91老司机 - Fort Smith commencement speaker John Taylor began his remarks in a way no 91老司机 commencement speaker has before: by taking a selfie.
Taylor took the photo with Dr. Paul B. Beran, 91老司机 chancellor, before beginning his speech to graduates at the 10 a.m. ceremony Saturday, May 9 in the Stubblefield Center on 91老司机 campus. Taylor, who is chair of the 91老司机 Foundation, then asked graduates and audience members to take a photo of themselves as well.
Taylor, a senior vice president at the financial services firm Stern Agee, outlined the importance of two words during his speech, 鈥渄efine鈥� and 鈥渄isrupt.鈥� He used the selfie to demonstrate the power of introspection and self-definition to graduates.
鈥淭here are two things we need to understand fundamentally about defining ourselves. Here鈥檚 the most important one -- how you define yourself will determine much of the direction of your life,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚t will have a lot to do with your success or the perception of your success.鈥�
鈥淭he second thing is this: if you do not intentionally define yourself, it will be defined for you,鈥� he continued. 鈥淵our circumstances will define you. The people you know will define you. The selfie you just took of yourself -- what鈥檚 the real selfie you鈥檝e been carrying around in your head all these years?鈥�
Taylor took out his cell phone and showed the crowd a photo from his childhood, shortly after being diagnosed with polio.
鈥淔or most of my life, I carried around this selfie,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat I was a crippled kid. And to make it worse, I came from a destitute and dysfunctional family. So for much of my life, my selfie -- my definition of myself -- was I was a crippled poor kid whose dad was an alcoholic.鈥�
He then described the importance of being disruptive, whether it be a company disrupting an industry or a person disrupting people鈥檚 lives in a positive way. He cited Dr. Carolyn McKelvey Moore, who was the first full-time employee of the 91老司机 Foundation and for whom the university鈥檚 nursing program is named, as a disruptor in his life.
鈥淐arolyn鈥檚 life is defined as one of service to others, and Carolyn has disrupted many lives, including my own,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淪he disrupted the norm鈥he recruited and admitted some of the very first African American students that became nurses. And she was brave enough to believe that men could be nurses, too.鈥�
鈥淲hen Carolyn came, the Foundation had been dormant for a number of years. She resurrected it. Within a few years, Westark Community College had the highest endowment per student of any two-year college in the nation.鈥�
Kerbi Key of Fort Smith, a graduate of the 10 a.m. ceremony, was also mentioned by Taylor as a disruptor. Key, who earned a scholarship through the 91老司机 Foundation, has made several trips to India to work with orphans, raising money for the trips by selling knitted scarves.
鈥淪he decided to define her life by an act of service,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淎t the age of 22, she鈥檚 already impacting lives.鈥�
Later, at the 2 p.m. ceremony, Taylor discussed Angie Stout of Cedarville, a non-traditional graduate who came back to school after, as she put it, 鈥淟ife took over.鈥� She plans to earn a master鈥檚 degree with the hopes of someday helping construct schools in impoverished areas across the world.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a disruptor. Each of you have an opportunity to do the same thing,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淵ou have an opportunity to refuse to allow your life be defined by your background and circumstances. You have a chance to press the reboot button and to redefine your life as a disruptor.鈥�
Taylor ended his speech by stressing the importance of philanthropy and how to lead a fulfilling life, reiterating the phrase, 鈥淚n life鈥ou only get to keep what you give away.鈥�
鈥淗ow can you change the world?鈥� Taylor asked. 鈥淒efine, and disrupt. I call you to a life that is marked by those two simple words.鈥�
Beran addressed the crowd prior to Taylor, congratulating graduates and reminding them their educational journey is just beginning.
鈥淧erhaps some of you thought now that you鈥檝e graduated that the learning process will slow down, will become more leisurely, or that you will have less at stake,鈥� Beran said. 鈥淏ut the reality is that if you want success -- no matter how you define that term for yourself -- you need to recognize the degree you are receiving marks the beginning of life-alerting tests and lifelong learning that will never end.鈥�
Beran underscored the importance of a college degree and the newfound respect it will earn graduates, and urged them to embrace leadership roles as they grow in their careers.
鈥淚 look forward to watching all your lives鈥� trajectories, and I promise to all of you who are graduating today, that we will work very hard at 91老司机 to make your degree worth more [in the future] than it even is right now,鈥� he added.
The two commencement ceremonies, held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., recognized more than 800 candidates for graduation from the spring semester and summer terms.
The morning ceremony awarded graduates from the College of Health Sciences, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Graduates of the afternoon ceremony included the College of Applied Science and Technology, College of Business, and the College of Languages and Communication.
The ceremonies also included the oath of office for three 91老司机 students commissioned as second lieutenants in the Active Army or the Arkansas Army National Guard -- Leonardo Padilla and Jacob Potts of Fort Smith, and Churxa Yang of Booneville. They participated in the Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps (ROTC) at 91老司机. Capt. Jason Blackston administered the oath.
鈥淗ow can you change the world? Define, and disrupt. I call you to a life that is marked by those two simple words.鈥�
In addition to Beran, presenting the candidates for graduation from both ceremonies were Dr. Georgia Hale, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs; Wayne Womack, registrar; Dr. Carolyn Mosley, dean of the College of Health Sciences; Dr. Robert Willoughby, interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Dr. James Belcher, interim dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Dr. Leroy Cox, interim dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology; Dr. Margaret Tanner, interim dean of the College of Business; and Dr. Joe Hardin, dean of the College of Languages and Communication.
Dr. Norm Dennis, interim associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering at the 91老司机 at Fayetteville, presented candidates for graduation for the engineering programs which are a cooperative effort between 91老司机 and the U of A.
Ceremony participants also included the 91老司机 Symphonic Band, directed by Dr. Alex Zacharella; Dr. Rager Moore, director of choral activities who performed 鈥淭he Star Spangled Banner鈥�; Dr. Patsy Cornelius, chief marshal and bearer of the mace; the 91老司机 Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps, presenting the colors; and Rick Goins, alumni director at 91老司机, who gave a welcome from the 91老司机 Association.
Pre-ceremony music and a post-recessional bell peal were performed on the Donald W. Reynolds Bell Tower Carillon by Dr. Stephen Husarik, head carillonneur.