Among the college commencement addresses in the United States this spring was the one on May 16 by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. What follows is most of the approximately 22-minute address, transcribed from a PBS NewsHour video recording on YouTube, where it appears in its entirety.

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“I want to thank you for the kind invitation to be part of this very important day for all of you. I know it is important to you, I know it’s important to your families, to your friends, and so many others who have been part of supporting you in your journey and in this transitional moment in your lives.

“I know many of you also received your commissions to serve in all branches of the military. I want to thank you for that, but only for your willingness to serve, but the sacrifice of yourselves and family members that comes with your service. VMI prides itself on the development of citizen soldiers, and the act of your committing to this service due to no obligation to serve demonstrates why America’s all-volunteer forces are unmatched by any other fighting force in the world. Your willingness to put all on the line for the American idea, our form of democracy, our freedoms — and for no other reason — inspires those of us not in uniform to be good citizens, working for the prosperity and security of our families, our communities, and our country. In this way we honor your service.

“Others of you are on the threshold of entering the private sector. Some will pursue public service. Others will continue your education, [in] graduate studies elsewhere. Regardless of your next stop, the discipline, values and beginning of your development as a leader that you take with you from your time at VMI positions you very well in the starting blocks for the next phase of your life.

“In the midst of these celebrations today I also know that as you close out this phase of your life and prepare for the future that you’ll take time to thank the people who taught you along the way. Of course your teachers and professors, important as they are, but also your parents, your grandparents, your coaches, mentors, and others that helped you learn and succeed. Like no generation before you, more of you — most likely all of you — will be required to consider the entire world clearly and understand how your life and abilities can help address many of the shared global challenges confronting us.

“In 1975, more than 40 years ago, graduates such as myself and my classmates could afford to pretty much focus on our own nation and our own markets for opportunity and growth. Indisputably, that is no longer the case.

“I took my two all-day professional engineering exams with a post slide rule. I was given my first hand-held calculator, a TI 110, one year after I went to work for Exxon. It could add, it could subtract, it could multiply, it could divide … and amazingly it had a square root key. [Laughter.] I received one of the first desk top computers, a Macintosh, with a very blurry green screen, in 1983, eight years into my career.

“Fast-forward to the devices available to almost anyone the world over, I’ll leave it to you to contemplate the changes you will live through over the next 40 years. The most profound change that challenges our economic competitiveness and our national security is the proliferation of digital communications and transactions. Whether we like it or not, for better or for worse, our own innovations and inventions have connected our world in ways unimagined, and created economic and security interdependencies that we had not contemplated nor prepared ourselves to manage. The world has more or less been drug along by the technology rather that our political and business leaders shaping the role of these technologies. Digital highways and back roads are great enablers of good, and advance progress of humanity, but they are also ungoverned connections for the spread of evil ideologies and the know-how to organize the spread of the tools of terrorism all too easily.

“The great challenge confronting the global community of responsible nations is how to protect and preserve the freedoms of our society while enforcing the responsible and legitimate exercise of free speech. This is the challenge your generation will continue to confront.

“We must now see the present and the future in a global context. We must see the value of friends, and allies — allies born of shared sacrifices. One of America’s great advantages is we have many allies. Our adversaries — China, Russia, Iran, and the terrorist organizaions — have few. We must never take these long-held allies for granted. We must motivate and strengthen them, not just in our areas of complete agreement, but particularly in bridging our differences, both in trading relations and national security matters.

“Seeing the future in a global context means recognizing the rapid economic development taking place the world over, the dynamic populations that are growing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and the challenges that will come from meeting the needs and recognizing the aspirations of billions of people on this planet. These global realities have created a new economic and national security set of pressures. Here at home these pressures have led to anxiety, fear about growth in foreign markets, about the global movement of jobs. We must acknowledge, however, that every nation has the right to aspire to a better quality of life, and that free trade and economic growth are the means by which opportunity is created for all people.

“Even today in this year 2018, 1.4 billion people live without access to electricity, to heat, and to provide light in their homes, cook their meals, clean their drinking water, power hospitals and schools. For these men and women and children, the innovation and technology that comes with economic growth means the difference between health and safety, sickness and death. Citizens in developed economies are coming to this realization. But many here at home still have a way to go to fully embrace the global economy, and to recognize that with these changes come both challenges and opportunities.

“This is the world you enter. It is a world in dramatic transition to change. As you look forward, your role in building a brighter future will depend on more than simply your education and your skills. Your contributions to society depend on a firm ethical foundation of personal and professional integrity.

“As I reflect upon the state of American democracy, I observe a growing crisis in ethics and integrity. Above the entrance to the main building of the campus of my alma mater in Austin, Texas, are inscribed the words, ‘Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ It comes from the Book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 32. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

“The founders of our American democracy were, I believe many agree, … crafting the structure and the foundational documents … guided by divine inspiration if not divine intervention. The essential tenet of a free society, a free people, is access to the truth, a government structure and a societal understanding that freedom to seek the truth is the very essence of freedom itself. ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ It is only by fierce defense of the truth and a common set of facts that we create the conditions for a democratic, free society comprised of richly diverse peoples, that those free people can find and explore solutions to the very challenges confronting a complex society of free people.

“If our leaders seek to conceal the truth or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom. This is the life of nondemocratic societies, comprised of people who are not free to seek the truth.

“We know them well … societies in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea … you can complete the list. The responsibility of every American citizen to each other is to preserve and protect our freedom by recognizing what truth is, and is not. What a fact is, and is not. And begin by holding ourselves accountable to truthfulness, and demand  our pursuit of America’s future be fact-based — not based on wishful thinking. Not hope-for outcomes based on shallow promises, but with a clear-eyed view of the facts as they are and guided by the truth that will set us free to seek solutions to our most daunting challenges.

“It is also that foundational commitment to truth and facts that binds us to other democratic nations — that we Americans will always deal with them from the same set of truths, and facts. And it is truth that says to our adversaries, ‘We say what we mean, and we mean what we say.’

“When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth — even on what may seem the most trivial of matters — we go wobbly on America. If we do not as Americans confront the crisis of ethics and integrity in our society, and among our leaders in both public and private sector, and regrettably at times even the nonprofit sector, then American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years.

“As to the matter of integrity, I am familiar with VMI’s honor code. It was one of the reasons I looked so much forward to addressing you today. I know it is one of the first and most important elements every ‘rat’ is taught … is the basis upon which not just how to conduct oneself while at VMI, but it is the foundation upon which a VMI cadet stands apart from others. And at some point during your time here at VMI you realize that you adhere to the honor code not because it is a requirement to be a part of this place. Rather, you do it because you want to. For you’ve come to realize that without personal honor there is no leadership.

“But a warning to you as you leave this place, a place where the person sitting on either side of you shares that same understanding: You will now enter a world where, sadly, that is not always the case, and your commitment to this high standard of ethical behavior and integrity will be tested.

“While I’m fairly certain all of you have a common definition of the word ‘integrity,’ it’s always good to have a common understanding. One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of integrity is ‘the state of being complete and whole.’ Now as a civil engineer I’ve always liked that definition, because I can relate to it through structural integrity — the state of being complete and whole. [Looking overhead.] The structural integrity of this building … we know it has a complete and whole integrity, so we can feel comfortable sitting beneath these beams and this roof that it’s not going to end up down around our feet as we sit here.

“Integrity is a critical building block of trust and cooperation. It makes it possible for different people of different organizations to work together to solve the world’s most complex problems. Regardless of industry, project, or task, integrity frees us in innovate, collaborate, and share over the long term. As the world becomes more interconnected and global challenges require sophisticated and integrated solutions, the value of integrity only grows in importance. In every sector, integrity will be the key to unlocking high-impact technologies, new ways to conduct business, and new approaches to solve our most vexing geopolitical challenges that will make the world brighter for generations to come. We do not have to look far to find examples of the cost to individuals and to society when integrity is sacrificed for immediate gain or personal achievement. Such damage strikes at the very heart of a free society. It undermines the public trust in institutions and the overwhelming number of individuals and organizations who do live by the rules every day.

“It is a fact of life that most individuals want to make a postive difference in the world in which we live. After all, you’ve worked very hard and you’ve sacrificed much to get where you are. If you want your efforts to mean something beyond just a job, the next advancement in rank or promotion, it is true that your education will play a part in your future success. But if you truly want to build a brighter future for the world you must make the decision to live a life of integrity. Your knowledge and abilties will not florish without ethical behavior and strong moral fiber. Choosing a life of integrity provides a wealth of blessings and benefits. It gives us a true pathway to do the right things the right way every time, whether or not anyone’s looking. Such discipline is the true source of progress in a modern civilization because it is a commitment to see our actions as part of a broader social fabric of cooperation and mutual advancement.

“In your career you will have occasions where it may appear easier to make a short cut. The pressure that you feel may come from within, that you need to impress others or that you need to have all the answers. Unfortunately, it can come from your own organization, or directly from a supervisor or a coworker. These pressures can be particularly keen in the early stages of your career, pushing you toward decisions before the consequences are apparent. Commiting yourselves to a life of integrity and reminding yourselves of that commitment often can give you the strength you need to resist the easy path that leads to poor results or even ruin.

“It is important to remember that leadership is not a position or title. Becoming a leader is what happens to those who embrace a life of integrity. As you grow in your career and your personal integrity will draw people to you, your coworkers will come to rely on your humble, well-informed insights. Your supervisors will come to trust you because of your self-discipline. As you take on more responsibility and gain experience, your personal integrity will naturally evolve into managerial integrity. You will exemplify what the best leaders demand from their people until you yourself become a leader.

“I never aspired to be chairman and CEO of the Exxon Mobil Corporation. My wife will tell you I achieved my objectives in about 1992. I was 40 years old. I’d become division manager with responsibilities over a large part of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. All I ever wanted to do. It was the best job I ever had. It’s all been downhill since. [General laughter and applause from the cadets.]

“But … but at some point you begin to recognize that you have the capacity to do more and contribute more. Not just for your own personal benefit, but for your organization. When senior managers begin acting on behalf of their people, that’s when I would see them really knock it out of the park.

“You are going to have a great life. Some of those days are going to be good days. Some of them are going to be bad days. What I always reminded myself is not getting overly euphoric on the good days and don’t get overly despondent on the bad days.

“I was recently going through some of my father’s papers — he passed away a couple months ago — and I ran across a page. It said it was Buck’s Beatitudes. It was ten items. J. F. “Buck” Burshears was scoutmaster of a troop of Indian boys in Colorado, back in the Fifties and Sixties. I picked three of  his beatitudes out because I think it would be good to carry with you when I talked about those good days and bad days: So I got three that I cite from Buck’s Beatitudes: ‘Blessed is the man who can see you make a fool of yourself and doesn’t think you’ve done a permanent job.’ ‘Blessed is the man who does not try to blame all of his failures on someone else.’ ‘And blessed is the man that can say that the boy that he was can would be proud of the man he is.’

“So you maintain and protect who you are, and remember that being a person with integrity is the most valuable asset you have. Don’t ever let anyone take it from you. Carefully consider the values and the culture of the organizations in which you seek to work. Look for employers who set high standards for personal conduct, and who reward ethical leadership. Identify mentors who exemplify integrity and leadership excellence. Developing as a leader largely comes from also practicing good followership. See how the leaders you are following carry themselves, how they manage their responsibilities. Study how they communicate and make decisions. Observe how they learn from mistakes or missteps, their own and those of others.

“Importantly, recognize that integrity is not unique to any one culture. No matter where you are in the world, integrity and good character are recognized and prized by every great faith, and every great tradition. Integrity means managing our lives in a way and focuses on the ideals that unite us as people.

“In summary, I’ve lived a happy life. I want you to have a happy life too.

“So I return to the definition of integrity: the state of being complete and whole. Absent a life of integrity, no human being can live a life that’s complete and whole. Living a life of integrity, perhaps we have a chance.

“God bless all of you and your loved ones in the days ahead. And God bless the United States of America.

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Commentary related to the above address may appear in a future entry of this blog.

— Mark