Posted on 12/14/2006 4:56:50 PM PST by Libloather
Clinton addresses first graduating class of Clinton School
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
Former President Bill Clinton, left, is greeted by David Pryor, former senator and past dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, in Little Rock, Ark., after Clinton spoke to the first graduating class of the school. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
LITTLE ROCK - Saying he was possibly the first commencement speaker in history to be "as excited as the graduates," former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday addressed the first graduating class of the presidential school that bears his name.
Clinton spoke to the first 13 graduates of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service during a ceremony at the Clinton presidential library. The school opened in the fall of 2005 on the library grounds and is the first in the country to offer master's degrees in public service.
The school began as an idea "that we could actually build an institution around the concept of public service," the former president and Arkansas governor said.
"I believe that dedication to the common good is critical to meeting the challenges of the interdependent world in which the graduates will live and raise their children," he said.
Clinton said the world is "one in which we have to have security policies, to be sure, but in which, because we are interdependent, we cannot possibly ever kill, jail or occupy all of our adversaries. So we have to build a world with more partners and fewer adversaries."
He said the graduates will have more options than he had when he graduated. It is much easier now to work in public service without being on the public payroll, thanks to the existence of millions of non-governmental organizations, he said.
"Because all the graduates here want to make a difference, you should feel good about the fact that the trends of the last 20 years have given you much more power to do so, whether you are in or out of government," Clinton said.
In an apparent reference to the recent midterm elections that gave Democrats majorities in both houses of Congress, Clinton said it appears that "we are recovering our bearings and getting back to the idea that whether we're conservative or liberal or Republican or Democrat, it really does matter what the facts are. It really does matter what policies will do in the lives of ordinary people."
Clinton told the graduates they can judge their success in public service by asking themselves a simple question: "Are the people you served better off when you quit than when you started?"
Vivian Flowers of Pine Bluff, one of four graduates who are Arkansas natives, called Clinton's speech "inspiring and prophetic."
"We've had great opportunities to speak with him before, and he's kind of been a galvanizing force for us and continues to be," said Flowers, whose service projects during the 18-month program included working as an intern for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C.
Amber Holloway of Rogers said she enjoyed getting to meet people such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Clinton. Holloway is one of five graduates who still have a project to complete - in her case, a study of communication strategies used during the 2003 mad cow disease outbreak in Alberta, Canada, for the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.
"It's been a fabulous 16 months, very exciting," she said.
John Spears of Fort Smith worked on projects that took him from the Arkansas Delta, where he worked on plans for a sweet potato storage and distribution facility to help disadvantaged small farmers in Phillips County, to La Paz, Bolivia, where he helped develop strategies for improving that country's economy through tourism.
"Working in the Arkansas Delta, working in Bolivia, it gave me an exposure to grassroots community development and grassroots leadership that I did not previously have. I have a better idea of the entire spectrum of public service now than before I came here," said Spears, who previously obtained a master's degree from Tufts University in international relations.
Clinton spent about 30 minutes at a reception following the ceremony. He was asked by reporters if he is encouraging his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, to run for president in 2008.
"I'm not encouraging or discouraging. I'm listening and answering questions when asked," he said.
I'd make a comment but I value my FR membership.
"Ahh call upon the power of this energy savin liaght to invoke the presence of Mah super siahdkick Al Gore"
Yo, Bubba. Your sex life is none of our business.
Clinton's motto: "Servicing the public, one woman at a time."
Sure it is. It cost us taxpayers money to replace that bathroom sink in the White House that he always creamed in.
Really? You may have the partisan blinders on a bit too tight if you don't find these liberals hot...
Why can't that pathetic human being and his foul spouse just go away and leave us alone. What a disgusting pig! I can't believe he'd be invited anywhere where there are any decent people. If he were across the street, I wouldn't waste my time to see the pig.
THE CLINTON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE?
I can't imagine what the curriculum is. If they keep making colleges like this, parents may want to home-college their children.
"Al...Al...do you read me? Over!"
"I read you, oh great and powerful Master!"
So how did he get away with being publically serviced?
Yah, I think there's a Lewinsky Chair.
L0L! ROTFLMAO!
You've got to be kidding...
I understand all the tests were oral exams.
Would you trust ANY GIRL OR WOMEN with this pervert?
Uhh...any list that designates Debbie Schlussel a "babe" loses all credibility with me.
No, in this one area I concede to liberal supremacy. They simply have hotter chicks...good for them.
I wonder what they had to pay him to show up?
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