Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith returns to his alma mater May 10 to deliver the University of Mississippi’s 155th commencement address. Photo by Kevin Bain.


E-mail this story


Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith Challenges Graduates to Be Ready for '10 Seconds Later'
05/10/2008


OXFORD, Miss. - Dramatic change often comes swiftly - in as little as 10 seconds - and how people react to such situations determines their success and legacy, Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith told University of Mississippi graduates Saturday morning in the Grove.

"There will be moments for which you cannot prepare, but moments for which you must be ready," said Smith, speaking at the university's 155th commencement. "When they come, you'll have a choice: you can be beaten back, you can be frightened or you can rise to meet those moments."

This year's graduating class included 2,148 candidates for degrees. Several thousand graduates and family members observed the speeches and academic pageantry on a breezy, overcast morning.

Following the general ceremony, the College of Liberal Arts and seven schools held separate ceremonies across campus to present baccalaureate, master's, doctor of pharmacy and law diplomas. Activities originally planned for the afternoon were moved closer to noon because thunderstorms were forecast for later in the day. Recipients of doctor of philosophy degrees were honored at a hooding ceremony Friday evening in the Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

Smith, a native of Holly Springs, is the country's top-rated cable news anchor. The Ole Miss alumnus anchors the network's signature "The Fox Report" evening newscast and afternoon news-interview program "Studio B." He has won acclaim for his reporting, particularly his live coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in south Mississippi and New Orleans.

In March, he broadcast live from the Oxford Square for two days as part of the network's coverage of the Mississippi primaries. He plans to return in September to cover the first presidential debate of 2008, to be broadcast live from the Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

In a speech punctuated with rah-rah enthusiasm for Ole Miss and his home state, Smith acknowledged that he left the university a few credit hours short of graduation, but credited the "push this amazing place gave me" for his success.

"I've watched the sun rise over the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf," he said. "I've spoken with presidents and interviewed kings. I've gotten up in Santorini and Split, and bedded down in Dubai and Dubrovnik and Amman and Amsterdam. But when I have a moment to breathe, when I have time to rest and relax and reflect, I want to be here."

Although he has often been asked to give commencement speeches, Smith said he had always declined because he wanted to deliver his first at his alma mater.

Quoting Mississippi authors William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, he urged graduates to strive for success even when failure seems likely. He also warned of unforeseen circumstances.

"On a normal day, 10 seconds later, a loved one can drop to a knee and say those words you so wanted to hear, but now you can't believe it's happening," he said. "On a normal day, 10 seconds later, the phone can ring and that job is there halfway across the country. Ten seconds later, Tyree can can catch a pass between his hand and his helmet - the great escape can happen, and our guy can be the Super Bowl MVP.

"On a normal day, with a perfect blue sky on a beautiful September morning, 10 seconds later, you look up and the biggest building you've ever been in is on fire. And there's about to be a new normal."

Smith cited two examples of national stories in which ordinary people performed acts of heroism: Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and last year's collapse of the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. He painted a vivid picture of the latter event.

"In the midst of it all, a yellow school bus sat perched on a section of that broken bridge," he recalled. "Inside were 52 little boys and girls. They were just coming back from a day at the water park and 'all of a sudden.' They were all 5 or 6 years old. As flames burned on that span still shifting, and as twisted metal and shattered concrete groaned in protest, heroes emerged.

"Ordinary men and women came out of the smoke and ran into the fire because there were little boys and girls on that bus. On that day, 13 people died on that bridge But every single child on that bus went home."

Charging graduates to be the "guardians of good," Smith wished them luck.

"Ten seconds later has just arrived," he said. "And you are ready."

During the ceremony, Gregory Schirmer, professor of English, was honored as recipient of the 2008 Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award, presented annually to the campuswide outstanding teacher.

Sam Shu-Wi Wang, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering, received the university's inaugural Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award.

The university also recognized the winners of this year's Frist Student Service Awards: Aileen Ajootian, chair and associate professor of classics and art, and Marc Showalter, director of the University Counseling Center and assistant professor of education.

by Mitchell Diggs