It’s About You

Dr. Michael S. Ameigh
Phi Kappa Phi
April 13, 2016

Good morning.

I am delighted to be standing here today looking out over this particular gathering, because 21 years ago I was asked by the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the time to put together the case for installing a chapter of Phi Kappa Phi here at SUNY Oswego.

Doing so was not just a matter of filling out a few forms and sending in a check. There was broad consultation with faculty, administration and students. There was a visit by a delegation of Phi Kappa Phi dignitaries from all over the US that met with representatives of every college constituency; students, faculty, staff, the college president, even College Council.

I remember they were particularly interested in Penfield Library, not just the quality and breadth of our library collection and services but their accessibility to students. We burned out a printer and more than a few barrels of midnight oil pulling everything together, and when the word came that we had succeeded there was an installation ceremony with faculty, students, even the president in full academic regalia. The charter was presented by the National President of Phi Kappa Phi. I recall helping President Stephen Weber don the SUNY Oswego Presidential Seal for the event, the symbol of authority presidents wear only at the most important academic ceremonies. It was a great evening, and being here to witness yet another initiation – 21 years later - is a terrific treat for me.

That said, I want to speak to you undergrads and soon-to-be grads in particular. This day is not about me or anyone else who has gone before or will follow. It is about you. Some of you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Will being a member of Phi Kappa Phi bring riches and fame?

Here is how I would answer that question. What you have accomplished here at SUNY Oswego, as awsome as it is, is not the stuff of pop fiction. You are not among ‘the chosen,’ except by you. You know that. YOU have put in the grueling hours. YOU have taken some falls along with the victories. While others may look at you and see something special, YOU know your accomplishments have come incrementally and, truth be told, could be attained by others you know if they were not distracted by lesser things.

Your accomplishments were not thrust upon you, and they will not be thrust upon you going forward. I could use the cliché that ‘you will have to pay your dues,’ but that phrase will not apply to you. Paying dues is nothing more than a financial transaction. YOU will do the hard work, expend the energy, make the sacrifices – and the choices - that lead onward.

What we are doing here today is saying to you that we are impressed, that we see great promise in your ability, your energy, your determination, your commitment to your academic studies, your intelligence. We see great promise for all of us, in you.

Phi Kappa Phi was organized to offer encouragement to hard-working, gifted students in all disciplines of study. Some honor societies focus on the hard sciences, or the social sciences, or the performing arts, the humanities, business, teacher education. Phi Kappa Phi takes in all, along with faculty and staff who, like you, have shown great promise in their capacity to grow their professional and scholarly development which benefits you, and me, and everyone else in our college community.

Keep in mind that many of us in this room have walked this planet a lot longer than you have. That gives us an edge in the ‘distinguished’ category just by having had a head start. You can take some pride in what you have accomplished, of course, but you have a long way to go.

I don’t have to tell you the journey will not be easy. You know that. So what else is new. This is our way of encouraging you to take the initiative to opt for great things in your life.

Over the years I have worked with thousands of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to make a big, positive difference in the world. In recent years I have interacted with undergrads mostly as an administrator of grant programs – Student Scholarly and Creative Grants, summer Challenge Grants, and faculty collaborative activities grants of various stripes that involve students directly, as researchers, performers, producers. It has been a real pleasure reading student grant reports, chatting with student researchers at poster sessions, watching their superb performances on the stage and on the screen, and especially in recent years, seeing them go off to present their work at scholarly conferences and exhibitions.

Not many years ago the quality of undergraduate research and creative activity here at SUNY Oswego was nowhere near as sophisticated as it is today. Without YOU doing that important work we would not be able to boast that the editor of the distinguished American Journal of Undergraduate Research in pure and applied scientific sciences is one of our own faculty.

SUNY Oswego undergrads have been involved in ground-breaking research, both here on campus and around the world. Some have worked on isolating essential components of vaccines with the promise to fight diseases that have plagued Africa since the dawn of man. Some have worked in biology and chemistry labs in Brazil, Scandinavia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Taiwan. Students in the Arts have studied with some of the world’s most distinguished artists and musicians. One student traveled to Cuba to study with a musician considered by many to be the most accomplished Afro-Cuban percussionist in the world. Others have created videos that aired on public television. Some have engaged in anthropological study in Florida, the Caribbean, Canada, and elsewhere.

And let me pick on Physics for a moment. There have been several truly jaw-dropping developments in the hard sciences recently. Back in the summer of 2013 the existence of an elementary particle known as Higgs Boson was confirmed at the renowned CERN laboratory in Switzerland. One of our students was doing an internship there, at CERN, when the announcement was made. I recall some truly exciting exchanges in email between him and the Physics faculty that I had the high privilege to eavesdrop upon.

Earlier this year scientists captured audio from the Big Bang, the phenomenon that as far as we know – or at least as far as scientists are able to hypothesize at this stage – resulted in the instantaneous formation of our universe.

I doubt there was a SUNY Oswego student present at the Big Bang – although I think some of us feel like WE were. Who knows? Maybe someday time-travel will become possible and we can send one back to record it as it happened!

Capturing that audio in the manner in which it was done confirmed Einstein’s Theory of Relativity for the first time. These are very big things. Maybe the next Einstein is in this room; or the next Rachel Carson, or Thomas Edison, or Janet Yellen, or George Clooney. What an exciting place this is, and will continue to be.

Back in the 1960s I struggled as an undergrad at SUNY Fredonia, spent a lot of time and energy trying to keep a focus on my academics amid all the distractions. One day while listening to the radio I heard singer/songwriter Neil Young belt out a cry for help that has stayed with me for nearly 50 years. The lyric goes like this: ‘Old man, look at my life, I’m a lot like you were.’ Whatever Neil Young’s motivation for composing that song, to me it was a call for maybe a bit more understanding and a little more encouragement from the guy who just happened to have had a head start.

I was 21 then. Now that I am that old man I know I speak for many in this room when I say to you, young lady and young man, that we ARE a lot like you. We greatly admire the action you bring to your studies, your research, your creative activity, your commitment to greater things. In fact we thrive on it, just like you do, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

Welcome to Phi Kappa Phi, and Congratulations.

1