A Glimpse of Graduation

We are gathered here today to recognize, indeed to celebrate, the accomplishment of mastering an educational discipline. For most of us, this has been a sacrifice of our personal time and has been a challenge to our finances. And all of us have experienced the stress, anguish and mental and physical exhaustion associated with academic achievement. And yet here we are, humbled by, and better for, the outcome. It is a milestone worth honoring.

As we take this moment in time to stop and identify our success, we should use this accomplishment as a platform for development. As the author Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Each of us, in our own ways, have applied this to our academic careers, as evidenced here today at the completion of our masters’ degrees. We must continue to nurture our desire for growth, and we must cultivate our ambition in preparation of new, and even bolder, endings.

I believe the changes I have gone through are at the core of the UTD experience – where the school encourages its student body to spread their wings and the school and community then ensure that each flies.

Throughout my academic career, I have seen a plethora of change in my personal life, within the UTD community, and throughout the entire world. As I reflect on my undergraduate and graduate experience here at UTD, I am reminded of the open doors and nurturing environment that stimulated my creativity and ignited my passion for success. Graduating Summa Cum Laude in three calendar years was quite a daunting task, but it was accomplished in no small part due to the supportive faculty and staff that encouraged me to pursue my business endeavors outside the classroom. And to the faculty and staff, I am greatly indebted, and immensely grateful.

It is because of UTD that my horizons have expanded. I never thought that I would be standing here today, a CEO of two companies, winner of several local and national business plan competitions, an MBA recipient and orator of the commencement speech for my fellow honored graduates. I believe the changes I have gone through are at the core of the UTD experience – where the school encourages its student body to spread their wings and the school and community then ensure that each flies.

We have seen UTD grow from a small school matriculating Ph.D. students into a major institution of 15,000 students studying in undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. programs. Classes were held in double-wide buildings, and now we have muti-million dollar renovation and expansion projects under way.

Furthermore, Financial Times has ranked our Executive MBA program Number One in Texas the last two years in a row. This type of change, filled with success and growth, inspires our students and community to remember, as President Barack Obama said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

While the changes I have mentioned so far have been favorable in nature, we must recognize that not all change is positive. The relevant topic in today’s world is that of economic instability. We have seen numerous bailouts to companies thought of as the foundations of America, from ethical corruption at Enron to the recent Madoff Ponzi scheme. As these stories saturate the media, we must take to heart the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ellen Glasglow, who said, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.” We must not champion change just for the sake of change, lest we find ourselves only making things worse. We must evaluate our circumstances thoroughly and determine our options wisely, and then only move as appropriate, ensuring that our direction represents forward progress for our community, our country, and our world.

In these trying times, I commend you for obtaining your masters’ degrees. You have added new tools and skill sets to your knowledge base, which will be called upon shortly. Though it will not be easy, I have confidence and faith in my fellow graduates, that while the journey may be difficult and uncharted, we are the generation of newly trained minds that will bring us out of the recession and help guide the world to new horizons.

Thank you and congratulations Class of 2009!

Stephen Dunlap received a master’s degree in business administration from the School of Management.

As a graduate student, he was on the dean’s honor list and served on the School of Management Dean’s Council. He also was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, Golden Key Honor Society and the Financial Management Society.

Dunlap was chairman of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Club at UT Dallas and was part of a team of MBA students that took top honors and a $10,000 cash prize at the WBT-IC2 University Technology Commercialization Competition that included collegiate teams from across the nation.

He was a 2008 Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholarship recipient and a UT Dallas Business Plan Competition Grand Prize winner, both as an undergraduate in 2007 and as a graduate student in 2008.

Dunlap received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2008 with highest honors. He accepted a job at Chubb Insurance, where he will work in the marketing department and manage a book business with more than 100 agents.