During the 31st Commencement Ceremony, Michael D. Marvin, AUBG Trustee (2019-2021) and Board of Trustees Chair (2021-2025), was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) and delivered the keynote speech. The recognition served as a tribute to his leadership and commitment to AUBG.
When I was asked to give a commencement speech, I asked myself, what could you care about? Anything that I had to say, you’ve already heard but most people don’t even remember what was given at the commencement speech. Certainly, it’s true for me also. But I’m going to give it the college try. I have a deep interest and affection for a land historically oppressed by foreign empires that has fought its way to independence and established the Democratic government. Now democratic values are under attack, free speech, academic freedoms are being challenged. I’m referring to the United States.
When I was your age in 1960’s, the United States was coming to grips with civil rights, the Vietnam War. Now much of the world is coming to grips with the various forms of government. This institution was formed at a dramatic time in history in the world. It is only 34-years-old, less than 400 graduates per year, and we’re getting towards that. And yet the impact is already being felt. The faculty has prepared you to learn how to learn, to think, to have an impact in whatever profession you enter, far beyond the specifics of your major. The alumni network is a network. The alumni are connected from Europe, North America and parts of Asia.
You experience a variety of cultures and nationalities on this campus, and understand that there are more similarities than differences. You understand that you are important, individually and collectively. Each in your own way, and often collectively, you will fight for the common good. Most of you know the impact of the various forms of government. There is much work to be done. I believe Winston Churchill’s famous quote is prescient. Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried. And I see the AUBG community at large and the alumni in specific as the vanguard of the reestablishment and perfecting of democratic ideas throughout the world. Know this when you leave today: the world really needs. Really needs you.
Now, I feel the obligation of any commencement speaker to share a few lessons learned earlier – mantras, platitudes – that have served me well and may be of some value to you.
So again, bear with me. You’ve already faced many hardships and trials and tribulations to get here. You will face many more going forward. 65 years ago in junior high school, I memorized a poem that I still rely on to this day. It’s “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. The most famous lines are: “I am the master of my faith. I am the captain of my soul. But the lines I rely on are under the bludgeoning of chance. My head bloody. But on mouth?
The corollary could be losing is not falling down. Losing is not getting up. I remember once in my life when things were going really badly, and I said, “Well, at least it can’t get any worse than this”. And it did. I said it three more times. It got worse three more times. I finally got it. Now I look at the trials and tribulations of life as a hike which always seems to be taking me down into a valley, and I cheer myself up with the thought that the deeper the valley, the higher the mountain on the other side.
But enough about handling adversity. How about just living life? As you probably surmised from my last example, I’ve done a lot of hiking: over 100 peaks, including Kilimanjaro. So I use a lot about our references. I’ve taught my children three rules for successfully getting to the top. First, just always keep putting one foot in front of the other. Second, your feet will have lots of choices on where to be put – just pick one and go. And third, don’t step on any downhill routes. These are pretty good lessons for life also.
When after 16 years I left the company that I had founded with four college students and taken public six years earlier, I distributed a pen to each and every one of us. Engraved on it was “do the right thing”. There is no advice more difficult to follow. It takes a lifetime to really understand that full meaning. It does not mean the legal or the illegal thing. It does not mean the easy or the hard thing. It does not mean the risk adverse or the risky thing. It does not mean the courageous thing or the cautious thing. You understand the complexity of this more than most coming out of college, but there is so much refinement required that can only be attained through experience.
On August 28th, 1963, probably not a date you remember, I had the opportunity to be on the mall in the center of Washington, DC when Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream speech”. I was only 5 miles away. I have demonstrated many times for civil rights in other parts of the country, but I let my parents’ words of caution influence me. Fortunately, there were 250,000 other people that did do the right thing. And it was a monumental success. I did not make the same error on November 27th of1965 – I participated in the Peace March, same mall, Washington DC, 250,000 people. There are millions of decisions you were going to make in your lifetime. It’s impossible to get them all right, but you should try. You should try.
I have tests like “can I look myself in the mirror?”, “Do I sleep well at night”, and no matter what happens to me, “do I need to do this?” Martin Luther King was doing the right things. He paid the ultimate price and forever will be on the right side of history. Part of the reason I selected these examples is because I was your age when they occurred and part of the reason is drawing attention to the parallels between what was going in the United States faced in the 60s, and the world is facing today in a different way.
Another one of my favorite mantras is “play from where the ball lies”, or the corollary “don’t cry over spilled milk”. So many people spend so much time wishing for something that something different had happened. The “if only” scenarios consume inordinate amounts of time and energy, and it is all a complete waste. The fact is, it did not, and that it’s not going to change history. So start making the new history in the direction more that you’re liking now.
I didn’t make the 1963 March, but I sure made the 1965 one. Over the years, I have found, it is useful to develop some guidelines to make decisions in my life. I’ve gone on three guiding principles for how I spend my time. I want to learn something, I want o try to make a difference, and I want to have fun. I try to check all three of these boxes on any activities that I’ve been involved in. This is definitely one of them. I also picked an overarching theme for my efforts – economic freedom for everybody. You may wish to develop your own guidelines. It’s amazing how it makes decisions so much easier. I’ve spent most of my life involved in education and growing companies. Without invention and innovation, wealth is pretty much a zero sum game. If my wealth goes up, yours must go down. But if you create new processes, new things, then wealth can expand. The world population was 3.7 billion when I was your age. It is now over 8 billion. We can debate whether these are good numbers or not, but without invention, innovation, and education, these numbers would not be possible at all.
Once you form the guiding principles, it helps you extradite your ability to do the right thing. For example, when allocating stock in a new venture, do you retain it all for yourself or do you distribute it for your colleagues? If your goal is economic freedom for everyone, it’s pretty simple. If it’s to be as rich as possible, you might make a different decision.
I will stop with my lessons learnt here, and in closing, I’d like to ask you, if you’re ready to put the world on notice that AUBG is here. AUBG as an institution of higher education is punching way above its weight already. The institution is younger than your parents and yet has graduates in every walk of life. You have entrepreneurs, mayors, teachers, leaders of academia and non-for-profits, and senior executives in major corporations all over the world. One corollary measure for separating the most impactful universities from others is the percent of annual giving of their alumni.
In The U.S., the average is 7.7%. In Europe, it is much lower. The AUBG rate is currently 5.5%. The most prestigious and impactful institutions have alumni donation rate in the 20-40% range. What if this class, your class, actually our class, donated at a 100%? That would get the international attention of the entire academic community. Friday, I donated $50,000 in the name of the Class of 2025. But only you, and I mean all of you, can make the 100% commitment. Five or 10 pounds, five or ten dollars, five or ten lev, from each and every one of you, would say “Thank you” to the faculty and staff, it would encourage the students who follow and will send a message around the globe that AUBG is a world treasure in the making. Go to aubg.edu, hit donate, and vote. I know what I’m asking. I had just turned 21 when I graduated. I had two children under the age of two. The cost of my education had put a tremendous financial strain on my parents. I needed to start my full-time job the day after I graduated. I could still have found $5 if it was really important. You should know that 100% of the Board and 100% of the Leadership contributed this year, and the American for Bulgaria Foundation responded with the largest donation ever to the institution. You can always make a difference individually, but it is much more powerful if we do it together. Now, you may forget every word I’ve said today, but I guarantee you that if 100% of you make a statement today, you’ll remember it forever.
But whatever you collectively decide to do, I just want you to know that it has been an honor and a privilege to serve at what I believe is becoming one of the most remarkable institutions on the planet. Thank you.
