Please join me in welcoming Tim Cook,
our 2018 Commencement speaker
>> Hello, Blue Devils.
It is great to be back at Duke.
It is an honor to stand before
you as your commencement speaker
and a graduate.
I earned by agree from the Fuqua
School in 1988.
In preparing for this speech
I reached out to one of my
favorite professors from back then.
Bob Reinheimer taught this great course in
management communications, which including
shaprening your public speaking skills.
We hadn't spoke for decades.
I was thrilled when he told me
he remembered a particularly
gifted public speaker who took
his class in the 1980's.
With a bright mind and a
charming personality.
He said he knew we back then
this person would December
destined for greatness.
You can imagine how this made me feel.
He had an eye for talent.
If I do say so myself, I think
his instincts were right.
Melinda Gates has really made her
mark in the world!
I'm grateful to Bob and Dean and
all of my Duke professors.
Their teachings have stayed with
me throughout my career.
I want to thank President Price
and the Duke faculty,
and the Board of Trustees for
the honor of speaking with you
today.
I would like to add my
congratulations to the honorary
degree recipients.
Most of us, congratulations to
the Class of 2018!
(applause).
Mr. Cook: Now no graduate gets
to this moment alone.
I want to acknowledge your
parents and grandparents and
friends that are here cheering
you on, just as they have every
step of the way.
Let's give them our thanks.
Today especially I remember my
mother.
Who watched me graduate from
Duke, I wouldn't have been there
that day or made it here today
without her support.
Let's give our special thanks to
all of the mother's here today
on Mother's Day.
(applause).
Mr. Cook: I have wonderful
memories here.
Cheering for the victory,
cheering even louder when the
victory is over Carolina.
Look back over your shoulder
fondly and say good-bye to Act I
of your life.
Then quickly look forward.
Act II begins today.
It is your turn to reach out and
take the baton.
You entered the world at a time
of great challenge.
Our country is deeply divided,
and that many Americans refuse
to hear any opinion that differs
from their own.
Our planet is warming with
devastating consequences.
And there's some that even deny
it is happening.
Our schools and communities
suffer from deep inequality.
We fail to guarantee every
student the right to a good
education.
And yet we are not powerless in
the face of these problems.
You are not powerless to fix
them.
No generation has ever had more
power than yours.
And no generation has a chance
to change things faster than
yours can.
The pace at which progress is
possible has accelerated
dramatically.
Aided by technology, every
individual has the tools,
potential, and reach to build a
better world.
That makes this the best time in
history to be alive.
Whatever you choose to do with
your life, wherever your passion
takes you, I urge you to take
the power you have been given
and use it for good.
Aspire to leave this world
better than you found it.
I didn't always see life as
clearly as I do today.
But I've learned the greatest
challenge of life can knowing
when to break with conventional
wisdom.
Don't just except the world you
inherit today.
Don't just accept the status
quo.
Know the challenge has ever been
solved and no lasting
improvement has ever been
achieved unless people dare to
try something different.
Dare to think different.
I was lucky to learn from
someone who believed this
deeply.
Someone who knew that changing
the world starts with following
a vision.
Not a path.
He was my friend and mentor,
Steve Jobs.
(applause).
Mr. Cook: Steve's vision was
that great ideas comes from a
restless refusal to accept
things as they are.
Those principles still guide us
at Apple today.
We reject the notion that global
warming is inevitable.
That's why we run Apple on 100%
renewable energy.
(applause).
Mr. Cook: Thank you.
We reject the excuse that
getting the most out of
technology means trading away
your right to privacy.
So we choose a different path.
Collecting as little of your
data as poll, being thoughtful
and respectful when it is in our
care.
Because we know it belongs to
you.
In every way at every turn, the
question we ask ourselves is not
what can we do, but what should
we do?
Because Steve taught us that's
how change happens.
And from him, I learned to never
be content with the way that
things are.
I believe in mindset comes
naturally to young people.
And you should never let go of
this restlessness.
So today's ceremony isn't just
about presenting you with a
degree.
It is about presenting you with
a question.
How will you challenge the
status quo?
How will you push the world
forward?
50 years ago today, May 13th,
1968, Robert Kennedy was
campaigning in Nebraska and
spoke to a group of students who
were wrestling with the same
question.
Those were troubled times too.
The U.S. was at war in Vietnam.
There was violent unrest in
America's cities.
And the country was still
reeling from the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King a
month earlier.
Kennedy gave the students a call
to action.
When you look across this
country and when you see
people's lives held back by
discrimination and poverty, when
you see injustice and
inequality, he said you should
be the last people to accept
things as they are.
Let Kennedy's words echo here
today.
You should be the last people to
accept it.
Whatever path you've chosen, be
it medicine or business,
engineering or the humanities,
whatever drives your passion, be
the last to accept the notion
that the world you inherit
cannot be improved.
Be the last to accept the excuse
that says that's just how things
are done here.
Duke graduates, you should be
the last people to accept it.
And you should be the first to
change it.
(applause).
Mr. Cook: The education you
perceive gives you few
opportunities that you have.
You are uniquely qualified and
therefore uniquely responsible
to build a better way forward.
That won't be easy.
It will require great courage.
But that courage will not only
help you live your life to the
fullest, it will empower you to
transform the lives of others.
Last month I was in Birmingham
to mark the 50th anniversary of
Dr. King's assassination.
I had the incredible privilege
with spending time with women
and men who marched and worked
alongside him.
Many of them are younger at the
time than you are now.
They told me when they defied
their parents and joined the
sit-ins and the boycotts, when
they faced the police dogs and
the fire hoses, they were
risking everything they had
becoming foot soldiers for
justice without a second
thought.
Because they knew that change
had to come.
They believe so deeply in the
cause of justice, because they
knew even all of the adversity
they had faced, they had the
chance to build something better
for the next generation.
We can all learn from your
example.
If you hope to change the world,
you must find your
fearlessness.
Now if you are anything like I
was on graduation day, maybe you
are not feeling so fearless.
Maybe you are thinking about the
job that you hope to get.
Or wondering where you are going
to live or how to repay that
student loan.
These I know are real concerns.
I had that too.
Don't let the worries stop you
from making a difference.
Fearlessness means taking the
first step, even if you don't
know where it will take you.
It means being driven by a
higher purpose rather than by
applause.
It means knowing that you reveal
your character when you stand
apart more than when you stand
with the crowd.
If you step up without fear of
failure, if you talk and listen
to each other without fear of
rejection, if you act with
decency and kindness even when
no one is looking, even if it
seems small or inconsequential,
trust me, the rest will fall
into place.
More importantly, you'll be able
to tackle the big things when
they come your way.
It is in the truly trying
moments that the fearless
inspire us.
Fearless like the students of
Parkland, Florida who refused to
be silent about the epidemic of
gun violence.
They have rallied millions to
their cause.
(applause).
Mr. Cook: Fearless like the
women that say me too and time's
up.
Women who cast light into dark
places and move us to a more
just and equal future.
Fearless like those who fight
for the rights of imgrants who
understand that our only hopeful
future is one that embraces all
who want to contribute.
Duke graduates, be.
Fearless.
Be the last people to accept
things as they are.
And the first people to stand up
and change them for the better.
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr.
gave a speech at Page Auditorium
to an overflow crowd.
Students who couldn't get a
seat, listened from outside in
the lawn.
Dr. King warned them that some
day we would all have to atone
not only for the words and
actions of the bad people, but
for the appalling silence and
indifference of the good people
who stood around and say wait on
time.
Martin Luther King stood right
here at Duke and said the time
is always right to do right.
For you graduates, that time is
now.
It will always be now.
It is time to add the brick to
the path of progress.
It is time for all of us to move
forward.
And it is time for you to lead
the way.
Thank you, and congratulations,
Class of 2018!
(applause).