Quote

I often have said that to be a college president, you need a thick skin, a good sense of humor, and nerves like sewer pipes.

As we talk about the need to foster academic achievement, we must recognize and reward those who strive academically, just as we honor athletic champions. Meeting the President of the United States is just the honor we should bestow on our academic champions.

Redemption is possible, and it is the measure of a civilized society.

A lot of Ivy League schools have presidents who are very politically active. And I don't think it has an impact on whether a student chooses a school or a donor gives to a school.

I was a university professor, I could talk on and on and on. Give me a podium and you have to drag me off with a hook.

A university's essential character is that of being a center of free inquiry and criticism - a thing not to be sacrificed for anything else.

Redemption isn't giving a bank robber a job as a teller.

Were I not a king, I would be a university man.

In novels, and American novels in particular, it's not just about redemption, it's about forward movement and healing oneself. Americans are very big on getting better.

To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.