Contact: Sammy McDavid
A Mississippi-born business executive urged Mississippi State graduates Saturday to reject trends toward isolation and keep 21st century America "constructively involved" in world affairs.
West Point native John H. Bryan Jr., leader of the global Sara Lee Corp., told a morning audience of some 16,000 at the university's Scott Field that "isolationism and protectionism do not work" and that "America must stay on its course."
The 10 a.m. ceremony was the first for new President Malcolm Portera, also a West Point native and longtime Bryan friend. MSU graduation exercises were regularly held at the football stadium until the mid-1970s, when Humphrey Coliseum--now being renovated--was built.
"My strong advice to you is not to reverse the course that has made America the technological and economic leader of the world," Bryan said. "There are no guarantees that this golden age will continue or that more progress will occur in the future.
"Securing the political, economic and social success of yesterday and building on them for tomorrow depends, more than anything else I know, on you," he said. "You are, by definition, leaders, for you are American and you are educated. The future will be your creation."
Bryan Foods, the West Point meat products company founded by the speaker's family, is a subsidiary of Chicago-based Sara Lee, a packaged food and consumer products company whose worldwide annual sales total some $20 billion.
After heading the family business in Mississippi, Bryan became Sara Lee's president in the mid 1970s. He later was elevated to chief executive officer and chairman of the board.
Expanding on his global-view theme and using his company an example, Bryan also urged graduates to be advocates of diversity.
"Sara Lee long has had a program of strategic diversity designed to bring women, minorities and foreign nationals to the very highest levels of our company," he said.
The reason, he added, is that "diversity does encourage creativity, and creativity is surely the lifeblood and source of renewal for any modern institution."