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Go Forth and Do Good

Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses

Edited by Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C.
Foreword by Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.
Reflection by Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C.

“When God grabs you by the collar or grabs you by the shoulder and pushes you, inevitably you go. And when you go, you find your life radically changed. . . . Having received the best education that is available in one of the best institutions in the world, we expect a lot of you—and God will demand a lot of you.” —Andrew Young, from his 1988 Notre Dame Commencement Address

Although the first proper Notre Dame commencement—conferring degrees on two candidates—took place in 1849, General William Tecumseh Sherman was Notre Dame’s first graduation speaker with a truly national reputation. He attended Notre Dame’s ceremony in 1865, just months after accepting the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate army. Sherman, whose sons had been students at Notre Dame, came less to give an address than to utter words of thanks for the kindness shown to his family, who had found refuge in the area during the war. When prevailed upon to speak he offered some extemporaneous remarks, calling on Notre Dame graduates and students to “be ready at all times to perform bravely the battle of life.”

Go Forth and Do Good: Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses brings together twenty-four notable graduation speeches, ranging from the words General Sherman delivered in 1865 to President George W. Bush’s remarks in 2001. Also included in this fine collection is a letter sent to 1986 graduates by Mother Teresa and Father Theodore M. Hesburgh’s final charge to the graduating class of 1987. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., provides a delightful introduction that clarifies the importance of the selected speeches and places them in the context of the history of both Notre Dame and the world.

This inspiring volume belongs on the shelves of all Notre Dame alumni and makes a perfect graduation gift.

WILSON D. MISCAMBLE, C.S.C., is associate professor of history and rector and superior of Moreau Seminary at the University of Notre Dame.

Speeches and Speakers Included in this Volume:

1865 • William Tecumseh Sherman, Perform Bravely the Battle of Life 1876 • William J. Onahan, The Catholic Citizen and the State 1886 • John Lancaster Spalding, Growth and Duty 1893 • Robert Seton, The Dignity of Labor 1904 • Charles J. Bonaparte, Some Thoughts for American Catholics 1917 • Joseph Chartrand, Education’s Grandest Work 1929 • William J. Donovan, Science, Civilization, and the Individual 1941 • Joseph P. Kennedy, Conscience, Patriotism, and Freedom of Speech 1952 • Charles H. Malik, The American Question 1959 • John A. McCone, The Atomic Energy Commission and the University 1960 • Dwight D. Eisenhower, Beyond the Campus 1961 • Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., The Peace Corps and Higher Education 1965 • McGeorge Bundy, American Power and Responsibility 1967 • Eugene McCarthy, The Educated Person on Trial 1969 • Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Politics as the Art of the Impossible 1977 • Jimmy Carter, Foreign Policy and Human Rights 1981 • Ronald Reagan, Great Years Ahead for Our Country 1983 • Joseph Bernardin, The Challenge of Peace 1985 • Jose Napoleon Duarte, The Struggle for Democracy 1988 • Andrew Young, Let God and History Take You 1995 • Condoleezza Rice, The Role of the Educated Person 1996 • Mary Ann Glendon, Religion and a Democratic Society 2000 • Kofi A. Annan, World Poverty and Our Common Humanity 2001 • George W. Bush, A Caring Society

and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Letter to the Graduating Class of 1986 Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Charge to the Class of 1987

Reviews

“Anyone concerned about education, history, culture, politics, human and individual rights, moral values, government, peace, or life and living will find here both challenges and guidance.” — Catholic Library World

“The speeches given at University of Notre Dame commencements . . . offer a glimpse of the changing concerns and status of Catholics in America, as well as of Notre Dame’s prominent place in American Catholic life. . . .” — Indiana Magazine of History