Poverty and protest. From Oklahoma City to Bosnia, acts of violence have come into our homes and hearts. These are indeed challenging times into which we launch our students. The world is crying for the leadership of our graduates. Our society is facing some of the most formidable challenges of our time issues involving leadership and commitment, community and cultural deterioration.
Leadership is, after all, the cornerstone of a civil society.
But the problem, as many have observed, is that our society is no longer civil. A nationwide poll in U.S. News and World Report noted the nation's concern about our eroding civility. Nine out of ten people surveyed believe that the decline in civility increases opportunities for violence. Eight out of ten believe that it divides our communities and destroys our moral values. As John Ong, Chairman of the BF Goodrich Company, observed in an Ohio State commencement address, we have seen an increasing glorification of the individual within our popular culture, even of individuals whose behavior is transcendently aberrant and idiosyncratic.