"The academic world, for all its faults, still has that quality," Bollinger told a wet crowd in Michigan Stadium, "and I urge you to take that image away with you." Bollinger's 20-minute address included advice, humor and literary anecdotes. The talk elicited smiles, chuckles and applause from an audience shielding themselves against the rain with everything from ponchos and umbrellas to plastic trash bags. An estimated 6,000 students received degrees this spring.

Shortening his speech because of the elements, Bollinger made several points:

Remember your University. Asserting that Michigan's flat topography and sometimes harsh climate contribute to the University's distinctive personality and to the close relationships between people that make it unique, Bollinger said, "The University's immense size gives it an ongoing variety of creative activity that is unmatched by any other University, or place, in the country. And the friendly, honest relations of the people here at the same time are able to make that immensity intimate."

Remember that you have had special opportunities "to make mistakes that you cannot so easily afford in the future." Bollinger said that he always has liked the view of life held by residents of a small French village in the Vaucluse, as described in the 1950s by Harvard sociologist Laurence Wylie. The villagers valued some wildness in youth because they felt that the adult who had been too good as a youth was not to be trusted because such a person was not "predictable." Bollinger said that he was "pleased to report to your parents and friends that our students, and especially the Class of 1997, are now entirely trustworthy and 'predictable,' though some, it is true, are more trustworthy than others."

Remember that the world is not always interested in your well-being, at least not nearly to the degree that it has been until now. "I worry that too many graduates today are being lured into careers that are neither suited to them nor have the potential to develop their talents," he said, warning: "If a business is willing to hire you at a large salary, say over $30,000 a year, to be a 'consultant,' given that you have virtually nothing to offer to anyone needing a consultant, look closely at what you are expected to give up. It may well be your soul."

Try to keep the openness of experimentation that is the hallmark of youth. "Here," Bollinger said, "my best advice is to always do something, on the side, that you're really not very good at. As one grows older, we tend to lose our willingness to endure discomfort and failure. To avoid that you need to practice at being not very good." This is a major function of hobbies, he noted. Whether it's learning Russian or playing the cello, it should be something you have no chance of being very good at, he explained, because it's doing poorly that is important.

You eventually will come to love us, your faculty, he predicted. "True, we are a somewhat comical lot. We take ourselves too seriously. Each of us believes that the little area of the world we study so earnestly is a matter of the highest importance," Bollinger said. But he predicted, "time above all else is on our side. For, as you lose your youth, which I know now seems hard to imagine (which is, actually, part of your charm), you will feel more and more nostalgic for the era of your lives you are just completing. The nicest part, for us, is that you will come to associate us with your lost youth, making your fondness for us increase."

Prior to Bollinger's address, student speaker Jeffrey C. Keating, a political science and history major from Plantation, Florida, talked about lessons students had learned at Michigan, including the importance of demonstrating compassion for others and of investing in public education.