Text: Dr. Russ Wigginton’s Maryville College Commencement address to the Class of 2023

Photo of Dr. Russell Wigginton, who gave the 2023 Maryville College Commencement address
Dr. Russell Wigginton, president of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, delivers the 2023 Commencement address at Maryville College.

May 6, 2023

Dr. Russ Wigginton, president of the National Civil Rights Museum, delivered the Commencement address to the Maryville College Class of 2023 on May 6, 2023. Here is the full text of his address.

Thank you President Coker, Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, friends and family of the graduating class, and especially the members of the Maryville College Class of 2023, for the honor of participating in your day of celebration. 

Members of the Maryville College Class of 2023, today is all about you, individually and collectively. I want you to think about that for a second … cherish this feeling. Hopefully you will have many more magical moments in your lifetime, but don’t underestimate the uniqueness of this one. I graduated from Rhodes College on May 7, 1988, and I remember how I and my loved ones felt when my name was called to receive my degree. Looking at the family and friends gathered this morning on your behalf I can assure you they are beaming with pride for you.

As was mentioned, I serve as the president of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, many of you may know that this is the place where on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the motel balcony outside of room 306. A commemorative wreath hangs in front of his room as a reminder of Dr. King’s legacy and impact on our world. The museum is much more than a tribute to Dr. King — we chronicle the 400-year ongoing struggle for civil and human rights and seek to educate and serve as a catalyst for positive social change. As part of our work at the museum, I am reminded routinely that many of the successes of the historic Civil Rights Movement occurred through the efforts of people who were your age in the 1960s. Whether thinking about students who challenged segregation by sitting-in at lunch counters or as Freedom Riders traveling on interstate buses throughout the South, or the 250,000 people who journeyed to Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington, it was people just like you who modeled the courage and conviction necessary to challenge injustice. 

When comparing the era of 60 years ago to today I see many of the same characteristics in your generation. I am convinced that it will be you to dictate the course of today’s movement for civil and human rights, just like your peers did 60 years ago, if we are to get to the Promised Land that Dr. King described to us. I want to highlight three principles that I see in you that were also present in your peers of 60 years ago and implore you to protect and nurture them as you embark on your post-college journey.

(1) Allow Collisions of your head and heart; (2) Recognize Vulnerability as more of strength than as weakness; (3) The Journey is at least as important as the destination/

  1. Allow collisions of your head and your heart: The world you are entering, armed with your exceptional Maryville College education, can be described as complicated and seemingly getting more so every day. There is international strife; we are emerging from a global pandemic that devastated people and communities in unprecedented ways; political partisanship is rampant; racial and cultural tensions are reminiscent of what they were 60 years ago; we are flooded with information, misinformation, litmus tests, and “my way or the highway” value statements to choose between on a regular basis. Too often we are seduced into paying more attention to discord and difference than we do to positivity and commonality. With all the noise, it might sometimes seem easier to lock-in with laser-like focus on what you think or believe and not have to ponder nuance or context. Don’t do it. Turn back to your Maryville education, which has been much more than a four-year intellectual exercise. You probably thought you were finished with those “What is the meaning of life” questions when you finished your final exams, but I’m here to tell you they will resurface in countless ways throughout your life journey. Continue to allow yourself to simultaneously explore what you think and what you feel, what you can and cannot prove, and what is familiar and unfamiliar. If you are intentional about allowing your heart and mind to collide you will be more receptive to embracing people and ideas that may be uncomfortable. And, you will be able to give yourself the grace and permission to reconsider where you stand on issues that matter to you and reserve the right to change as your life journey unfolds. Such a collision will allow you to have joyful experiences that you cannot yet imagine. Furthermore, you will, perhaps unknowingly, motivate others to have the wherewithal to combat moments of discomfort with courage and clarity.
  2. Recognize vulnerability more as strength than as weakness: In a world that glamorizes having the most or being the best, or emphasizes always showing strength, this can be difficult. But unburdening oneself from the pressures of the status quo can be empowering. I believe vulnerability is a fundamental ingredient for a more humane society. When you’re vulnerable, you’re better able to see people who are too often unseen. When you’re vulnerable, you are better able to sympathize with people who see and experience the world differently than you. When you’re vulnerable, you see more possibilities and potential than problems. When you’re vulnerable, you tell people you love and care for them for no particular reason. When you are vulnerable, more people will make themselves vulnerable to you.
  3. The journey is at least as important as the destination: My wife and I have a running joke about how often I take the circuitous route when we are traveling places. I’m not just talking about places we’ve never been, but places where we know how to get there. I will often drive a route that’s not the most direct; sometimes I just want to see a different view. Wanting to see that different view gave me the inspiration to leave a promising corporate career to pursue a doctorate in history, which paved a path that made it possible many years later to do the work that I do today. I suspect many of you have been destination-focused to get to this special moment of earning your degree. This approach can have its benefits and there will be many more occasions to stay on the familiar course. But as you embark on a new set of life experiences, I would urge you to remain open to the circuitous route. Allow yourself to seek and discover new twists and turns along your personal route, all the while appreciating the views that you will discover along the way.

Maryville College Class of 2023, today is about you. Relish the moment; smell the roses; reflect on the trials and tribulations that got you here. Thank the people who supported you along the way. Oh, and complete one more homework assignment.  You don’t have to turn it in and it won’t be graded. Sometime over the next few days, try to imagine coming back to Maryville College in 2073 for your 50th reunion and being asked to list 10 moments over the last half century that brought you indescribable joy. You might be surprised with what makes your list. Many of the items on your list will undoubtedly come true. Whatever the make up of your list, be sure to include that feeling that you had on May 6, 2023.

Congratulations Maryville College Class of 2023, and thank you for allowing me to join you on the momentous day.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”