Congratulations, Class of 2004! You have made many people proud of you for your great accomplishment.

Among the many people to thank for all of the help you have had along the way — in addition to significant others, parents, grandparents, siblings, in-laws, and employers — are the Ball State alumni who have gone before you because you are the beneficiary of their achievement. Your graduation initiates each of you into the proud family of alumni who have offered you their best. Because of what you have accomplished at Ball State, you are positioned to live better lives, to enjoy better opportunities, to hold better jobs, to have better choices as you develop and strengthen relationships, raise your families, achieve and build wealth, and contribute to the communities in which you live. In short, to claim your joy in the world.

Graduation marks the official completion of an important chapter in your life. In leaving the campus and Muncie, a part of you remains. As proud new alumni, I urge each of you to stay in contact with your Alma Mater Ball State, lending your voice and providing financial support for its continued growth and development. The University's name recognition, the quality and reputation of its programs, and its success for recruiting and graduating leaders for tomorrow reflects directly upon each of you as alumni and impacts the value of your own degree. As well, make the effort to stay in touch with each other, to develop a strong network of friends and contacts, and to commit yourselves to excellence and focus your creativity and time to make the world a better and more just place, influencing others around you to do the same. I hope each of you will support important community resources such as libraries that are open and available to everyone for self-education as a source of opportunity since these facilities touch and enhance the lives of everyone within their sphere of influence.

As you face tomorrow, my suggestion is that you quickly build on your achievement by setting new goals to find and seize the opportunities that are waiting for you. Everything begins with an idea and happens through action. I wish everyone good health, happiness, joy, and both financial and personal success in all of your endeavors.

For more information or to share your comments, contact Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, AHafner@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5277. This essay is based on a piece that appeared in the Library Insider 2(6): 5, June 2004.
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