Convocation Speech Fall 2014
Unless otherwise noted, these speeches and open letters were written for the Dean of Students of Biola University between 2011-2016.
[Portions of this work were inspired by the Beloit College Mindset List]
President Corey, standing before you today are the men and women of the Fall 2014 incoming class…
And since it’s Convocation, it’s time for my annual look back at what the world was like the year these students were born.
Most of this year’s freshmen were born in 1996.
What was the world like in 1996?
• Braveheart won the Oscar for best picture, but everyone knows the best film of 1996 was… Space Jam!
• In sports, it was an era of dynasties:
o The Cowboys won the last of their 3 Super Bowl’s of the 90’s.
o The Yankees won the first of their 4 World Series of the 90’s.
o The Bulls won the 4th of their 6 NBA titles of the 90’s.
o But change was coming. In 1996, the Los Angeles Lakers traded for an 18-year-old player just out of high school, named Kobe Bryant…and two weeks later they signed a free agent, named Shaquille O’Neal.
• Your stack of CDs from 1996 may have included Boyz II Men, Hootie & the Blowfish, and The Spice Girls. But the most popular song of the year: The Macarena!
• On TV in 1996, you may have been watching Walker: Texas Ranger, Beverly Hills 90210, Friends or the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
• Where was technology in 1996?
o People with home Internet access spent about 30 minutes PER MONTH surfing the web.
o You could play Super Mario on your new Nintendo 64, or finally get a personal email address through Hotmail.
o The leading search engine was Yahoo. At Yahoo, each page on the web was actually catalogued manually by an actual human being.
o The first blog was created (by a college student, of course) in January 1996.
o And soon we started to hear the curious phrase, “online community”…
Around here, we talk a lot about ‘community’. We talk about the Biola community. And this generation sitting out here today seems to have a greater passion for community than we have seen in decades.
But one of the things your English and Philosophy professors will teach you is that, before you begin a discussion, be sure to clarify your terms. And so I want to clarify what I mean when I say community:
Building a community, especially a community within the Kingdom of God, is not finding a bunch of people who are just like you… in fact, it is precisely the opposite.
Our theme for this year is “Life Together.” And doing life together takes a willingness to sacrifice your own freedom, your own wants and desires, for the sake of the whole. It means learning how to survive disappointment and conflict. It means seeking wisdom from others, and then learning how to think for yourself and make your own decisions.
Learning to become part of this community may be the best chance you will ever have to understand that most special community of all: The church, the community of God, the body of Christ.
President Corey, these students will find that their classes are hard work. But living in community is also hard work. If we can help them learn to do “Life Together” here, then go into the Church and do “Life Together” there, then they will be the Light to their generation.
I present these new students to you, President Corey, that you might welcome them into this community.
