and drug addiction ravaged once proud neighborhoods. despite this, we held on to and built some of our strength our in our inner harbor is home tot great attractions and is the anchor of our tourism industry. we are home to great educational institutions and research institutions and our port is growing and outpaces its peers along the east coast. and our hospitals serve people from all over maryland and all over the globe. without these pillars of growth baltimore might have lost more population. and as important as these physical pillars are there's another pillar that kept people from leaving. and that is love. baltimore is the kind of city that has a special kind of edevotion. every neighborhood is unique. the people who staid for all these years always believed that baltimore's best days are yet to come. there is no quit in them.

their love for baltimore compels them to safeguard and uphold what is good and to stand firm in the face of their neighborhood challenges. none of us are willing to give up on our great city. and as mayor i owe it to the people of baltimore to focus on improving in key areas, better schools, safer streets, and stronger neighborhoods. this commitment tot fundamentals is how we're going to hold on to our residents and grow our city by 10,000 families in the next 10 years. but i plan to grow baltimore sss as much about attracting people like you, if this sounds like a commercial as it is to holding on to the families that are already there. just last year, baltimore's ranked as the number one city for new college grads and just this week baltimore's ranked the ninth best city to find a job. does that appeal too any of you? in the 90's as the national

economy grew, young people started making investments in some baltimore communities in federal hill, canton, locust point and patterson park young professionals were rehabbing row homes, rooftop decks. the houses were inexpensive and these neighborhoods were close to the centers of business as well as great night life. but we had a problem. we couldn't keep them. unlike people in other parts of the city who were sticking with baltimore these young people got married, had kids and miveed way. they went to neighboring jurisdictions not for the lower cost of living but they left because baltimore's crime and poor schools pushed them away. the city has become focused on doing everything in making the financial promises that -- the city had become focused on doing everything promising everything and making financial promises that it could not keep. it could not do the most important things well. while the real estate boom helped generate historic

revenues it only masked a serious problem. now, in 2012 there are signs that baltimore is headed in the right direction. our investment will build on this progress by making baltimore better, safer, and stronger. we can make the argument with young people and convince them to come to baltimore and to stay. and we can help people like you see that baltimore's best days are ahead and that you can be a part of our pillars of growth. we need committed 57ped idecate young people in baltimore right now. and your experience has given you the confidence to make both decisions like that. st. mary's has given you the skills to adapt to an ever changing economy. and the tools to reinvent yourself and to lead in the 21st century and to stay on the cutting edge. so i know this day is probably daunting for many of you. but i have to say that there is no reason to be overwhelmed. abraham lincoln once said, that

the best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time with each new day comes the new challenge to overcome and a new opportunity to embrace and drive forward a new future to shape and to make your own. and as i look at these proud graduates today, i see leaders who will be willing to make these bold decisions, leaders unafraid to ask what's next. leaders with the courage to constantly adapt and to change themselves for better. leaders ready to meet tough challenges and seize new opportunities. baltimore and the world needs a new generation of leaders like you. in fact, we're banking on it. st. mary's gave us baltimore's youngest current councilman brandon scott and i have no doubt that you can join him as a member of the new generation of great leaders. at a times it will be tough and you will find yourself asking

as we all do at all times in our life did i make the right decision? but you did. and you are prepared to make it through those tough times. your complete liberal arts education has prepared you to take on challenges of all kinds. not just in your long nights in kent or montgomery hall work on your smp but also the times spent with your classmates. now, before i close i must ask a few things of your entire class and when the president asks this of you a little while ago i'm thinking that maybe you weren't warmed up yet. so first, the first thing i ask is that you please stand and give your parents and your family a round of applause and the educators here for all that they have done to help you to get to this day. [cheers and applause]

thank you. i also ask you to look to your right and to your left. all right? promise me that you will continue to support your classmates as you move throughout life and as you all work to make our world a better place. i got a call on my way to the commencement today and you will i'm sure it doesn't matter how old you are or whether you are mayor of a big city your mom still tells you what to do and my mother as she knew i was headed down here to give this address she said you have to tell them a few things. so i'm only going to tell you one of the things.

my mother's advice to you and i get a lot of advice from my mother. she is an incredible woman, a retired pediatrician who went to the university of maryland medical school back in the 60s when few women let alone a woman of color attended medical school and she's been a tremendous asset to me. so she has one piece of advice. she says that you must commit yourself to a life of learning. she said this is not the end of your education whether you are going off to school or whether you are going off to the work world. you have to commit yourself to becoming the best person that you can be by continuing to learn for your entire life. so that is her advice. i hope that you take it. now on to my advice. when you are done celebrating with your friends and your

family i urge you to begin to think about how you can make a difference in your communities or in your city by bringing the st. mary's way with you wherever you go. you are welcome to bring it to baltimore because we need your energy, we need your ideas and most importantly we need your hope that we can make baltimore a better, safer, and stronger place to live. congratulations. god bless you. and thank you again for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. [cheers and applause] >> coming up next the oklahoma city university graduation. this is about 15 minutes.

>> thank you. what a wonderful honor. thank you so very much. i appreciate and accept this honoree docket rat with great pride and humility because it is truly an honor to be able to accept it from oklahoma city university one of our greatest universities in the state of oklahoma -- absolutely. but especially to be here up on the stage with some of oklahoma's top, brightest business leaders in the state and certainly some of our best leaders in civic leadership in our state with gary, with cliff, and with pat and ray. i am so honored to be able to receive this honoree doctorate with such outstanding oklahoma role models and i hope you will

emulate the things these leaders have done as you continue on. i have to tell you, you've done a great job here at this university. this university is one of our shining examples, one of our shining stars of success in higher education in the state of oklahoma and it is a great honor to be able to be here today to celebrate and to congratulate our outstanding new oklahoma graduates. you have helped me meet one of my goals in increasing the number of college graduates that we have in our state. so to all of our graduates who receive this exlend education from oklahoma city university we are very proud of you. you have worked very hard to get to this moment. hopefully you can get a little sleep, take a summer break and get ready to do whatever it is you're going to do with your life. and i know there are many people in this audience who helped you get to this point today. certainly we want to thank the outstanding staff and faculty,

the board of trustees, your president and what they've done to help you reach this pinnicle of success in your life. so let's give our faculty and our staff a round of applause and thank them, graduates. [applause] and of course you also have your family, your friends who have joined you here today, your parents. we want to recognize and thank the parents and your family for the role that they have played also in supporting you along this path. let's give them a hand. [applause] now, parents, to my parents who are out there you know that when someone typically graduates, they have a tassel that they move from one side to the next and a lot of times they throw their hats up in the air to celebrate that they finally completed this great milestone when they graduate. so parents, i have something for you today, i want you to get out your credit cards and

your checkbooks and you can throw those up in the air in front of your students because the tuition is finally over, hopefully. but in all seriousness, it is truly a great honor to be here with so many talented impressive men and women who are graduating from this unique school, a school which mission focuses on not only the students' intellectual ability but also their moral and spiritual development. and that is a tremendous accomplishment of this university. this is one of our most hindi and diverse and universities, and has a unique, and diverse group of students who attend. ocu counts students from 41 different states, and 56

different foreign countries. that is quite remarkable. [applause] >> here is another great fixture -- figure. they have the highest number of national merit scholars this year ever, and graduating from this university. [applause] >> congratulations to all of you. i know you will all do a very exciting things. i have looked at where some of your graduates are going, and some are going to disney paris, some will become officers in the u.s. military -- where are my military folks? [applause] >> some are going on to attend prestigious graduate programs. one is going to the eastman school of music, maybe several

ex -- ? -- several? some are going to our top theological programs with full scholarships as they move on. we have them go into medical schools, pharmacy schools, and many other programs and one going to study at the london school of economics. there they are. this is a remarkable class. you are also our future leaders in our state, not only in business but also certainly in civic leadership, too. we are very proud of you. i am sure i do not have to tell you that by virtue of you being here they you have completed one of the most important milestones in your life time that you will achieve. whether it is achieving the financial success or the financial success or the personal selves