AT EUREKA COLLEGE, THERE IS A GARDEN WHICH IS DEDICATE TODAY THAT SCHOOL'S
MOST FAMOUS ALUMNUS WHO IN 1982
GAVE A COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
WHICH SOME SAY WAS THE BEGINNING
OF THE END OF THE COLD WAR.
>>
THE MONUMENT WAS RECENTLY DEDICATED ON MAY 9, 2000. EIGHTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
FAMOUS SPEECH THAT RONALD REAGAN
GAVE HERE ON THIS CAMPUS IN
1982.
>> ON THAT DAY HE WOULD DELIVER
A SPEECH THAT WOULD END THE
ASSAULT, AND CHANGE POLICY WITH
REGARD TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
>> I BELIEVE IT WILL BE POSSIBLE
TO REDUCE THE RISK OF WAR BY
REMOVING THE INSTABILITIES THAT
NOW EXIST AND DISMANTLING THE
NUCLEAR MENACE.
>>
WHAT RAY DAN DID IN 82, HE INTRODUCED THE START INITIATIVE, STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TALKS.
THAT SPEECH HAS BEEN CREDITED
MANY AS MARKING THE BEGINNING OF
THE END OF THE COLD WAR.
BY THE END OF THE 1980'S WHEN WE
SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE
WORLD, WHEN WE SAW THE CHANGES
THAT HAD COME ABOUT, EVENTUAL HE
END OF THE COLLAPSE THE SOVIET
UNION INTO END OF THE COLD WAR,
IT WAS EASIER TO GO BACK AND
LOOK AT THE 82 SPEECH AND SEE
THE THINGS THAT PRESIDENT REAGAN
WAS TALKING ABOUT THEN HAD
EVENTUALLY COME TO PASS.
THE BUST IS 33 INCHES TALL. IT TRIES TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF PRESIDENT REAGAN IN
PARTICULAR CAPTURING THE POWER
OF HIS SMILE AND THE SENSE OF
OPTIMISM THAT HE BROUGHT TO THE
NATION IN THE 1980'S.
>> ENGRAVED ON THE PEDAL STALL
ARE SEVERAL QUOTES OF THAT
HISTORIC A ADDRESS, INCLUDING
THIS WISH FOR THE FUTURE "I HOPE
THE COMMENCE THE TODAY WILL ALSO
MARK THE COMMENCEMENT OF A NEW
ERA, A NEW START TOWARD A MORE
PEACEFUL AND SECURE WORLD."
>> WE SEE HERE A CIRCULAR AREA
IN THE GARDEN, A CIRCLE
REPRESENTING THE EARTH.
WE SEE THE VARIOUS PLANTS THAT
ARE HERE, THE VARIOUS FLOWERS
INCLUDING THE HOSTA, TULIPS,
THINGS THAT WORK ON RED, WHITE
AND BLUE COLOR SCHEME.
IT IS A CELEBRATION, A
COMMEMORATION OF PEACE OF THE
EARTH, OF THE POWER AND
ENDURANCE OF THE EARTH AND OF
MANKIND.
IN ADDITION TO THE BUST OF THE
PRESIDENT, AND PED ASTAL, THE
GARDEN ALSO INCLUDES A SECTION
OF THE BERLIN WALL GIVEN TO
EUREKA COLLEGE AS A GIFT BY THE
GERMAN GOVERNMENT.
WE ARE ONLY ONE OF THREE
COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES IN THE
UNITED STATES TO HAVE RECEIVED
SUCH A GIFT FROM THE GERMAN
GOVERNMENT.
THE SECTION OF THE WALL WE WERE
GIVEN STANDS FIVE FEET TALL,
FOUR FEET WIDE, WEIGHS
122 POUNDS.
IN FRONT OF THE SECTION OF THE
WALL, IS A MARKER THAT
IDENTIFIES IT AS BEING PART OF
THE BERLIN WALL, BUT ALSO
INCLUDES THE FAMOUS QUOTATION,
MR. GORBACHAV, TEAR DOWN THIS
WALL.
YOU SEE A BUST OF PRESIDENT
REAGAN THAT IMMEDIATELY TO THE
SIDE FROM THAT BUST, STANDS THE
BERLIN WALL.
YOU SEE THE POWER OF THOSE WORDS
I THINK REPRESENTS A STRONG,
HISTORICAL MESSAGE.
>> NEARBY, EUREKA COLLEGE
MAINTAINS A MUSEUM THAT TRACES
THE PRESIDENT'S LIFE FROM HIS
BOYHOOD YEARS TO THE WHITE
HOUSE.
YET, THE GARDEN IS A MORE
REFLECTIVE REMINDER OF REAGAN'S
ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
ITS TRANQUIL SETTING STANDS IN
CONTRAST TO THE HARSH REALITY IN
WHICH THE SPEECH WAS BORN, A
TIME WHEN ONE COUNTRY WAS
DIVIDED BY A CONCRETE WALL, AND
NUCLEAR WAR WAS A VERY REAL
THREAT.
>> WE CELEBRATE THE WORK THAT
PRESIDENT REAGAN DID IN THE
1980'S TO FOSTER AN END TO THE
CRISIS THAT HAD THREATENED THE
WORLD THROUGH MOST OF THE SECOND
HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY.