Contact: Sammy McDavid
In his address to graduates Friday, retiring President Donald Zacharias touched on themes of continuous learning and honesty before concluding his remarks by introducing his successor at Mississippi State University.
Zacharias, who concludes 12 years as head of the state's largest university at the end of the month, was commencement speaker to an audience of graduates, families, friends, and others numbering more than 6,000.
Also on the podium, but not speaking, was Malcolm Portera, the West Point native and MSU alumnus who was selected in October to become the institution's 16th president in its nearly 120-year history.
Using the analogy of pilot training, Zacharias began his address by telling the departing students, "You are ready to see if you can fly the plane all by yourself and, with the kind of instruction you have received, I am confident that you can."
To keep up with the rapid changes in technology, he urged them to appreciate that "learning must continue" throughout life.
Zacharias, who has seen the university greatly expand its high technology teaching and research during his time on campus, observed that "PC," the acronym for personal computer, largely was unknown just 15 years ago.
"Today, it has become a household phrase," he said. "The daily impact on our lives of the personal computer would be hard to overestimate."
To illustrate the point, Zacharias, an administrator who uses a personal computer daily, said his commencement manuscript "was prepared by my dictating it into the computer. I didn't use the keyboard." The software package was neither rare nor expensive, he added. "It sells for less than $200."
The president also urged those garbed in black robes and mortarboards to "have an enthusiasm for decision making." But in doing so, he continued, they also must embrace and value honesty.
"Because I read the newspapers and because we live in a world that is filled with this kind of thing, I have to say this very simple message: Always tell the truth and don't cheat," he said. "I have seen too many people of promise and quality who possessed great opportunity destroy it all because they lied. Most of all, they lied to themselves."
During a higher education career that spanned three decades, Zacharias estimated than he has seen more than 30,000 students receive degrees. As with many of the others, he told this group of graduates that he "expects in the years ahead to hear from you about your successes.
"You have already enriched my life by giving me the privilege of serving as your president," he added.
Among this semester's graduating seniors were two who finished with perfect 4.0 grade averages. Wahnee J. Sherman of Lena received degrees both in communication and political science, while Amanda Turberville of Irvington, Ala., received a degree in elementary education.