Good morning everyone. I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this award, especially when I realize the many who equally deserve it and others probably more so. I am especially indebted to Professor Linda Forrest, who submitted my name, and the many others who exaggerated my accomplishments in their letters of support.

But more importantly, I am grateful for the support of my family, Paulina, my wife of over 30 years, son DP, and daughter Marissa. It would be impossible for me to be here today without the many sacrifices they made.

But, today is not my day it is yours! This must be a wonderful and proud moment in all of your lives, not only for those graduating, but also for the many family and friends who are here to honor you. And, I would like to add my personal congratulations to what you have accomplished over these many years.

Lest you forget, however, no one achieves such a high distinction without family, friends, spouses, partners and even pets who have encouraged you along the way, given you their love and support, and in many cases made equal or greater sacrifices in support of your endeavors.

• You have been given a wonderful education at the University of Oregon.

• You have been filled with the knowledge and power of education and the human condition.

• You have been taught the theories and concepts of teacher education, educational leadership, special education, "speech, language and hearing services," the helping professions, and in my field Counseling Psychology.

• You have been exposed to the standards of practice in your profession.

• You have been grounded in the codes of ethics that dictate ethical and moral behavior.

• You have served educational internships, fieldwork and practicum aimed at developing your skills and socializing you into the profession.

• You have persevered in writing a thesis, dissertation and other culminating experiences aimed at developing a critical/analytical mind.

In essence, you have been given the finest education available in this nation. Least this all go to your head, let me also add, however, that you have, in all probability, been culturally encapsulated by virtue of your experiences in this society.

The questions I ask you this morning, therefore, as you end one journey to begin another, are these:
• Are you a culturally competent educator, helping professional and human being?

• Has your social education included an exploration of yourselves as racial/cultural beings?

• Does it include components of culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability/disability and other sociodemographic factors related to the disenfranchised, underserved, and marginalized?

• As a future leader of this nation, has your education also stressed the importance of human compassion, helping those less fortunate that you, valuing human diversity, and teaching you a devotion to social justice?

• For what good is an education that does not help and benefit others?

Your answers to these questions will ultimately determine whether your work, your profession, and your society will become a fair, just and equitable one.

Challenge #1 - It has become an increasingly small world, one that challenges us in different ways. We are indeed a global world in which a sneeze in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Canada ripples through the fiber of every nation, including the United States. We are intricately linked to one another through global economies, global communications, and global travel. This fact forces us to confront multicultural perspectives rather than monocultural ones.

The terrorist attack of 911, for example, was a wake-up call, a sobering reminder that some nations and groups of people hate and despise us. How do we get others to understand who we are? And, what do we need to do to understand the difference between terrorists and our many loyal Muslim brothers and sisters?

It also teaches us the dangers of racial profiling and the injustices of civil rights violations.

Recently, the inspector general of the Justice Department issued a blistering report about the treatment of detainees. Such actions are reminders to people of color of the unjustified treatment of 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Challenge #2 - On the domestic front, the demographic landscape of the United States is changing rapidly. Some time between the years 2030 and 2050, people of color will become a numerical majority. Already, our public school systems approach 50% racial/ethnic minorities and 75% now entering the labor force are women and minorities.

In light of this increasing diversity, you, as an educator, practitioner or researcher will inevitably be encountering colleagues, clients, students, customers and neighbors who differ from you in terms of race, culture and ethnicity.

Their worldviews, assumptions, values and modes of behavior may differ from yours and create potential barriers to mutual understanding.

Challenge #3 - On an individual level, it is impossible for any of us to escape our cultural conditioning. As a product of this society, it is highly probably that you have inherited the values, biases and prejudices of our society. I say this not in an accusatory fashion, but as one who has also been the victim of biased cultural conditioning.

It is clear to me, that while the world has changed, prejudice, discrimination and bigotry are as old as human history itself. It continues to threaten to tear this nation apart, and unless adequately addressed, it spells doom for our society.

I ask you this morning to join me on a personal journey to multicultural competence.

I ask you to realize that understanding people does not come simply from reading books but from lived experiences and experiential reality.

I ask you to realize that cultural competence is a continuous lifelong journey.

Are you willing and committed to taking that journey? I hope your answer is yes!

I pray that we will not look back some day only to echo the words of Poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who wrote: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been!"

Thank you for listening and once again, congratulations to the graduates of 2003!