Graduates, this is a big day, isn’t it? One of the major milestones in your life. Right up there with being born, getting married, having a baby. Maybe landing your dream job. Yep. The final episode of the Game of Thrones. One of life’s really big days. Seriously, I am so pleased that you and […]
Category: Speeches
President’s Morning Prayer Remarks — Aug. 26, 2019
MORNING PRAYER August 26, 2019 Deuteronomy 8: 15-18 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2010
Fifty years ago. 1960. The first day of classes. Here. President O. P. Kretzmann stood where I stand. The Chapel was packed. It was probably hot. I don’t know what President Kretzmann said on Convocation Day in 1960. But I do know who heard it. Sarah Parsons was here. Sarah came to Valpo wondering where […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2011
What an auspicious occasion! What an extraordinary celebration! Valparaiso University does many things exceptionally well, but I can tell you that we just get better and better at ceremonies and processions! Well done, Marshall Shingleton! Well done! Let’s take a moment to look around us. Class of 2015 … new and returning students, faculty and […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2012
Rejoice always! It is wonderful to be back in the Chapel of the Resurrection after a summer of closed doors, construction fences, cranes and jackhammers. Although we’ve only begun our three-year restoration and expansion of the Chapel, it is a blessing to have this magnificent facility open and all of us gathered together again. Rejoice […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2013
On February 10, 1982, 46 Apple employees gathered with CEO Steve Jobs to celebrate another milestone in creating the Macintosh personal computer. The hardware cast was ready for mass production, so it was time for some champagne, some speeches, and some signatures. Steve Jobs approached his work as an artist, and he believed that his […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2014
I can’t imagine life without Google. How about you? With a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse, the whole world of information is right at my fingertips. A life without Google? How would I look up the weather, order a book, research trends, access Wikipedia, keep up with my favorite band, look up […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2015
Students, faculty, staff of Valparaiso University, I am going to come clean. I have an app on my phone that keeps track of how much coffee I drink and gives me a free coffee for every twelve I buy. And I have a Yo-Mazing Yogurt punch card so that I can get a free frozen yogurt at […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2016
Friends and colleagues, it has been quite the summer. Someday the historians may label it, “the Summer of Deceit.” Just when we thought the game of he said she said couldn’t sink any lower into the muck that passes for a presidential election, Ryan Lochte and a several of the men’s swim team USA invent […]
President’s Opening Convocation Address 2017
The Puzzle as Perseverance I’ve been thinking about puzzles lately. It all started a few weeks ago, when I found myself cooped up in an Airbnb mountain cabin with all of our kids, their spouses, and six grandchildren under the age of five. Veronica and I were in Breckenridge, Colorado, for a long-planned weekend with […]