'There's More to Achieve,' Obama Tells ASU Graduates

TEMPE, Ariz., May 14, 2009 -- Despite the melting heat, heightened security and hours of waiting, more than 9,000 Arizona State University students roared their approval of President Barack Obama's message that "there's always more to do, more to learn, more to achieve."

"It's very inspiring as a young African-American woman," said Tingirt Alemavehu, 24, an Ethiopian student who received her masters in accounting. "I know now that I don't have any limits. I can do whatever I want."

He may not have gotten an honorary degree, but the president turned what some perceived as a snub by the university into a commencement theme.

"I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life," Obama said. "I come to embrace it; to heartily concur; to affirm that one's title, even a title like president, says very little about how well one's life has been led."

The president warned the graduates that "you too cannot rest on your laurels. Your body of work is yet to come." He urged them "to step up. We need your daring and your enthusiasm and your energy."Instead of a degree, ASU named a new scholarship program after the president, in which five disadvantaged high school students would be awarded up to $17,000 annually to pay for tuition, books, room and board.

Obama said the program was a core mission for both the university and his presidency, and hoped that it would serve as a model for colleges across the country.

Eva Martinez, whose son Louie Martinez received his masters in business, called Obama's appearance "mind-blowing."

"Me and my son were hardcore Republicans," Martinez added, "but when we first heard him speak and got to know him more, the more we loved him."

Not everyone was roused by the president's arrival. A small group of antiwar activists hoisting signs reading "Peace Is Priceless" stood outside the Sun Devil Stadium. Their presence, however, did not cause any disruption to an event that opened with an aging Alice Cooper's raucous 1972 rock anthem "School's Out."

Obama Boosts Confidence

Graduates like Kristi Mizner saw him as a confidence booster for students who had reservations about an uncertain economy. "I have a lot of confidence already in the job market, but I think he's making others just as confident with everything going on today," she said.

Kenath Quince said after watching and listening to the president, he was more compelled than ever to take on new challenges.

"I feel motivated, I feel like I should be doing more," Quince said. "I just want to go back to school and do something else. He makes me want to volunteer at a homeless shelter or something.

"I was very inspired by his speech," Quince continued. "As a black man, the word 'can't' shouldn't be in my vocabulary."

Vladimir Saint-Louis, 23, a New Yorker who received his bachelors degree in liberal arts, African-American studies and human communications, said he felt "blessed" to have the president speak at his graduation.

"It was an absolute honor," he said. "It gives me hope to look outside the box."

Paul Lorton, 23, of Peoria, Ill., confessed that he might not have come to the ceremony to receive his bachelor's in human nutrition were it not for the keynote speaker.

"Because the president's here I thought it would be pretty good to go," he said. "I wouldn't come otherwise if he wasn't here."