Sweet

Briar College 2015 Commencement Speech

What an honor and privilege to be here today on this hallowed ground speaking to this class of
remarkable women.

Many have asked me how I intend to deliver remarks under the circumstances that bring us to
this place at this moment. I say, as each of you do, too: no one loved this place more; no one
more honors the impact this great institution has had on countless lives, communities and
professions. Anyone of us could do this, anyone of us would do this for the dignity and eternal
grace of Sweet Briar College.

My remarks today will not be based in nostalgia or in emotionalism. Today we celebrate an
institution which for over one hundred years has empowered women to lead lives of
significance: medical professionals, jurists, entrepreneurs, educators, authors, elected officials,
leaders of every sort. We celebrate you, Class of 2015, perhaps the last brigade of women
Sweet Briar will send out to help change the world. And, I will tell you this: the world is hungry
for you confident thinkers, problem-solvers, solution makers. If you were in the halls of
Congress, this world would be a better, more functional place.

Your Liberal Arts education and the nurturing academic environment you have come of age in
makes you particularly able. And, with that ability comes the responsibility to make your mark
as a lasting insignia of the Sweet Briar College legacy.

What is so poetic, so tragically beautiful, is that Sweet Briar, in what some say is her last aching
breaths, is providing you a leadership lesson of a lifetime.

The truth is: had you been at the table, had you been called to action, we would not be here
today at the proposed end of an era which is in desperate need of continuance.

The reason why is because you have the asset, the antidote, our Alma Mater was looking for.

Your greatest asset right now, other than your superior Liberal Arts education, is your
inexperience. You do not know how things have always been done. You are unencumbered
by the box of experience and expertise. You have the agility of mind and the ingenuity that
diminishes in us with each passing year. Sit at any table in life knowing that you have an asset
that cannot be easily replicated by your more senior colleagues and associates. It will make you
bold. Embrace it, and therein you will find conviction, courage and faith.

The rose you have earned and will now bear signals to the world that you are original. This
Sweet Briar single-sex educational experience makes you so. Your choice of Sweet Briar
College tells a fascinating story of individuality. You do not follow the herd. You are
emotionally and intellectually self-reliant. You take serious things seriously. You value
relationships and experiential learning, something you cannot get on-line or in auditoria of
mass education. You value logic and deductive reasoning, sorely underused disciplines today.

People are intrigued by this Sweet Briar experience, and they know immediately that you are
ready and able. It has been the calling card of my life to great positive effect, and it will be in
yours.

Ah, Ms. Pike

After concluding my Sweet Briar educational journey on a day like today nearly thirty years ago,
I attended Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. Now, for those of you that will be
attending law school, let me give you the scoop. Most will tell you to wear a baseball cap to
prevent any eye contact, sit as far in the back as possible and do not let the professor notice
you. At least that was the protocol for survival at Emory. I missed that message, however,
because as a Sweet Briar graduate, I came to Emory with a love of learning, a confidence in
ability and a willingness to engage. So, I sat on the front row, bright-eyed, coffee in hand and
ready to go. I could not wait to see my professors brilliance on display. Each day I was bursting
with observations from the reading assignment and eager to hear the observations of my
classmates who day after day remained mute. You could feel the fear in the room.

One day I was in my Civil Procedure class with a curmudgeonly professor. After class I bounded
to the instructors well with the youthful enthusiasm of a 22 year old to ask a burning question.
The professor glared at me with disdain and hissed: Ah, Ms. Pike. I have never met a graduate
of a womens college that didnt think she had the most important thing to say. Awww, thank
you! I replied. It was literally hours later that I stopped mid-step and realized: I think he may
have been trying to insult me. And, ladies, that is the effect of this great institution. It takes
you in your most formative years; it instills in you the unquestionable importance of your voice,
and it demonstrates the power of your well-armed, uncompromising mind.

You are now programmed to trust that ingenuity of your inexperience and to revel in it, and
therein you will see solutions no one else sees. You are uniquely equipped to find the door out
of the dark tomb. We could have used you at the table in these proclaimed last days of our
beloved Alma Mater.

Our lot may appear cast. (Not by us, but by others that we allowed to hold the reigns.) But, all
of us, all schools, all organizations, all enterprises whatsoever need take heed. A great lesson is
afoot. A lesson of perseverance, courage, righteousness and effective decision-making.

A Leadership Lesson of a Lifetime

I have a confession to make. I cannot sing. I cannot draw or paint. I literally have some sort of
impairment that prevents me from learning a foreign language as my beloved Sweet Briar
French professors, Mr. and Mrs. Van Treese, will gladly attest. But, I can lead. I was double-
dipped in it. For good or bad, that is my gift. It has necessarily meant that I spend many of my
days on the civic battlefield. When those who are not able need a voice, they reach out. Those
up to no good somehow always cross my path.

Many years ago, I was involved in some serious litigation of great proportions. No one in the
case was younger than my father. It seemed everyone had gone to an Ivy League college or law
school, and I was a thirty-something year old Sweet Briar educated lawyer from Columbus,
Georgia who dared to shed a light on things many felt best left in the dark. By all accounts this
case was not going to go well for me. I knew that. Moments before a critical hearing began, I
went to the only place I could be alone the womens restroom - and I stared into the mirror.
There a test of leadership was born, one I use to this day and I commend to you. I asked:

1) Am I being reasonable?
2) Have I worked as hard as anyone possibly could on this matter and educated myself to
all pertinent information?
3) Have I listened to, thoughtfully considered and respected contrary views?
4) Are my motives pure? Do I just want the best right thing to be done, whatever that may
be?

What is incredible about this litany is that it tests the foundation of justifiable righteousness,
and on this basis, I knew I could say something bold and necessarily controversial. I had been
fortified with courage by the answers to my test. I declared that I would go into the courtroom
and say what others wanted to dance around and avoid. And, I did. People sat slack-jawed as I
explained what was going on. The judges attention was transfixed. My worthy adversaries had
no reply but to fumble about. One finally uttered, but, Judge, this isn't the way we do things.
I, though, had convinced the judge that maybe it was time we did do things this way, and
justice was done that day.

Transparency and candor are fresh, unexpected and attention getting. People love the truth.
They seek it daily on the internet, television and social media. People want the world to make
sense, to see how the dots connect, and you can help with that. Dazzle people by giving them
the well-vetted, yet unvarnished, truth upfront. People will believe in its authenticity, and they
will soundly believe in you for delivering it.

After all, when you are a leader you are merely a vessel of information, a conduit of action.
People confuse that all the time. They wrongly believe a leader is the be-all and end-all.
Leadership is not about power; it is about service, and that service derives from those you are
leading - those who have placed their faith in you - not from some divine superiority of thought
or exclusivity of process.

Leaders understand that solutions come from the most unlikely place. The solution may come
from your perceived enemy; it may come from those perceived to be uninformed; it nearly
always comes out of no where. And, that is why inclusiveness is so important. The larger you
make the conversation, the more impressive the results. Now, there are people out there
thinking: No way. I am not about to tee-up some broad conversation with a bunch of people I
do not know to discuss possible solutions when I know the short list of what is viable. I
understand that sentiment, but you are going to fail as a leader if you follow it. If your ideas are
so good, if your short list so miraculous, then test it against the critical eye of stakeholders. If

you cannot do that, I suggest that you know your motives are not pure. You are not looking for
the best solution: you are looking for the solution most comfortable for you. And, that, friends,
is not leadership.

If you have hidden your hand, put your finger on the scale, or denied the voice of others, the
result is as ill-legitimate as the day is long, and you will certainly lose respect and credibility
among those you chose to exclude or ignore. Invest respect in others, and in good process, and
it will return to you many fold.

Leadership takes courage, not recklessness. Innate fear is what makes a person in a leadership
position slip into secrecy and insular decision-making. If such a person can just get the three
like-minded thinkers in the room, they believe they can make all the decisions without the mess
of broad input, or, God forbid, controversy!

Yet, it is amazing what you can accomplish when you surrender to the temporary chaos and the
controversy of solution-making. There, in all that choppy water, you find the current to the
calm on the other side. If you hold firm to the justifiable righteousness of your effort, you will
either prevail on the course you have planned, or you will drift to a better point.

The Impostors of Triumph and Disaster

Look, Sweet Briar College is not the only school to have been brought to the brink of closure.
Some have tumbled over, as it appears have we. Others pulled back and found a new way.
Famously, the Harrow School for Boys in Britain was once threatened with annihilation. Faced
with the ravages of World War II, the unrelenting bombing of London, and threats too horrific
to imagine, the Harrow School feared it could be shuttered. The alumni that could be gathered
came to pay a final homage to their beloved Alma Mater. However, ten-months later, with the
threats and challenges still abounding, a ray of light appeared. The Head Master called back its
most celebrated alum, the nations Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to encourage the boys
and the staff forward. There, Churchill gave these words of encouragement to the Harrow
School:

Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting
here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and
as Kipling well says, we must "meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat
those two impostors just the same."

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. But for everyone, surely,
what we have gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School
- surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never
give in, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give
in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never
yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a
year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were

finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the
history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a
sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no
flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to
those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find
ourselves in a position where I say that we have only to persevere to conquer.

The situations of Sweet Briar College and Harrow School for Boys are different, no doubt: One
involved a troublesome debt level (though increasing assets), a greater than desirable draw on
an increasing endowment, and a several year decline in student enrollment though a dramatic
increase in student applications; the other involved global war, human decimation, economic
collapse and a struggle beyond tolerance. One wants to throw in the towel, the other
persevered.

Ladies, please know that giving up is always on the table. Successful leaders, however, are
defined by those that do not choose it. They choose to persevere. If you can keep a fixed
vision of what is possible, you will never drown in the morass of doubt and defeat. Simply to
persevere is to conquer doubt and defeat. If you join us at the table, we will persevere.

Our Candle Burns At Both Ends

A little over 114 years ago a remarkable woman stood right here and, in the discord and
uncertainties of that male-dominated era, she saw the possibilities for a world filled with
strong, educated women. We are born of that vision. We are products of that legacy.

And, yet, the false narratives that womens colleges are no longer viable, rural colleges are no
longer viable, or that Liberal Arts colleges are no longer viable were bought into by too many,
and contributed to what threatens to be our Alma Maters downfall. The false narratives
permeated and provided comfortable excuses for the inability or unwillingness to find a path
forward. Look at how these false narratives were ratified by many in the early days of the
announcement of our impending demise. Of course!, some acclaimed, womens colleges
are a luxury of the past and have dubious relevancy.

Now, we need to admit something to ourselves. Upon hearing the startling news of the
proposed closure of Sweet Briar College, too many of us hung our heads for a moment and
accepted its defeat. For a split second, we, too, lost faith in the vision bequeathed to us. We
temporarily accepted the doubts of others that Sweet Briar wasn't as strong as we thought, it
wasn't as valuable as we thought, Sweet Briar couldnt cut it in todays world and at todays
standards. For a tick of the clock, we hung our heads, and Indiana Fletcher Williams wept.
Until we caught our breath, that is, and realized these are dangerous false narratives for the
sake of excuse and obfuscation. We are the proof that these narratives are untrue.

Nevertheless, this terrible time, this unnecessary waste has come to pass.

The Old Testament tells us that Queen Esther had come to a particular position in the kingdom
for such a time as this, and Mordecai reminds her that she need not think that her position
protects her, for as goes the fate of those like her, so will she go. So, let me be clear, I have
heard more alarming dog whistles about women who go to women's colleges in these past two
months than I have ever heard in the male-dominated area of the law I practiced, or in Deep
South politics. We should be troubled by that. When we allow the evidence of the
extraordinary results produced here at Sweet Briar to be diminished and demeaned by these
trite references, so goes all our fates. To all women, and men who respect women, to everyone
who takes the education of women seriously, whether you cried at the news of the shooting of
Malala Yousafzai or rejoice when you see Mika Brzezinski excoriate some pompous fool on
Morning Joe, then you need to know this business about Sweet Briar's days being done because
it is not relevant anymore is a statement of ignorance and offense. Our fates are tied to one
another, to these young women graduating today, and to the legacy of Sweet Briar College.
And, we should make it our charge to live our lives in a way that reflects the worthiness of the
colleges mission. In doing so, the extraordinary value of this education and the burning
candles of our lives will continue to cast unabated a lovely, but powerful light.

Farewell, For Today

Ladies: We were each built for our own lives, but what we share is this incredible place and
learning experience, and I tell you that you are well-equipped to do anything you desire to do,
to accomplish any result, to compete with the best the country has to offer. Because of the
training you have received at Sweet Briar College, because of your understanding of respect
and relationship, because you are programmed for endurance, not quick fixes, you, too, are
uniquely equipped to tackle the tough issues and find solutions no one else sees or has the
courage to fathom. If only you will join us at the table.

This bittersweet day some come to pre-maturely mourn our dear Alma Mater, who has served
us well and fulfilled her mission until thwarted from doing so. We swim in the pride of her
legacy and are blessed to have been touched by it. We are so proud of this graduating class of
Sweet Briar College. We charge you today to take all you have learned and experienced and
make the world regret we ever put Sweet Briar College in jeopardy. Make strangers stop and
say: if only we had more like her. Let us today vow to support womens education at every
turn so that none fall victim to easy, false narratives of predestined failure. And, as to those
who have led us to this regrettable point, let us endeavor to forgive them forgive their lack of
transparency, their lack of inclusiveness, their lack of perseverance, and their failure of faith -
because, truly, they know not what they have done.

As I close, there is a special leader that I want to thank today, Virginia Attorney General Mark
Herring. I spoke with Attorney General Herring yesterday, and he asked me to share two
important messages with you. First, he wanted me to convey his hardy congratulations to the

class of 2015 for your accomplishments. Second, he wanted me to tell you that he will
continue to work with those who love Sweet Briar and care about its legacy and its future in
hopes that we can reach the best possible outcome.

Godspeed and best wishes to you, Class of 2015: Sweet Briar College's latest graduates

Teresa Pike Tomlinson, Sweet Briar College, 87