Inauguration Speech

Note: A version of this address “Go Deeper–Inauguration Speech” was presented at  Ohio Valley University on October 7, 2011, by Harold Shank.

Bill Hewlett and David Packard became friends in graduate school.  After graduation they decided to work together.  They formed a company called Hewlett-Packard in 1937.  You probably own either a laptop or a printer made by that company.    Started in a garage in the thirties, in 2010 the firm earned $126 billion.  The company now operates in almost every nation on earth.

David Packard was one of the first billionaires in Silicon Valley.  When he retired he still lived in the same small house he built for his family in 1957 complete with kitchen with linoleum on the floor.  When he died in 1996 he gave his entire $5.6 billion estate to charity.   On the pamphlet at his funeral the biography said, “David Packard, 1912-1996, Rancher, etc.”  The flyer said nothing about the computer revolution, billionaires, or multinational corporations.

At one point Packard made this remarkable comment: “Why are we here? I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists solely to make money. Money is an important part of a company’s existence, if the company is any good. But a result is not a cause. We have to go deeper and find the real reason for our being.”

Packard noticed that many never decide their real reason for being.  Whether it’s a multinational company or a college freshman, whether it’s a congregation or a Christian university, we often fail to ask and answer the critical questions.

Your presence here today indicates some involvement in Christian education or some connection with those who are involved.  We have honored guests from the community and beyond, representatives from other Christian universities, members of the Ohio Valley University Board of Trustees, alumni, and a cross-section of personal and institutional friends.   I am humbled and honored by your presence and take it as a measure of your support and encouragement.

Some time prior to this moment you may have asked yourself, “Why are we here?”   All of you have other places you could be, important tasks you could pursue, and other institutions that you could support.   You deserve an answer to the question, “Why are we here?”

Packard said that many people assume that a company exists solely to make money.  He said they were wrong.  Many might assume that this university exists to educate students, give them a degree, and prepare them for a career.   All three of those purposes are an important part of our existence, but there is a deeper set of purposes, two of which I must mention.  Those deeper purposes are our real reason for being.

Deeper Purpose Number One: Calling. 

Almost all schools focus on getting students ready for a career.  We do that well at Ohio Valley University, in fact, I think we do it exceptionally well.  But this school goes beyond career to calling.

It seems to me that many people settle for less in life than what they really want.  They become satisfied with what they call the “good life.”  If they have a coke and hamburger in front of the game, they think they have arrived.

But deep inside of us we all want to make a difference.  We want to leave some imprint.  We want a deeper sense of satisfaction.  Many people never find it.  Many do not know how to find it.

Daniel and Nathan are my sons.  I am proud of both of them.  Every morning I pray for them.  I ask God to give them good careers, but I also ask the Father to help them achieve their dreams.  I pray that they will live lives of full satisfaction.  My hope is that they will find their calling.

                That is my prayer for all OVU students.

Some might think that the purpose of a college education is to get a job to make money.  At OVU we go further.  We think life is not about making money, but making a difference.  Our graduates will get jobs, often exceptional jobs, but the career will be a vehicle for following their calling.

From what I’ve seen at OVU we prepare students not just to earn an income but to follow a dream, not just to get promoted but to make a difference, not just to get vested in retirement but to find real satisfaction.

At the core of calling is preparing our graduates to make a difference in the world.  Think about recent OVU graduate, Scott Johnson, who works with the Clifton Church of Christ in uptown Cincinnati.  Last year he baptized 15 students from two different universities. An anthropology graduate student approached him recently.  As an atheist he decided to better understand what he was against.   A dialogue followed and Scott baptized the young man and his wife.  Scott has a job, but he’s following a calling.

Think about Kerry Roberts, an OVU student from the 80s.  He is now a Tennessee State Senator.  When issues of life and justice arise in those chambers, Senator Roberts takes a high road.  Kerry has a job, but he’s following a calling.

As we dig deeper at OVU, we go beyond career to calling.

Deeper Purpose Number Two: Character. 

All schools pass on information.  Education includes the mastery of a subject area.  OVU does that well, but we seek to go deeper.

As a Christian university, we proceed out of a Christian world view.  We do not hesitate or equivocate on this matter.  We believe in one God, his son Jesus Christ, and his word the Bible.  We believe the Judeo-Christian moral ethic is not only ancient, but successful.  We seek not only to instill knowledge but Christian character.

We transfer knowledge, but a knowledge driven by a deep respect for others and a recognition that it all comes from God.  For us, it’s not enough to produce knowledgeable graduates. We must send out graduates that are kind and respectful.  We send out students who know the law, who can even help make the laws, but our highest goal is graduates who honor and respect the law.   We produce graduates who know their mathematics and who understand chemistry, but our unique contribution is to send out students who multiply integrity and who compound trustworthiness.

We want our students to understand showing appreciation as much as accounting, learn consistency as much as chemistry, value equity as much as education, pursue generosity as much as geography, practice justice as much as journalism, understand mercy as much as management, know punctuality as much as psychology.

We want our students to have As in adaptability, attentiveness, and availability.  We seek high degrees of dependability, diligence and discretion.  We want graduates who walk across the stage dressed in humility, meekness and truth.   Our goal is not to mass produce the highest quantity of graduates, but the highest quality of graduate.  We don’t measure our success by how much money our graduates make, but how positive an influence our graduates have.

Is there any business out there looking to hire people trained at a highly ranked academic university who have also been tutored in personal responsibility, who refuse to cheat and steal, who abhor falsehood, and whose goals in life are the noble, the upright and the good?   How many CEOs does a board have to hire who squander company money on corner offices and private jets while the company loses money before they realize that they need a person of integrity at the helm?   Does the public not want to elect people to office who will tell them the truth, who will treat them with respect and who will maintain purity and humility in the midst of graft and pride?   Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  There are people everywhere who are looking for what we do.

Today is about going deeper.  Our gathering prompts exactly that.  I commit my leadership at OVU to keep this a Christian university, to make it a place of calling and character, to keep it focused on our deepest dreams.

I hesitate to say what many of you may be thinking.  As I wrote this speech Hewlett Packard, the giant computer company, faces a crises.  Both founders are gone.  As I’ve read the Wall Street Journal many say this company has lost its way.  I mean to add no pain to any who work for or are invested in that firm.  But it is a reminder that no person, no institution is safe from forgetting its purpose.  Occasions like this provide a reality check. Why are we here?  What do we hope to accomplish.

Let me close by recognizing that I stand on the shoulders of many people.  There are those here who have devoted their lives to this school.  I ask for no credit for what I have been given or the task for which I have been chosen.

I can only say I have found a treasure on this hilltop in West Virginia:  It is a community focused on its mission, a school set on transforming lives.

This is a great time to be alive.  There’s no other time I’d rather live.  There’s no other place I’d rather be.