Remarks by Kevin Groves

Fellow students and guests, faculty, administrators,and board members:

On behalf of the graduating Class of 2002, I would like to sincerely thank our friends and families who have supported us throughout our graduate education and have traveled great lengths to join today’celebration. Your unwavering support and encouragement has been instrumental to our successes at Claremont Graduate University.

I would also like to thank those faculty members and administrators whose great commitment to student learning has provided us the knowledge and analytical skills that will prove essential in an ever-changing job market. CGU’s emphasis on student-faculty interaction has been central to our education, and I want to acknowledge those faculty members who provided us invaluable mentoring throughout our tenure at this institution. Your service is greatly appreciated.

CGU has prepared us as scholars and professionals, however, we face incredible challenges as we begin service in our selected fields. Whether we have been trained as managers, economists, psychologists, or educators, we are confronted with new political, economic, and environmental challenges that shape our post-September 11thworld. The mission of this institution is to prepare a diverse group of outstanding individuals to assume  leadership roles in the worldwide community through research, teaching, and practice in selected fields. This morning I would like to say a few words about the leadership challenges we must face as we begin our professional careers.

First and foremost, in the wake of the most significant corporate scandal in recent history, an increased emphasis on social responsibility will challenge us as professionals in our respective fields. Economist Milton Friedman advocated the classical view on social responsibility by asserting that decision-makers’ primary responsibility within an organization is to maximize financial return and enhance shareholder wealth. However, today’s organizations cannot be merely economic institutions, as they are necessarily involved in social, political, and environmental issues. Consequently, as we enter organizations in the coming months, we must challenge ourselves to accept social obligations and the costs that go with a true commitment to our society’s welfare. At the expense of short-term financial gains, we must protect employees and other stakeholders from unethical business practices, involve our organizations in addressing community-based problems, contribute to charitable causes, preserve the environment with strict pollution standards, and engage in other ethical and socially responsible actions as leaders.

As we begin our professional careers, we are also challenged to be effective leaders during a period of changing values and expectations. The authoritarian, command and- control approach to leadership is antiquated, and has been replaced with an emphasis on collaboration, interdependence, and stewardship. Stewardship is a form of leadership that involves giving people at the bottom and boundaries of an organization the power to decide how to serve a customer, a citizen, or a community. The real challenge lies in our willingness to be accountable for the well-being of our organization by operating in service, rather than in control, of those around us. Acting as steward in service not only involves a balance of decision- making power but also in making a primary commitment to the larger community. This accountability to the larger community involves new priorities that extend well beyond profit management, including environmental protection, employee and consumer protection, and community development. I challenge my fellow graduates to consider these issues as they assume leadership positions that entitle them with the power to make decisions for society’s well-being.

Finally, the question of how we will approach diversity as business, academic, and community leaders must be addressed. A true commitment to diversity involves not only human diversity, but also intellectual diversity by emphasizing inclusiveness and the willingness to embrace perspectives and opinions that are different from our own. The omnipotent view of leadership has been replaced with an emphasis on valuing divergent perspectives and embracing people with different academic and professional backgrounds and values. My fellow graduates: we must embrace both human and intellectual diversity as we assume leadership roles in the worldwide community through research, teaching, and practice in our respective fields.

In closing, I would like to congratulate all of the graduates and wish them luck as we embark on this challenging and exciting journey of leadership. Thank you.