as we celebrate the 50 years of christopher newport university with this very first commencement here on the great lawn, i think we can all personally witnessed the transportation that has taken place during your 16 years as president of this university. i want to say to all of you that this is the best and brightest and best looking glass ever in the history of the university. i understand there are some of you that have actually gotten a 4.0. when i was at notre dame, i actually got a 4.0 myself one year. i got a 2.0 the first semester and that 2.0 the second semester. it was not that hard. i had a great time that year. i want to commend all of you for your academic success here. i know that this speech is the last obstacle between you and your degrees. mercifully, we learn from the gettysburg address, which was five minutes, that good speeches don't have to be that long. i promise you that mine will not be that much longer. i do want to tell you that i have a few simple truths of want to offer to you today that i hope you may remember for your consideration as you go out into an in

you have been given much here at christopher newport university. you have learned from and then mentored by some of the greatest faculty in all the commonwealth. so now, much as expected. you have been trained for excellence. so do not deliver mediocrity. don't make excuses, make things happen. now as i close, i have one last request as governor of virginia. i know you will have many opportunities. maybe some around the country, and around the world. but i want to humbly ask you this. no matter where you came from, today you are here in virginia. so if you are going to create something big, create it in virginia. if you are going to open a business, open it in virginia. if you are going to be a great artist or doctor or teachers or professors or lawyer or counselor, or whatever it may be, do it in virginia. we want to keep your talents and your dreams in virginia. we want you to pay taxes in virginia. so thank you for your hard work these last four years or five years or six years. you have gotten to this day with love and support of your families,

this took place at christopher newport university at newport news, virginia. >>> now, today since we're talking about civil liberties, usually when i am up here i have a lemonade from chick f il-a, and a couple months ago i went to the state capital and picked up this mug and it is fitting together. whenever you put hot liquid in it, the first, third, fourth, fifth amendments disappear and when it is cold the bill the rights comes back. fortunately i am just drinking gold water today. today we'll be talking about civil war and many of you are national securities studies minors and in a lot of your classes you study how to defend the nation. in this class what we're going to look at is a tension that exists in this country and in others between national security and individual liberties. we're going to use lincoln as a lens to do this today and in a week or two we'll look at jefferson davis and you will find that jefferson davis did the same exact things that lincoln did in the confederacy. now, last time we talked about succession. when lincoln was elected the deep south succeeded and w

this 1:15 class took place at christopher newport university in newport news, virginia. >> today since we're talking about civil liberties usually i have a let me man made from schick fa lay, my favorite restaurant. i went to the state capital and picked up this mug. it's got the bill of rights. whenever you put a hot liquid in it, the fifth, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth amendments all disappear. and then -- thank you. and then as your beverage gets cold, the bill of rights comes back. and fortunately i'm just drinking cold water today so we have all of our rights under the bill of rights. we're talking about lincoln during the war. many of you a lot of your classes you study how to defend the nation. in this class what we're going to look at is tension that exists in this country and other between national security and individual liberties. we're going to use lincoln as a lens to do this today. in a week or two we're going to look at jefferson davis. you're going to find jefferson davis did the same exact kinds of things lincoln did in the confederacy. last time we talked abo

as we celebrate the 50 years now of christopher newport university with this vfer first commencement here i think we can all personally witness the transformation that has taken place during your 16 years as president of this university. i want to say to all of you, this is the best and brightest and best-looking class ever in the history of the university mr. president is that right? and i understand there's some of you that have actually gotten a 4.0 and i just -- well, i have to tell you when i was at notre dame i actually got a 4.0 myself. one year. i got a 2.0 the first semester and the second semester and it wasn't that hard. i had a great time that year and i want to commend all of you for your academic success here. now, i know that this speech is the last obstacle between you and your degree. and mercifully, we learn from the getiesberg address, which was five minutes, that good speeches don't have to be that long. i promise you that mine will not be that much longer. but i do want to tell you that i have a few simple truths that i want to offer you today that i hope you may