Thank you welcome everyone those of you who are still standing please have a seat. It's great to see everybody here welcome I'm Michael Barr I'm the Joan and Sanford while dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy It was a real pleasure to see many of you yesterday at our open house at the Rock and graduate ceremonies or this morning at the big house and it's my honor to welcome you here this afternoon on behalf of the entire Ford school community for I'm going to begin by briefly introducing the members of the platform party up here with me today with more to say about our speakers later with me on stage is our keynote commencement speaker distinguished journalists Michele Norris thank you are so honored to have Michelle with us this evening this afternoon and look forward to her remarks were honored to be joined by region of the University of Michigan ambassador Ron wiser thank you region Wiser is a leader in business philanthropy and politics he and his wife Eileen have been incredibly generous friends to the University of Michigan and of the Ford School in particular Ron we're really thankful to have you here this afternoon. I'm delighted to welcome another longtime University of Michigan leader Rob Sellers thank you Rob is the vice provost for equity and inclusion and the Charles D. moody collegiate professor of psychology and education that Rob thank you so much for being here and also for representing the University of Michigan leadership. I'm pleased to be thanked I'm pleased to be joined as well by a number of my faculty colleagues at stage right is Elizabeth Gerber our associate dean for research and policy engagement. Thank you next to Liz Ford School Professor John chary John thank you John directs our new wiser diplomacy center in our International Policy Center and he's going to be reading names of our graduates as they cross the stage you'll see he's very good at that. On my left we have Sharon Messina who is the director of undergraduate programs. Thank her Fessor Brian J. could represent the leadership of our Ph D. program thank you and our associate dean for academic affairs and director of our master's programs Professor Paul Ince thought. Thank You may be able to tell from the applause Paul is the elected speaker from the students on behalf of the faculty. Finally elected by their classmates to provide the student commencement addresses our soon to be forward and P.P. graduate Jose Javier the high and I'm the one thank you and our and R.B.A. soon to be graduate I guess as of this morning have is now a graduate that's with the present University said. During fish. The WITH thank you we are gathered this afternoon to recognize and celebrate the accomplishment of 166 outstanding students smart driven Don't cry yet. You're supposed to cry at the end. Smart driven public minded people who are believing our communities in the next half century. Thank you I have the honor of talking about these students what they've learned here what they've brought to us what they've learned what we've learned from them and a little bit about what we know about what they're going to do next let me start by sharing our schools mission statement what our faculty and students and staff believe and do the Ford school at the University of Michigan is a community dedicated to the public good we inspire in perfect diverse leaders grounded in service conduct transformational research and collaborate on evidence based policymaking to take on our communities and our world's most pressing challenges yes we do. Yes we do our world indeed faces a time of truly daunting challenges outside this auditorium spring has finally arrived just in time. Campus is full of flowers and buds and happy faces celebrating accomplishments and that is as it should be but we are a community steeped in policy and politics and so we know that our world indeed faces many daunting challenges here in the U.S. and around the world the democratic institutions and global norms that we've relied on to build to build a better world are in many ways under attack from Zina phobia racism anti-Semitism from leaders who have no respect for democracy or fear it from corruption and skyrocketing inequality the post-war global order the rules based international system our commitment to fight bigotry our dedication to the civil rights tradition to embrace difference our openness our vitality our shared values emerging from the wreckage of World War 2 are in many ways all at risk graduates none of this is new to you it's why you came to the ford school to take responsibility for the Times in which you live you've inspired me every single day of the past 2 years with your energy your passion your empathy and creativity I believe in you I believe in your capacity and your conviction and your preparation to take on these pressing challenges our school is named for one of the University of Michigan's most distinguished graduates the 38th president of the United States Gerald Ford in 1975 is the Vietnam War ground to an end President Ford faced a refugee crisis and he rose to the challenge many in South Vietnam Laos and Cambodia had been allies of the United States and they sought asylum here in this country we were in some large measure responsible for the conditions they fled. Ford created an interagency task force that managed the resettlement of more than of time because he believed it was the right thing to do coming on the heels of a devastating deeply divisive war Ford's efforts to help refugees were not popular with the public nor with Democrats nor with Republicans in the Congress nor with many in state houses around the country but he pressed his case just none the less it just burns me up these great humanitarians President Ford was quoted as saying of those opposed to opening America's doors they just want to turn their backs he said we didn't do it to the hungry we didn't do it to the Cubans and dammit we're not going to do it now. Today issues of immigration and asylum building walls or building bridges are all too relevant once again and they will be among the top issues today's graduates will face leading on leading on in the years and decades to come there are an estimated $25000000.00 refugees around the world and more than half are under the age of asylum policy those are all and part political issues there's room for plenty of reasonable disagreement about particular policies or the right number of people to admit and what for what for what reasons for example the burdens and the benefits that new immigrants bring to our communities the role that principled foreign policy can or cannot play in supporting just unstable governments and societies around the world these are all valid policy debates but here are 3 principles that I believe should guide us 1st a fundamental recognition of the humanity of each and every human being. in places of relative safety and security should feel a profound sense of gratitude to our country and responsibility for those less fortunate and 3rd that our differences make a strong our differences make a strong you can see it right here in the Ford school community where a stronger wiser more caring community because of our differences because of the unique contributions of every single member of our community members of our classes of 21000 hail from over 20 countries they speak dozens of languages they include a graduate a dreamer who earlier today gave a truly beautiful speech at the University's graduation in the Big House declaring herself quote undocumented and unafraid thank They include in our community descendants of enslaved people whose brutal journeys to America cry out for justice who unpaid labor built this country who sacrifices and injustices in indignities day after day and decade after decade have worn on and without recompense they include Midwesterners Southerners red staters and blue staters rural and urban citizen and non-citizen black and white and brown and every shade of the human condition. Students who worked in the White House for President Trump and a student who is the Easter Bunny for President Obama's egg roll on the White House lawn. Thank our Ford school community includes a senior member of our faculty who led and built this school for many years the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica a beloved teacher who emigrated from Cape Town South Africa a staff leader whose parents came to the U.S. fleeing religious discrimination in the Middle East a faculty member whose research demonstrated the huge positive impact refugees have right here in our community in southeast Michigan myself whose grandparents fled the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Poland in the 1930 S. coming 1st to Israel and then to the United States with my father after World War 2 on a boat filled with oranges and old merchant marine to the Port of New Orleans and so many more of our faculty students and staff all contributing to our strength our differences make a strong immigrants and children of immigrants make America stronger with their talents and drive they bring us friends in far places they help us understand and succeed in those far places when we negotiate and trade among the Vietnamese refugees that President Ford welcome to the United States in 1975 when more than $3000.00 orphans evacuated from Saigon as a major North Vietnamese military offensive approach that city in April of that year Gerald and Betty Ford traveled to California to meet one of the cargo planes filled with those young children and babies President Ford entered the plane and carried the 1st baby off himself there's a photograph of him sitting on a bus headed toward the hangar he's cradling one of the Vietnamese babies in his arms bottle feeding the orphan. President Ford was leading he was using his power the power of his office to show the capacity for American leadership and generosity and humanity he took responsibility students it gives me great inspiration and hope to know that soon you you will be the ones out there leading and that you will lead like Gerald Ford with compassion and heart with analytics Yes with empirics Yes but driven by our shared generous understanding of the human condition how we prepared our graduates for that let me tell you a little bit about our curriculum for both our graduate and undergraduate students we start with a shared understanding of an belief in facts and today's graduates have learned to analyze complicated data sets to think analytically to evaluate benefits and cos they know their stuff that's a strong foundation to build on we stress communication skills and so they learn to speak and write clearly and we've taught leadership our graduates have been taught to listen and to talk and to think critically ethically and compassionately and let me tell you a little bit more at this point about our world class faculty and our outstanding staff who work so closely with our graduates these past 2 years our faculty hold joint appointments all over campus in politics in political science and sociology in economics and in so many more disciplines in departments around the school and around the university their expertise is both broad and deep their thoughtful enthusiastic teachers and mentors they're doing cutting edge research and they're actively engaged with critically important public policy challenges here in our community across the nation and around the world. Therefore schools professional staff are a source of the school strength that well our terrific staff Trimix recruited they counseled and they supported today's graduates let me ask all Ford school faculty and staff now to stand and please join me in thanking them for all that they do thank. There are others who deserve thanks in recognition and that's all of you in the audience and family and friends who are watching on line you've raised these students to care about what matters you've nurtured them counseled them and consoled them they wouldn't be here without you graduates please take this chance to thank your loved ones for their support over the years thank you. Today 91 of our students have earned a master's degree they hail from 10 different countries and speak 23 different languages a 3rd have earned dual masters with other schools the law school of public health social work the School of Information engineering the business school and many more they include the chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners of R.C. aflat athlete and captain in the US Army for those of you who have seen their class photo I feel like I might need to explain that they do not actually include a walking bagel. Members of this group led a fantastic course and study trip to Morocco they led a successful charity auction to raise funds for a youth program in Detroit and afterwards led a rousing singalong on a bus back to the present. They've been intentional about their education in their career preparation they've led by action by putting their heads down and getting to work this group also overcame a lot of personal adversity and through it all they took care of each other let me tell you now a bit about the 72 students who have earned a Bachelor of Arts in public policy they are very smart very enthusiastic group they have been part of one of the university's finest liberal arts traditions in small classes with Michigan's top faculty R.B.A. curriculum train students to think critically and across disciplines to understand policy challenges and to develop solutions today's B.A. graduates include $175.00 Beta Kappa is in 18 Angel scholars they include a student chosen to speak as I've said at the university's honors convocation last month another who spoke this morning at the University's commencement ceremony in the big house and you'll hear more from our B.A. students in just a moment they write for the Michigan Daily and The Detroit Free Press that campus wide student government ran track participated in Razzi in the marching band and advocated passionately for the causes they believe that they helped an arbor massively improve student voter turnout during last fall's election these students have improved our school in the university but what's truly remarkable to me is that somehow they've managed to do all that without ever once checking their email. It's pretty stunning. We celebrate as well to students who have earned Ph D.'s one in public policy in sociology and the other in public policy in economics those are pioneering programs for students who want to pursue research careers in a traditional social social science discipline and to see themselves as deeply committed to the study and improvement of public policy. Taken together the classes of 21000 are serious students hard workers and dedicated leaders graduates you are amazing. But let me give you 5 tips to help you on the path from here the 1st I've said already we'd like Gerald Ford find your passion take unpopular stand when you know they're right take responsibility number 2. Work hard really hard really really really hard Anything worth doing requires an enormous amount of hard work number 3 don't be a jerk. That might seem like one of these norms we've lost but it's not and I really implore you to be kind to your colleagues and friends number 4 empower yourself you can do anything don't talk yourself down talk yourself up we're facing enormous challenges and you can make the difference Lasley a number 5 love your team you can't do it alone but you don't have to build a team around you that will help you solve our most pressing challenges together as your time at Michigan draws to a close I know you're thinking a lot about your team about the classmates you've worked and studied and become lifelong friends with you're excited yes about new challenges new cities but I know I miss you'll miss a lot of things about your days here in Ann Arbor at the very least Dominic's Rick's. Charlie's. Calculus with Carl Simon. Sticks with John Hanson. You missed the patient year of Cory stark stork in the water guide of our writing center team and so many other beloved teachers and mentors. You won't miss the stressful hours perhaps in the computer lab or debating endlessly about whether to provide forks in the student lounge. But you might miss naps in the reading room the excitement of exploding water pipes in the Great Hall or the occasional wind chill day off of course for most of you you'll miss each other most next year your friends and classmates may not be just down the street but I promise you that the ties you've made here ties forged in mutual purpose in hard work as well as in fun will endure and will help sustain and propel you graduates we are proud of you and we're all going to miss you congratulations and best wishes to the classes of 2019 go blue Thank you.