Hobart and William Smith Colleges

In 2007, Civil Rights Leader and Congressman John Lewis gave the Convocation Address at HWS where he also received the President’s Medal from President Emeritus Mark D. Gearan L.H.D. ’17, P’21.This Week in Photos pays tribute to Lewis by sharing excerpts from his speech.

“As a young child I tasted the beautiful fruits of segregation and racial discrimination and I didn’t like it.”

“I … asked my mother, asked my father, my grandparents, my great grandparents, ‘why segregation, why racial discrimination?’ and they said ‘that’s the way it is. Don’t get in the way. Don’t get in trouble.’”

“But, in 1955 at the age of 15 … The action of Rosa Parks, the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., inspired me to find a way to get in the way. I got in the way. I got in trouble. It was good trouble. It was necessary trouble.”

“I appeal to you as students, freshmen, new, [with a ] sense of vigor, energy, vitality, to find a way to get in the way. Speak up, speak out and do not be quiet.”

“I came under the influence of that idea that the concept of the beloved community: an all-encompassing, all-inclusive community where no one is left out or left behind.”

“An idea that we could create a nation, a world, at peace with itself, that we could create a world free from racism, free of violence, where no one would be left out or left behind.”

“So I say to you, during the school year, and the years to come as you make it through the journey of life, when you encounter the ideas that breed separation in our society, you must remain committed to the beloved community.”

“I stand here today, Mr. President and members of the faculty, as a living example of the power of commitment, the power of faith, and the ability of ideas to transform a nation.”

“I say to you – a new generation of leaders – a new group of young people that have their path yet in their way. It is your time to speak up, to speak out.”

“I say to you our country is a different country, our country is a better country because a whole generation got in the way.”

“As new students you must do your part to help hold the house together, not just the American house, but the world house.”

“This little piece of real estate, this little planet we call earth. Call it the house of Africa, the house of Europe, the house of Egypt, the house of Central and South America. We all live in the same house.”

“And I said that those of us who live in America, maybe our foremothers and our forefathers all came to this great land in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”

“So, walk with the wind and let the spirit of Hobart and William Smith Colleges be your guide.”