of her most important qualification for the job in those days: “I was a blonde.”
Over the years, she covered government at every level, all the way up to Congress and presidential campaigns. She worked for President Obama’s campaign before becoming an executive at Atlantic Media.
As the speed of communication accelerates in a new digital, mobile world, Douglass warned against the temptation to misuse the power that comes with communication skills.
“You may be tempted to use your communication skills – whether in business, in politics, in law, in advocacy – to muddy the truth rather than serve it up nice and clean. Some will want to pay you to obfuscate. I hope you say no,” Douglass told graduates.
“Whether you are the financial executive explaining how your company makes its money; whether you are the advocate arguing for a cause; whether you are the political operative trying to explain your candidate’s record; whether you are the PR person trying to defend your company’s actions… Tell the truth. You’ll be surprised what power it has.”
Even as the ways we communicate change rapidly with technology, “One thing should not change: Your resolve to live your professional life with integrity,” Douglass said.
“Use your power to be clear, illuminating, persuasive, inspiring and honest. Do that and you’ll live up to the important values you’ve been taught here at the Annenberg School and at this great university,” she concluded.
Indeed, today’s graduates “can barely imagine what the next communication tool will be,” Dean Wilson told the class of 2011. “But I am confident many of you here today will help invent and disseminate those new technologies.”
“You can apply what you have learned – innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and service – beyond our academic walls,” Dean Wilson said. “By seeing opportunity where others see challenges, you will stand out among your peers. More than ever, our world needs the innovative thinking and leadership you will provide.”
For School of Journalism graduates, Nikias left them with last words of inspiration:
“As you go forth, may you be bold in your struggle for perspective and for truth. May you bring insight that a democratic society needs like oxygen at this moment of change. And may you support one another as members of the Trojan family, today and for years to come.”
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