Tri-State University welcomed the families and friends of students gathered in Hershey Hall May 5 for the university’s 123rd commencement. Two hundred-sixty graduates filed into the gymnasium to receive diplomas presented by officials from their schools of study.

Students from the School of Professional Studies, the Jannen School of Arts & Sciences, the Ketner School of Business, the Allen School of Engineering & Technology, and the Franks School of Education stood for recognition with their professors before crossing the stage to accept their diplomas. Christian Campus House director Travis Wilhelm gave an invocation, and Ketner School of Business sophomore Becky Torres sang the national anthem.

National Collegiate Athletic Association president Myles Brand was the speaker, bringing a message of tolerance and living by the biblical Golden Rule to the graduates as they prepared to leave the university to begin their professional lives.

Brand received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., TSU president, for his leadership in the realm of higher learning and his focus on the education of the student-athlete. Brand accepted his NCAA position four years ago. Before that, he served as president of Indiana University, among other major universities. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy.

In taking on their new roles as world citizens, Brand exhorted the graduates to “treat others with the respect and compassion with which you yourself would wish to be treated.”

However, he pointed to the increasing complexity of the world. “You are entering a world of Al Quaida, terrorism and war, and of mayhem and murder like at Virginia Tech. Your challenge is to apply your tools and logic to make sure civilized society advances,” he told them.

He expounded on college athletics as an agent for social change. “I like what sports stand for—teamwork, fair play, and…losing with grace,” he said. He pointed to their positive influence on U.S. race relations, selecting sports figure Jackie Robinson as an example of a world citizen who moved on to serve his country in the military and become a champion of civil rights after his career in professional baseball.

He said college sports allow some students access to higher education. “If you provide education, they will come, and if you provide athletic participation, they will grow,” he said. He also spoke of the equality college sports have brought to the lives of young women.

“Don’t do whatever you need to succeed,” he told them. “Treat other people as ends, not means.” Doing so, he said, “helps us cultivate a moral sense and the consequences of our actions.”

Brand’s TSU appearance dovetails with TSU’s full NCAA status in the fall. TSU provisionally joined the NCAA’s Division III Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the nation’s oldest, four years ago.

Visit our Commencement Weekend slideshow.