Editor’s Note: On December 16, Antonio Garza, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Brownsville native, and frequent Rio Grande Guardian International News Service contributor, gave the 2023 commencement address at Southern Methodist University.
The occasion marked 40 years since Garza’s own graduation from SMU School of Law. Click here to watch the speech, which starts at the 42 minute 30 second mark.
Here are Ambassador Garza’s prepared remarks:
Lord, we thank you for this glorious day, and your presence on this joyous occasion.
And Gerald, thank you for that introduction......I do remember that cold day ..........and I also recall a day in June of 1995 when the sun shone bright in Dallas and you became President of SMU.......and every day since, the Mustang community has been grateful for your leadership.......and for what you and Gail have meant to the University.......
And thank you to the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, David Miller. The big guy put the Atlantic Coast Conference in his sight and never wavered, never relented.........50 years ago on this very floor you couldn't out-hustle David, and as our Chairman that's still the case.........
And to the faculty, staff, distinguished guests, proud family ......and especially the Southern Methodist University, class of 2023.....Thank you for having me.
I remember the day I graduated, how I felt and how proud my dad was, but I don't remember who spoke.........and I have no illusions you'll remember me.
I don't have all the answers to life after graduation......... although there were times when I thought I knew it all, but life had a way of correcting me.
My favorite "reminder” occurred shortly after graduating from SMU's School of Law in 1983. I was tutoring a South Texas high school student named Raul.
Raul needed help preparing for his high school exit exam, and I was a volunteer in an at-risk program.
Raul and I worked together for weeks, all in anticipation of his big test.
On the Monday after the exam, I caught up with Raul and asked how he'd done. It took him a few moments to find the right words and he looked at me, shrugged and said: "Let me put it this way, sir........you're not as smart as you think you are. "
It was a humbling experience, one I'll never forget .........But you, SMU graduates of 2023, have much less reason to be humble.
You leave SMU with memories of the Boulevard, Lighting Ceremonies, the Commons experience 3 conference championships ......... but most of all you leave here knowing this.......You are the graduating class of 2023.....And by every benchmark or measurement you are considered the strongest class to ever graduate from SMU.
All of you excelled.......Well, all of you, except for ..... Gerald, was it seven students?.......And you know who you are.
Each of you came here to become a better version of yourself, to experience the transformative power of education.......And education is a powerful force. I know, I've seen that in my own life.
My grandparents came to Texas from Mexico in the early 1900's, and my Dad grew up along the border during the depression in the 1930's......After high school he served abroad in WW2, returned to South Texas and did what he said being a tech sergeant in the army had fully prepared him to do; he worked hard, pumped gas, wiped windshields and became the proud owner of a 2 pump filling station.
Dad took care of his family and did what he felt was the right thing, his duty......and he did that every single day.
But Mom, no sitting around the house for her. When I was 8 or 9 years old, she decided to go back to school.
In addition to being that "cool mom" that made sure we got to swim practice and little league games, let us grow our hair long and tie-dyed our t-shirts......she also questioned the Vietnam war, talked about civil rights, and decided that she was going to get a degree.........and that meant that I’d be spending time at our local college, in the kids section of the library while she went to class.......And while I learned to love the library, I wasn't so sure about college.
You see, it seemed like every few months or so Mom would come down with the flu, lose her hair and then bounce back. In July of 1972 I turned 13 and our college President asked my Dad if me and my little brother couldn't visit Mom in the hospital so he could present her something, a degree. One month later she was gone, cancer.........But that education transformed my mother.......into my hero, and the most powerful example a young boy could possibly have.
Each of you has had your battles, large and small. Over the course of the last several years your generation has had to reckon with serious questions about race and justice, you've succeeded in the face of a pandemic, economic collapse and live in a world of radical uncertainty.
In the process you have learned one of life's most profound lessons...... and that is, "life is not easy"; and really big challenges are seldom confronted alone. You are the strivers and survivors......You succeeded because you believed in yourselves, and others believed in you........
Thank your parents for their love. You made the grades, they likely helped with the bills..........and today, mom's tearing up thinking about how quickly this day came.....and dad's praying to god you've found a job and aren't moving back home.......
As I was preparing today's remarks I couldn't help but returning to what a challenging time we're living in.....the Middle East, Ukraine, China, a deeply polarized country......and technological advances a force for both good and evil. I honestly thought: "Come on, it’s a day to celebrate.......and then I realized, I can't get up here and not acknowledge those very stubborn, harsh realities."
I was stuck so I called a young friend, a college professor in her 30's. And in the course of our conversation she said to me ...."Tony, don't forget how smart they are, what they've been through, and that they're adults......so whatever you do, don't talk about finding your passion, dreaming big, yadda yadda."........They've heard all that........Then she paused and said: "Boomer, maybe you can start by apologizing for leaving such a mess".
Yes, it is messy out there. Each day some major figure in academia, diplomacy or business is telling us that the "world is on fire" and that this is the worst geopolitical situation we've faced since that period between WW1 & 2.......And that our own country is too divided to lead, and that our democracy is at a crossroads.
That kind of talk can leave one anxious, and wondering what next........So, while I'm not going to apologize, I want to try to give you some perspective, some advice and even some reason for optimism.
Some perspective: At the start of the last century, between 1901 and 1925 a generation of Americans were born. You may have heard your parents or grandparents talk about them.....a group of Americans that came to be known as the greatest generation.
They came of age in the wake of the pandemic of 1918, lived through the great depression of the 1930s, and fought off the evil forces of fascism and the nazis in the 1940s......and then they returned home to make massive contributions in medicine, science, and business and provided the world's leadership. It was a generation that had withstood adversity, and built a better world because of it.
You too were born near the beginning of a century, have faced adversity and enter a world of conflict......history now calls on you to be the leading edge of the "greatest generation" of this century.......Yes, I know, a daunting call, but now is the time to really believe what you've been hearing here at SMU when we say "world changers shaped here"............
At every desk at which I've sat for the last 40 years, I've scrawled countless aphorisms concerning beliefs, to do’s, and dealing with others. I've pirated, plagiarized, paraphrased and distilled them into my governing principles which have served me well......regardless of what life threw at me.........They have to do with convictions, character and community.....I'd like to share three of them with you today.
In 1983 I went back to south Texas, practiced a little law, but spent most of my time coaching, serving on our local indigent and migrant health center board and, while not always successfully, mentoring at risk kids...... In 1988 I decided to run for county judge. The fact that I was a 27-year-old Republican in a county dominated by the other party for over a century should have deterred me......but it didn't, and somehow I was elected, and my life took on a new direction.
It was during that campaign that I met a really amazing woman, a librarian and SMU graduate, who said I should meet her husband, (George). Little did I know that in 1988 Laura's husband would be at my swearing in, and six years later he'd be the Governor of Texas and ask me to be his Secretary of State.........and in 2002
President George W. Bush would ask me to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.
It was also around that time that I realized that my view of the world was starting to come into focus, and I wrote on my desk pad: "Free people, Free markets, America's role in the world." That really summed up how I felt, my convictions.
Here at SMU you've been challenged to think.....How do you feel about freedom versus oppression, the state of our democracy, nativism and immigration......or issues of race, gender and climate..........or how about Tay and Trav, and whether "Rizz" is really a word..... How will you decide where your convictions lie......here are some thoughts.
First, in all things seek the truth. The pursuit of truth is what distinguishes people of integrity from the corrupt. But getting to the truth won’t always be easy. Jonathan Swift once said "a lie will fly around the whole world while the truth is getting its boots on". And that was 300 years before the internet, social media and artificial intelligence. Make the pursuit of the truth your north star. If you've learned nothing else but to think critically at SMU, that is the most important skill with which you leave here........
Second, stress test how you feel about things, seek out people with whom you disagree. Be both humble and curious with these people. Explore their beliefs and your own. Don't ever forget, you can feel strongly and still be civil......And you just might change someone's mind, or your own.
And third, whether it be the soft murmurings of conscience, or the loud clanging of inspiration ......learn to listen to yourself, to trust your judgment......to be guided by that inner voice is telling you and you know to be right.
"Free peoples, free markets and America's role in the world" helped frame my convictions, my view of the world. Think hard about yours.......
On character. People like to toss around the word authenticity, but I really think that's just another way of saying that someone has the character to live their convictions, and the strength to do so even when it's not easy, or popular........
But what is character ......don't lie, cheat or steal seems like a good place to start...and Marcus Aurelius put it simply by writing "if it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.". Or how about, character is "doing right when no one is watching".
Those all seem like pretty good guideposts, but how do you go about building that character muscle, well I reduced it to: "Do right, enjoy, repeat" ........
Sometime around 2000 I sensed my Dad was starting to slow down, so I'd try and get back to the border from Austin to see him from time to time. One afternoon we were talking, and after a couple of drinks and some stories about the Cowboy teams of the 70s and 80s, I knew that I wanted him to know that I realized his life had been tough, and that I loved him.........
At what I felt was the right moment I said, "Dad, I don't know how you managed after Mom died,”…… before I could get any more out, he smiled and said "What choice did I have"......and then chuckled, "And I'm proud of you boys."
In that instant I realized that for 80 years he had simply gotten up every day and done what he thought was the right thing, his duty.....So much so that even in the toughest of times, he saw doing the right thing, as the only choice he had.....and that made him happy, gave him satisfaction. To me, that's character.
Do right, enjoy, repeat........and when you face the really tough times in your life, your character muscle will be plenty strong for you.........
And lastly, community.......try to be gentle, generous and grateful.
Life will test you in ways you cannot imagine. And one of the ways it will test you - over and over - is in how you treat others who don't look like you, talk like you, or have had the opportunities you have had. So treat people with dignity and respect.
Our country is all the proof we need to know that there is strength in our differences. America's greatness wasn't built on the sweat of one race, religion or culture. Don't ever lose sight of that as you deal with others.....And in those relationships that mean the most to you, don't ever be afraid to say; I love you, thanks, or I’m sorry......
Be gentle, generous and grateful.
Am I optimistic about the future? You bet I am.......not only because I'm looking out at the Class of 2023, but because I know America is a great and resilient country.
We live in a country that had to fight its way into being, wedded to a Declaration of Independence and Constitution that is still tested daily, turned on itself in a civil war and emerged a more perfect union, but still haunted by issues of race and inequality.
Fought two world wars, put a man on the moon and saw the end of a cold war.........yet looks out today at a world again brought to the battlefield by a rogue nation, and brutal terrorists....... and has a rival in China, with a very different view of the future.
Yes, history has a way of repeating itself, because we're human..... and within each of us flickers both frailty and the divine......But throughout the history of our country the generation that found their world adrift, much as you will, knew that making it better was their charge to keep, what history demanded.......and then called upon the very best of their own humanity to burn brightly.......
It's in your DNA... remember......."world changers shaped here”.
I’ll close simply and on an altogether different note, perhaps whimsical but I think fitting...........
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go......."
Yes, Dr. Seuss, and it's near my desk.
It's now up to you!!!
Godspeed and congratulations.................Pony up!
