Invited Commencement Address, School of Science Class of 2024 Dr. Chris E. Stout, Distinguished Alumnus – BS, ’81 Good morning and thank you for your introduction. Had my parents been here, my father would have appreciated your remarks and my mother would have believed them. I want to begin by thanking Dean DiTusa, the faculty of the School of Science, and this year’s graduates for the great honor of addressing this special commencement ceremony, as it is the last one, as an IUPUI School. How exciting it is for me to be here today, and to the mothers of soon-to-be-graduates, thanks for letting me be a part of your best early Mother’s Day gift ever! Being here brings back many fond memories - I so enjoyed my time on campus. I started off as a math major in the School of Science, then transferred to the School of Engineering and Technology and completed a degree in Architectural Technology, and returned back to the School of Science, but this time to study my newfound passion, psychology. And that was all in four years’ time. IUPUI was the only university where I could do all that and add a minor in medical sociology along the way. My father and his siblings were born in a house on the family farm about 20 miles west of here. I am a first generation college attendee, and my grandparents did not have the opportunity to complete high school. And I am well aware that I nevertheless come from a place of privilege, but it was not only privilege that brought me to IUPUI, it was an opportunity that changed my life. When I came to this campus as a Freshman, 47 years ago, even then it offered more combined opportunities than any other university I could name. I bet for some of you that may have been the same reason you chose coming here. And now, you’ve finished your work, and as this is graduation-season, you along with about 4 million others and their loved ones, will be forced to listen to someone my age tell you how to clean up the mess my generation is leaving you. Some of what I’ll share with you is borrowed, some is stolen, and some may even be original, but that's doubtful as it's pretty hard to be original when you’ve been around as long as I have. Let me start with a question.
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