The future will be a balancing act between reason and passion, Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos told the Vanderbilt University Class of 2015 during a Commencement ceremony rich in pageantry and music.
“Whether our times and debates are uniquely passionate and divisive is a fair question,” Zeppos said to 2,926 graduates gathered on a warm, sunny morning on Alumni Lawn. “But whether it is the best of times or worst of times, you will need over the decades ahead to find – in your work, your family life, your civic engagement – that special balance of reason and passion that we treasure at Vanderbilt.”
The ceremony, the first outdoor Commencement the weather has allowed since 2012, featured an extended suite of brass processional music as students and faculty marched to their seats and a musical interlude performed by Blair School of Music junior Liam Michael Underwood on the vibes.
Zeppos warned of the pitfalls of being ruled by either passion or reason without being checked by the other.
“Too much passion can leave you closed-minded,” he said. “Suddenly, people who disagree with you aren’t seen as reasonable interlocutors, but demonized or dismissed. Means can justify ends. The passionate leader can lead a people, a society and humanity astray.”
Likewise, reason without passion is “empty and dangerous,” Zeppos said.
“Reason without passion and its sibling compassion is empty and dangerous,” he said. “One can reason toward bad means to justify even worse ends. Passion for what justice, equality and fairness demand operates as a check when the rational is unjust, inhumane and destructive. At crucial times someone must stand up and declare, ‘With my deepest conviction, this is wrong and I cannot in my heart countenance what is happening.’
“Our history and world history are littered with unspeakable actions in the name of reason.”
One way to maintain balance, Zeppos told the graduates, is to continue to make diversity important in their lives. He said Vanderbilt had made it a priority to provide them with diversity during their years on campus.
“Seek out others who are different from yourself,” he said. “You didn’t come to Vanderbilt to be with people just like you. We are a community of many faiths, races, ethnicities and political perspectives. You have thrived in this quantum uncertainty.”
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He urged graduates to “be passionate, be principled and be confident in your views.”
“But … be ready to change your mind in the face of evidence and reason,” he said. “When you enter into debates that do and should trigger passionate and intense discussion and disagreement, remember the Vanderbilt path you pursued and our respect for balance between passion and reason.”
The university awarded 1,644 undergraduate and 2,212 graduate and professional degrees in 2015. The Commencement ceremony capped two days of activities for graduates and their guests, including the Senior Day speech by author Walter Isaacson and educational seminars by faculty. The top students in each school were awarded Founder’s Medals, and 28 retiring faculty were recognized with emeriti status.
Jim Patterson, a senior writer in University News and Communications, covered his own Commencement this year. He is a 2015 Master of Liberal Arts and Science graduate with a Certificate in Creative Writing at Vanderbilt.