MUNCIE, Ind. – More than 15,000 people, including 2,500 graduates, enjoyed a picture-perfect commencement day on the Ball State University Old Quad, as keynote speaker David Gergen urged the graduates to find a "North Star" to guide them through life. Gergen is editor-at-large of U.S. News and World Report, a professor of public service at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the director of its Center for Public Leadership. As a best-selling author and journalist, Gergen is a much sought after television commentator. He also served as an advisor to four U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

The world is full of philosophies, religions and historical wisdom from which we can derive guiding principles to find our way in a complex world, said Gergen. Deciding what steps to follow in the pursuit of success is like finding a personal North Star, a reference to the star commonly used for navigational purposes.

"We congratulate you again on your success," Gergen said. "You have earned a degree from one of the finest institutions in this nation, and now you set a new course through waters never seen before by anyone. You now become explorers. Your family, your friends, your faculty are all proud of you. We believe in you, and we hope that you will now find your own North Star. Good luck and God speed."

This was the first time since 1986 that someone other than Ball State's sitting president gave the spring commencement address. That year, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar spoke. The university also bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree upon Gergen.

Receiving an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree was David Owsley. Owsley, the son of Lucy Ball Owsley and the grandson of Frank C. Ball, a member of the family who helped create Ball State in 1918, is a dedicated public servant and humanitarian characterized by his pursuit of the collection, research and preservation of art and its use for education.

His eclectic interests and wide expertise are represented by the more than 2,500 diverse works he and his family have given or loaned to the Ball State University Museum of Art. Owsley has furnished the museum with collections of art representing the decorative arts and sculpture from Ancient China, India and Southeast Asia. In 1978, the Owsley Gallery of Ethnographic Art was dedicated to recognize his gifts.

"Thank you for this very great honor," Owsley said of the honorary degree. "I hope that the works of art that I have given to your Museum of Art will not only be of interest and inspiration in themselves but will serve also as signposts to avenues of exploration of the great and often beautiful cultures of our world."

Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora presided over her first spring commencement ceremony since becoming the university's 14th president in August. During brief remarks at the end of the ceremony, Gora told the graduates that having passion allows us to overcome the inevitable obstacles in life.

"You have chosen your academic and co-curricular experiences at Ball State based upon the anticipation of what you might be after graduation," Gora said. "Those experiences have prepared you well for your next steps in life. My wish for each one of you is that your experiences beyond Ball State are also filled with anticipation and that 'what you will be' sparks a passion within you that drives you to live each aspect of your lives to the fullest."

(Note to Editors: For more information, contact Glenn Augustine, associate director of university communications, at (765) 748-4822.)