Jamie P. Merisotis, President, Lumina Foundation for Education
Miami Dade College Commencement, Miami, FL

Thank you, and good morning, graduates. It’s good to be with you on this historic commencement here at Miami Dade College. The 50^th year is a significant milestone, and I am honored to be even a small part of it.

Of course, the real reason we are here is to celebrate your milestone, so let me begin by congratulating all of you! It’s truly a privilege for me to be here—to join your professors and administrators in acknowledging your achievement. I’m told that Miami Dade will award more than 11,000 degrees today across all eight campuses. Those pieces of parchment represent years of hard work and sacrifice, and I commend all of you for that.

I want to take a moment here at the beginning to specifically congratulate the graduates’ families and friends. Without the patience and support of parents, spouses and other family members and friends, students simply don’t become graduates. So I salute all of you for this significant—and shared—achievement.

I don’t want to stop with congratulations, however. I also want to thank you for what you have done. You may not fully realize it now—particularly on a day like today, which is properly focused on celebrating personal victories—but the degree you’ve earned isn’t just about you, or even the loved ones who share this moment with you. It benefits all of us. My hope is that, in my brief remarks this morning, I can help you see your achievement in that more expansive way.

Of course, before I can do that, I’ll need to give you at least one good reason to listen to me—and that means a brief introduction is in order. As Dr. Cortes-Suarez said, I’m Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation for Education … which makes me a guy with a funny name who leads an organization you’ve never heard of.

So, let’s start with the name … Merisotis. It’s Greek. My own family is made up of immigrants. We were a working-class family, and my parents never had the chance to attend college themselves. But that didn’t matter; they still saw college as a requirement for my siblings and me, not as an option. And so, just like many of you, I did what I had to do to afford a college education: Pell grants, work-study, part-time jobs, student loans, private scholarships—you name it, I took advantage of it. And I assure you, it was worth every effort. College has enriched my life immeasurably, and in innumerable ways. In fact, it has defined my professional life.

And now, as Lumina’s president and CEO, I’m lucky enough to lead the nation’s largest organization whose sole purpose is to extend the enormous benefits of college to millions more Americans. Our aim is to help students prepare for college, get into college and stay there until they reach a glorious day like this one: graduation day.

In a way, everything we do at Lumina points toward graduation day. We have a very clear goal—what we call the “Big Goal.” Simply stated, we want 60 percent of Americans to hold high-quality college degrees or credentials by the year 2025. Today—and really, for nearly half a century—the percentage of Americans with degrees is just 40 percent. So you can see we have our work cut out for us.

And you can also see, again, why I am thrilled to be here today. Every success like the one you’re celebrating this morning—every degree earned, every certificate awarded—moves us closer to that Big Goal.

But what excites me most about all of this has nothing to do with numbers. It has everything to do with people. Because, when I look out into this crowd today—into hundreds and hundreds of proud and hopeful faces—I realize that I am looking into the face of change. I am looking into the very future of this nation, and indeed the future of the global community in which we all live.

You and your classmates here at Miami Dade are part of an immensely powerful wave. You represent what we at Lumina call the 21^st century student. In short, you are the students of today and tomorrow, not those of yesterday.

You see, in many ways, American higher education wasn’t built for many of you—any more than it was built for me as the son of Greek immigrants. Rather, it was built for the 19^th century student—some might even say the student of the 18^th century. Borrowing its tradition from medieval Europe, American higher education was originally designed to educate a favored few: the sons—and yes, back then it was almost exclusively the sons—of the wealthy elite.

Of course this has changed over the decades, most dramatically in the last half of the 20^th century, thanks to the GI Bill and the development of the community college system that gave rise to such wonderful institutions as Miami Dade. These and many other advances have opened the college doors much wider, to be sure. But they’re still not open wide enough. There are still far too many people who don’t go to college or who leave too early—people whose potential we need to develop, people whose talents we desperately need as a nation.

The 21^st century student runs the gamut—racially, ethnically, and socially … From recent high school graduate to second-career retiree … From immigrant to native born citizen … From part-time distance learner to full-time resident student … From GED completer to certificate seeker to evening MBA student to Ph.D. candidate … With roots in every country from Croatia to Cuba to China.

When we define the 21^st century student, it can’t just be a semantic exercise. We must see you for who you are: our future. We must put the past behind us and create a society in which all sectors—industry, government, education institutions, communities—see each of you as future leaders, taxpayers, and contributors to the standard of living we cherish so much.

Miami Dade College has done a wonderful job in reaching out to and serving the 21^st century student. In fact, it was doing that decades before the 21^st century began. Clearly, other colleges and universities can learn from MDC’s example … just as other students can learn from yours.

You’ve worked hard to earn your spot in this ceremony. Today, with your degree in hand, every one of you will be a step closer to realizing your dreams—and our society will be very much improved because of that. I urge you to make the most of the opportunities before you. Keep striving—for your own sake and for the others who share this world with you.

The 21^st century is here … and we need all of you.

Again, congratulations to each of you on this memorable morning. And thank you for inviting me to be part of it.