In the spirit of true academia, truth is not advanced by stereotyping, by shallow epithets, by innuendo or insinuation, or by suggesting that those with different views should not be heard. Those who labor and study in our centers of learning must be made of stronger stuff than that. If they are not, the prospects for a free, virtuous, and compassionate society as a whole are slim. We should judge ideas as we should judge the people who bring them to the marketplace - on their merits. The thing I have always found refreshing about the traditional academic environment is the premium it places on thinking.
True thinkers can disagree without being disagreeable.
By nature, they reject the thought police. Graduates, you are about to step into a world you will shape for years to come. We all know that. Certainly, no one is inspired in a positive way by the hypocrite or by the unprincipled. If you reflect further, I believe you will agree with me that each of us is inspired far more by the power of positive example than by command or threats.