Editor’s note: This is one in a series of periodic commentaries by retired college presidents on the subject of civility. They are based on the book “Rules of Civility for a Modern Society,” by Jim Davis, the former president of Shenandoah University.
Jim Davis Rule #41
Civil society requires its citizens to understand sacrifice, delayed gratification, suffering, and compromise as part of its ability to create prosperity, growth, benefit, and reward.
It is commencement season across the region, and signs of the commencement season are as obvious as the blooms on magnolia trees. One of the most important signs of the season is the commencement ceremonies themselves. Those events are a time to celebrate the sacrifices made by students on their way to exercising their duties as citizens. In graduation exercises, students march into auditoriums and stadiums for recognition of their accomplishments. They wear robes and caps to emphasize the special occasion. In a world without many milestone ceremonies, graduation represents an exceptionally notable milestone for young people.
In the rites of graduation, accomplishments are recognized. Honors are bestowed. Students sit among peers who sat beside them in classes, affirming the sense that we did these things together. In their classes, students had to achieve what their teachers and professors expected of them. Graduates understand they earned the recognition. Commencement ceremonies are meaningful because they are the connecting moments between the sacrifices that led to graduation and recognition that graduates are headed into society.
A few days ago, I attended the Virginia Western Community College graduation. Over 470 students lined up and entered the Berglund Center to receive degrees and certificates and to launch their next steps in life. As they processed into the hall, cheers from families and friends went up in the stands. Applause and accolades cascaded onto the assembled Class of 2026. Professors and administrators beamed smiles filled with pride or relief for their students. It is a “We made it” moment for students and a “They made it” moment for everyone else.
Every graduation includes stories of students overcoming challenges. Some students carry a heavy academic load while working full-time to support their families. Other students take extra courses to gain a credential. Sometimes the most serious students major in three subjects. I know a man who operates a demanding self-owned business, and he still takes time to become certified in a new line of work. High schoolers take college credit courses to save money for their family and accelerate learning for their next steps. For some students, the challenge is simply to persist in completing the work when demanding tasks seem overwhelming. Graduation ceremonies include hundreds of stories of accomplishment, often in the face of daunting adversity. Graduates made sacrifices and met many demands to get to this point in their lives.
The late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor once said that the Supreme Court was the most demanding work of her distinguished career. She went on to say that the court was her most rewarding work as well. She noted that you cannot have the rewards without the demands. In her view, they go together. Graduation is a moment when demands and rewards are obviously connected. Our civil society needs people, especially young people, to make the connection between sacrifice and reward to fulfill the promises of a civil society.
It is not lost on us that graduations are a time when people come together for the ceremony. It is an individual experience and a group experience. Fellow students shared the experience as did parents, siblings, mentors, teachers, grandparents and friends. We are in this world together. Graduations reinforce that reality, which is central to a functioning society.
Education contributes to forming and maintaining a civil society. So many of the tools of good citizenship are learned in classrooms and from teachers. Students learn a good work ethic to meet the standards of their teachers. They learn teamwork that will serve them later in life. Patience and precision are valuable lessons of the laboratory. They learn critical thinking, facts, and many different skills. Some of those skills are practical and job-oriented. Other skills help students understand their place in a complex world and how they can best live with purpose.
One cannot witness a graduation ceremony without being filled with hope. The pride of achievement merges with the promise of what lies ahead. It is also a time when we realize that education remains the best ladder we have for students to climb toward their potential as citizens. As Dr. Jim Davis noted, our society needs people who understand the connection between sacrifice and rewarding results. Graduations are reminders that the future of a civil society rests on that promise.
Michael Maxey is the former president of Roanoke College.
