Message to Juilliard Grads: Civility, Nuance, Dignity, Discipline

Stressing the values of civility, nuance, dignity, and discipline, and noting that he would be graduating right along with the class of 2018, Joseph W. Polisi addressed a packed commencement crowd at Juilliard on May 18. It was the school’s 113th commencement, and Polisi’s 34 and last one as president. An edited version of his remarks appears below.

As I take part in my last Juilliard commencement as president of this extraordinary institution, you will understand if my mind is awash in a flood of memories composed of people, events, and past graduation ceremonies. But the one realization I have continued to return to as I speak to you today is that the Juilliard experience is truly a noble one reflecting the very best of human values, and that you, our exceptional graduates, represent the future of dance, drama, and music around the globe.

This reflection comes into focus for me due to the current status of our national discourse. I have often spoken in the recent past of how the arts embody values that are currently lacking in our national environment.

These values include civility—the ability to listen and to interact respectfully with our fellow human beings. In the arts, that translates into the mutual respect that working artists have for each other, combined with a generosity of spirit that must exist in developing new work. Finally, one needs an open-mindedness in approaching creative innovations that allow unfamiliar concepts to be realized.

Nuance—the ability to discern and appreciate subtlety. Today, how often does our political discourse seem coarse and blunt? An appreciation of nuance in all endeavors from the tempo of a string quartet movement to a debate about a political issue makes us more sensitive and caring individuals. Without nuance our world is a brutal and insensitive place.

Dignity—respect for one another, for oneself, and respect for the topic to be discussed. It does matter how you approach a work of art, how you address its contours, how you show respect for its creator. With dignity, you treat works of art or people with respect and humility, and that approach is often rewarded with respect in return.

Discipline—the art of preparing oneself for what lies ahead, with intellectual, physical, and psychological rigor. Talk may be cheap, as the saying goes, but disciplined, rational action is powerful.

All these values are exactly what we expect you to embody as you leave this place. I am reminded of a phrase which summarizes this concept that comes from our distinguished alumnus Stephen McKinley Henderson who recently said to our drama students, “Don’t get it right, get it true.”

As an artist, you are a principal communicator of human values and this responsibility comes with both joy and challenges. Often the world will dwell on those challenges more than the personal satisfaction that comes from being an artist, but at these times remember the words of Mark Twain, who when speaking of the music of Wagner said, “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

And in speaking of your role as communicators, let us celebrate the extraordinary group of faculty teaching at Juilliard, who each day represent the best in intellectual rigor, creativity, and empathy.

Your teachers are our collective conscience. Ladies and gentlemen let us take a moment to acknowledge and applaud Juilliard’s extraordinary teachers and staff.

More and more, we have diminishing space in our daily routine to allow the provocative and stimulating elements of the artistic experience to take root in our day-to-day schedule, a schedule dominated by tweets, text messages, emails, and other digital distractions. Yes, I know these conveyances are now baked into our DNA as a global people, but I can’t help but feel that they are a distraction that acts as a physical drain on our intellect, taking time away from how we experience our world with all its beauty and substance.

Can we imagine a world without the arts and the artists who perpetually make our lives fuller and textured? I think not, and I hope not. Rather than being a subject of pious platitudes, the arts must be viewed as an essential part of our existence which can be easily neutralized by an uncaring populace or an insensitive political leadership. That is why you, our graduates, must be effective advocates for the arts in the time ahead.

The distinguished historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. once wrote: “If history tells us anything, it tells us that the United States, like all other nations, will be measured in the eyes of posterity; less by the size of its gross domestic product and the measure of its military arsenal than by its character and achievement as a civilization.”

This achievement as a civilization is in your hands and the hands of others beyond the arts who send a message through the creative process that human progress can only be achieved through mutual respect and understanding; that there is more to our world than material goods and superficial communication. In this time of vocational focus where college degrees are evaluated more on future compensation rather than intellectual content and curiosity, I wish to emphasize that the arts profession is one of the few human endeavors where we can almost always guarantee that your work as artists—performers, teachers, creators, administrators—will have a beneficial impact on our world.          

As you approach your future, I urge you to dream and aspire to create a life for yourself that is fulfilling and filled with happiness. As my wife Elizabeth has reminded me frequently, happiness is a direction, not a place. Enjoy the journey each day and try not to be discouraged by the challenges that life will invariably put before you. When I was your age I could have never imagined that I would have the privilege of helping to lead this august institution, but I did aspire to try to make a difference through my life’s work, whatever that would be. It is that aspiration, that striving, that will direct your life’s path.

And let me quickly add how fortunate we are to have Damian Woetzel as our new President. I know he will lead this institution into the future with energy, creativity, and great human sensitivity.

In closing, I can finally say after 34 years that I will be graduating from The Juilliard School with you today. On behalf of our trustees, faculty, and administrative staff, I express to you our pride in what you have accomplished at this institution, and our clear expectation that you will become future leaders who change the world for the better through your art and who bring to others a sense of gratitude and wonder as you make the arts come alive every day.