Remarks by 2024 Academic Convocation keynote speaker Patricia Moore

Patricia Moore, a distinguished designer and trailblazing alumna of the class of 1974, addressed the crowd at the Gordon Field House during RIT's annual Academic Convocation ceremony on May 10. The full text of her speech is below:

Fifty years ago,
when I sat as you do today,
the global headlines were dire,
the world was struggling,
and, as the Class of 1974,
we had constant concerns
and fears for the future.

As long hair, bell-bottomed hippies
we launched the first Earth Day,
planting the seeds for a global awareness
and response to the impact of climate change.

The polarizing Vietnam War,
which began in 1955,
was tearing our nation apart.

We were vocal and earnest supporters
of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The earliest version of the ERA
was introduced in Congress in 1923.

Today, 101 years later,
we still await the recognition of men and women as equal,
with the 28th Amendment of the Constitution.

For about a dollar, you could get two gallons of gas.

The Dow averaged 759.13 for the year.

Yes, 7-5-9.

The average closing price for this year is 38,557.88.

In Senate hearings,
the extent of the Watergate scandal was exposed,
and President Nixon, facing impeachment, resigned.

“The more things change,
the more they remain the same.” 

French journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
is credited for writing that assessment in 1849.

It stands with another adage we hear often:
“It is what it is!”

I have always viewed both refrains, not as permission
to cave, or quit and shake my head in disgust,
but rather as a call for action and a time for change.

Yes, "it is what it is,” BUT, then it is what YOU make it!

The reason I leave my bed each day,
is to meet the calls, the challenges, and the constant concerns with action.
Actions that now, we will make together.

I stand with you,
a Generation eager for equity,
deliberate in your drive for dignity,
and insistent that your abilities for innovation
will in fact deliver the ever-elusive
CHANGE of our collective dreams.

Your creativity represents a global ability
to confront discord, hate, and prejudice.

Your collaborative spirit,
your unique capacity to challenge inequity,
and the technology you utilize,
will forge us forward as never before.
I am honored to work with you until I take my last breath.

So, let me share some highlights from my playbook,
with the hope that they assist you to formulate your own:

Forget your childhood training and talk with strangers.
Take the buds out of your ears,
and when we pass each other on my morning walk,
please smile and return my greeting.

Be kind.
At least once each day,
surprise someone with a flower,
offer your seat on the light rail,
or share your umbrella.

Keep a candy dish on your desk.
You will always be popular with people.

Celebrate your Birthday
and the Birthdays of your friends and family
with deliberate excess.

Recognize that the single date of your birth is a nice start,
but you need to claim the entire month that you entered this life
as cause for great annual joy.

Tell everyone you encounter it is your Birthday
so that they have an opportunity to be a good citizen
and enhance the economy by providing you a pressie.

Don’t take no for an answer.
Persevere.
Be persistent,
by being persuasive.

Pay attention to the other people in your sphere
and take a sincere interest in their projects and lives.
Support their work.
Engage in their activities.
When you focus on others,
your efforts will improve
and together you will deliver outcomes you hadn’t imagined.

Volunteer.
Be charitable.
Support good causes
and they will support you.

Be nice.
Be particularly nice to people
who are unkind to you.
It will confuse them and
you will convert them.

Dress for success,
especially when you fly.
The time for flannel pajama bottoms and flip flops is officially over.

If we are seat mates,
I don’t want to see your bare feet.

Having designed a number of aircraft,
I assure you that beyond civility,
covering your flesh from the neck down
is a critical safety consideration
in the event that we need to utilize an emergency slide.

Mind your manners.
Your level of civility will define you.

Send snail mail.

Write in cursive.

As soon as you can,
after today’s festivities,
pen a letter to every person in your life who got you to this point.
Thank them for their guidance, love, and support.

And after you have written those precious letters,
write one more,
the most important of all.

Write a letter to yourself.
Remind yourself of your dreams for this day,
of your sacrifices, your failures, and your successes
that brought you to this starting point.

Tuck that missive in a safe place.
Keep it with you always, and,
whenever you feel lost,
or whenever you wonder
what it is your life is about,
sit in a quiet corner,
and read your words again.
Remember this moment.

From this day forward,
embrace your role as a Leader.

More than any generation before you,
you have been graced with potential
for creating a world of love and respect,
equity and quality of life for all.

Believe in that potential,
and lead with your brilliant heads
and beautiful hearts.

A very popular poem on campus in the 1970s
was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann.
Desiderata, Words For Life,
has resonated with me
in every moment since my graduation.

I leave you with this verse:

You are a child of the universe,
No less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And, allow me to add,
you have a responsibility with that right.
You are responsible for the great gift
that is your time on this planet.

Be Bold.
Be Brave.
Be the CHANGE.