2006 Speeches

Remarks at the Presentation of President’s Award/ACS Graduation

June 9, 2006

As U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, I am proud to represent President George W. Bush and present in his name, these two awards this evening. Congratulations to the recipients.

I’m pleased, also, to have the opportunity to speak to you at this significant milestone in your life. Graduations seem to present an irresistible opportunity for adults to offer advice for your future. You’ll get plenty of that from others so let me, instead, use this opportunity to reflect on what is significant about the graduation of the Class of 2006 from the American Community School of Beirut.

Your graduation today is living proof an enduring 100-year partnership between the American people and the people of the Middle East. The American Community School was founded by Americans families for whom Beirut was an adopted home. Most came as missionaries and inspired by their faith, they sought to educate, to promote free thought and discussion, to share science and minister to the sick. They embodied American progressive beliefs and were energized by an egalitarian and democratic spirit.

One hundred years later, these ideals live on at ACS. At your school, dedicated faculty and staff educate a student body that represents the full diversity of Lebanese communities, as well as international and American students. Your education has developed your ability both to ask difficult questions and seek out answers on your own. You’ve been encouraged to think independently but to value and contribute to your community; you’ve had opportunities to lead, to serve, to advocate for causes you care about. The education you received is the legacy of an American community that lived in Beirut generations before you, or your parents, or grandparents were born.

A now to use a very modern expression, “Flash forward.” During an intervening century the area you now call Lebanon passed from outpost of the Ottoman Empire, to French Protectorate, to new state, to banking and business capital of the Middle East, to an arena for regional and international struggle and civil strife, to occupation by neighbors from the south and east, and finally to the nation-defining moments you witnessed in 2005.

But like your own process of education and development, Lebanon’s transformation to a stable, unified, economically prosperous and democratic state is far from complete. Every one of us here tonight -- Lebanese, American and those in the international community -- has a stake in ensuring that Lebanon succeeds. My hope for you, the Class of 2006, today, is that as you continue your education, as you seek a career path and build a life for the future, Lebanon’s success becomes one of your goals.

The partnership between the Lebanese and American people, embodied in the century of American Community School of Beirut graduations, endures and lives in each one of its graduates. As the American Ambassador to Lebanon, I am proud to offer my congratulations to you the graduates, to those who have taught and nurtured you, to your family and friends. I hope your American Community School education will remain the strong foundation upon which you build a life of success and service.

Good luck and congratulations.