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Los Angeles, California - Dr. Dymally: Our new President, Keith Norris, Chairman Williams, Ms. Lillian Mobley, ‘Sweet Alice’, faculty staff, friends, parents and, most importantly, you the graduates. It’s my distinct honor to introduce - to present, he needs no introduction - our guest speaker today. (Applause)
Governor, when I first met you with the president of Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Susan Kelly, you said, “Give me a wish list of three things that you’d like to have.”
And we responded by saying to you, “We need $43 million to build a nursing school.” I thought I had put a bullet through your head when I said that. (Laughter) “We need $5 million from UC for telemedicine and we need $10 million from (Inaudible) from UC.” Governor, if you were in baseball you’d end up in the Hall of Fame, because you batted 1,000 percent. (Applause)
We’ve got one slight hitch, and I know you’ll take care of it Monday - the $10 million is still held up in the Senate. (Laughter)
But during the course of the meeting I began boasting about Drew University and I said, “Well, we only get $8 million a year.”
And you politely corrected me and said, “$8.7.”
Now, Governor, I was impressed with that. I was impressed because it showed that you were well briefed; you knew more than I thought you did. (Laughter) I tried to slip a $700,000 deficit in there, but you wouldn’t buy it. But Governor, we thank you for your support of our university. And let me, ladies and gentlemen, read from a two-page letter of support from the Governor, just one paragraph:
Currently Charles Drew University has an important relationship with UCLA. Drew University students benefit from spending their first two years in UCLA Medical School program for basic science network. However, as we will discuss in their presentation, for Charles Drew University to move forward to attract and retain top academic physicians and continue to serve their students and community, they need”—
Listen to this one:
“they need to be allowed to develop a plan over time to expand to a four-year program.” (Applause)
And so, ladies and gentlemen, let me just introduce a commissioner, the Governor’s commissioner, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Ms. Alice Hoffman. (Applause)
Ladies and gentlemen, the Governor of the State of California. (Applause)
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Dymally. Thank you very much for the wonderful introduction and also thank you very much for your great leadership that you have shown over the years and the great contributions that you have made to the state of California. Let’s give him again a big, big hand for being such a terrific leader. (Applause)
Now, I am thrilled to be here today for the Charles Drew University’s 25th Commencement Address and Commencement Ceremony. By coincidence, it’s also the 25th anniversary of my first movie, Terminator. (Applause) And it also happens to be 25 years in a row that no one has nominated me for an Oscar, so there are a lot of 25s here. (Laughter)
Anyway, trustees, faculty, family, friends and graduates, I’m deeply honored to stand here with all of you today on such a joyous day of celebration. So let me first congratulate today’s graduates, the amazing men and women of the Charles Drew University’s class of 2009. Let’s give them a big, big hand again. (Applause)
You are California’s newest doctors, radiologists, lab techs, physician’s assistants and the list goes on and on. (Applause) That’s right. And very enthusiastic, also. This really is an amazing crowd; 140 health care professionals, men and women of every race, religion and color are here together. But with all your diversity there is one thing, I think, that all of you have in common, and that is that one time in the future you all will hate lawyers. That’s for sure. (Laughter)
Anyway, today truly is a very special and a remarkable accomplishment for each and every one of you. But of course you would not be sitting here today without the love and the support of your families, so let’s give them also a big, big hand. (Applause)
And let’s not forget the faculty and the staff, whose hard work helped shape you into the tremendous professionals that you are today. (Applause)
And I also want to say thank you to the university for this fantastic degree that I’m getting here today. (Laughter) This fantastic—wow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Doctor of Humane Letters. (Applause) That is fantastic, I love it. And I have to tell you, to show how humane I am, I’m only going to make this speech 20 minutes long and not any longer, OK?
Now, I know that the last few months have been very tough for this campus and it’s been a time of transition and change. So I want to say a special thank you to someone that has been a great, great leader. I want to say thank you to Dr. Keith Norris for stepping up to lead this fine institution. (Applause)
Under his leadership I know Drew University is going to be in good hands. He is a fantastic leader. And this is not just his opinion; it’s mine too. (Laughter) We just want to make sure. In fact, I asked Keith earlier, I said, “Can I make a donation to Drew?”
And he said, “Yes, of course.”
And I said, “OK, I’m going to donate a complete boxed set of all of my movies to Drew.” (Laughter)
And he said, “How about a check instead?” So OK, we are still working on that right now.
I tell you why I think this is a special place and why I’m especially proud of this university and of all the graduates. Charles Drew does more than just educate. It is a shining pillar of hope and serves some of the most medically underserved communities in the nation. And you, the students, are the instrument of that hope, so I want to congratulate you again for the great work that you are doing. I have been blown away by something that I have just heard a few weeks ago. I heard that nearly half of this university’s graduates stay right here and practice medicine right here in this community. And that is fantastic. I haven’t heard this anywhere else. (Applause)
Now, I know that many of you also go away, but the bottom line is that you go to underserved communities in other areas of the state and in other areas of this nation. So I’ve very proud of that, also. (Applause) You are men and women of compassion and courage and you’re not entering this profession for riches and for glory. You are doing it because you are passionate about helping people and you want to make a difference in lives and in this world. (Applause)
And California is proud of each and every one of you, and on behalf of the state of California I stand before you here today to send you off as you start this new and exciting chapter of your lives. Some of you are off to residency training, others will go directly to work at a hospital or at a clinic, so I want to just say thank you and wish you good luck with that.
Over the last few weeks, of course, I’ve wondered what should I be talking about to all of you here. I mean, I can’t offer much wisdom on how to set a broken leg, and I sure cannot go and help you with diagnosing a tumor or something, because you know all those things already. (Laughter)
So I had my staff do a little bit of research of what is it that you want me to talk about here today. And it’s really interesting when you look at the numbers, because 17 percent wanted me to talk about inspirational things, 23 percent wanted me to give practical advice, 10 percent wanted me to be funny and humorous, and 50 percent said they want their money back from my movie Jingle all the Way. (Laughter) Unbelievable. Numbers don’t lie; they’re right here.
Now, normally I would talk, of course, about the rule of success, because I get asked all the time, what’s the secret to success? How did you become so successful? And I always give them right away the three most important points:
• One, come to America.
• Two, work like hell.
• And three, marry a Kennedy. (Applause)
So as you can see, that doesn’t make a whole speech, right? It’s very quick, those points.
But in all seriousness, I think the secret to success, obviously, is to always visualize your goal and always strive for that goal no matter what anyone says, and be passionate about your goal. But, of course, you already know all of those things, otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here today with all your medical degrees and certificates. The main reason that I wanted to speak to you here today is just simply to congratulate you.
And also I wanted to come here because we have something in common, and I have talked about this just earlier. I see a lot of myself in all of you. Now, I will never be a surgeon, obviously, or a pharmacist, and you will never be a Terminator or Conan the Barbarian, that’s clear. (Laughter) But we all have one thing in common; we all have overcome tremendous odds in order to be here today. And so you beat the odds, that is the great thing. You have beaten the odds to be here today. (Applause)
You endured years and years of hard work and struggle, and I know how much you went through to get here today. And that is something that I love to do and that is something that I believe in 100 percent, to fight the odds. And especially I get excited when people say it can’t be done, it has never been done, it can’t be done, you won’t make it, and all of those kinds of things.
I just remember the time when I was back in Austria, growing up on the farm and I was 15 years old. And you can imagine what it’s like, when you say, “I want to be the bodybuilding champion of the world,” in Austria. Well, it didn’t go over very well, because people thought that was absolutely insane.
Especially my mother, when she saw me decorating my bedroom wall with pictures of musclemen and boxers and wrestlers and strongmen. And she started calling our local doctor because she thought there was something terribly wrong with my mind. And she said to the doctor, she started crying and she said, “What did I do wrong with my son? All of his friends have pictures of women on their bedroom wall and my son has pictures of half-naked men. Where did I go wrong?” (Laughter)
So those are the kind of things I went through, those are the kind of obstacles that I faced. And of course everyone, my friends also said, “Why don’t you just become a soccer champion or a ski champion, rather than a bodybuilding champion? That’s an American sport.” But I didn’t listen. I went and I trained five hours a day, year after year, and at the age of 20 I become the youngest Mr. Universe ever. (Applause)
And the same was the case when I came to America. When I came to America and after I was finished with bodybuilding competition I wanted to get into the movies and I wanted to be a leading man in the movies. So of course immediately all the agents said, “It can’t be done. No one with a German accent ever became a leading man. We can put you into some Nazi movies or something like that, or maybe play a bouncer or a wrestler, but not to be a leading man. The guys that are leading men are like Dustin Hoffman and Woody Allen, the little guys. Especially look at your body, with all those bumps sticking out. You’re 20 years late. Hercules movies were done 20 years ago. And your name, what is it, Schwarzenschnitzel or something like that? I can see it already on a billboard up there. Yeah, it’s going to really draw a lot of big audiences. Yeah, that’s a good one.”
So anyway, all of those things that they said were my liabilities became assets of mine. It turned the whole thing around. I mean, you remember with that crazy accent, you heard the line, “I’ll be back,” right? (Applause) It was the accent that made that line. Or “It’s not a doomer.” Remember that? “It’s not a doomer.” Instead of tumor I said, “It’s not a doomer.” Yeah, exactly. It was because of the accent. And I remember also when I did Conan the Barbarian and the director looked at me and said, “If we wouldn’t have Schwarzenegger and this kind of body we would have had to build one.” So all of those things they said would be a huge obstacle to get to become a leading man, all of those things became an asset and I made it.
And the same was also when I ran for governor. The first thing that people said was, “You, with your background, you will never make it. I mean, they will destroy you. The press will destroy you. You have to start little, as a mayor or as an assemblyman and work your way up.” Well, anyway, the rest is history; I don’t have to talk about that. (Laughter)
So what makes this class so special is why I’m so proud of you. You are special. And this is why I also wanted to go and come and speak here today. I get a lot of offers from different places to do commencement speeches, but this university here I wanted to go to specifically, because you fight and you fight and you fight and you have to overcome those obstacles. (Applause)
You have fought hard and persevered in the face of adversity. Adversity breeds character, there are no two ways about it. And when you’re a teaching hospital—Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Center closed two years ago. I know that you looked at that steep hill in front of you and said, “Can we ever climb that hill?” But you know, you kept faith. You never lost the faith at all. You pushed forward, and you’re here today and you are here with your caps and with your gowns, in front of your families and friends, ready to go out and to make your mark on the world. So again, fantastic. What a great accomplishment.
Now, earlier I mentioned how so many of you will go on to serve the community and to give something back and to do something for the underserved communities. Now, I guarantee, giving back will bring you so much joy and will bring you more joy than anything else, and a great amount of fulfillment. And this is something that I had to learn in my life, because I tell you, I learned early, and I thought to myself when I was in Austria, that it is fame and fortune that makes you great. And so I thought when I come to America I can come over here, get into the movies, make millions of dollars, and those will be the ingredients to greatness.
But I was dead wrong. I was dead wrong, because the way I discovered that was, of course, totally coincidentally. That was back in 1967. I just wanted to tell you how those kinds of incidents can change your outlook on life. I was asked by the University of Wisconsin, Superior to come there and to help them with a research program for Special Olympians, people with mental disabilities, people that are intellectually challenged. They wanted to study to see what effect weight training has those kids. And so I agreed to go, I went back there and we did this research program for three days.
And I remember the first day there was this station where there were 10 kids at this station where we wanted to teach them how to do a bench press. And so they were standing there in line, and the first kid lay down on the bench and I put the weight above him. There was a 20 lb. bar with a 10 lb. plate on each side, so it was 40 lbs. altogether. As soon as I let the bar go this kid dropped the bar back and screamed loud, jumped up and was totally freaking out over this weight, thinking that this weight was going to crush him and kill him.
Well, I tell you, I then just calmed him down and I said, “Look, don’t worry about it. Everything is OK. Why don’t you watch your friends when they do the lift, and then maybe you’ll want to try it again.” So the next one lay down and did his 10 repetitions with this 40 lbs., the next one lay down and did 10 repetitions with this weight. And then all of a sudden, the last one in line, he stood there again and he wanted to try it one more time. And he lay down, I took the weights off, I gave him the empty bar, 20 lbs. only—he did 10 reps. Then I put on the two plates again and gave the bar back to him and he did another 10 reps. And then he sat up and he said, “Can I use more weights?”
And I said, “Of course. ” So I put on 10 more lbs. on each side. Now we had 60 lbs. He did another 10 reps. And then he lay down again and I put on 10 more lbs. on each side and it was 80 lbs., and he did again 10 more reps.
So this guy jumped up—and I tell you, he was so excited, he was high-fiving everybody around, every kid there. And it was a real eye-opener to me. When I saw that kid go from terror to self-confidence in just that short period of time, to me that was a big winner. And I saw the kind the kind of impact that I can have on somebody like this.
I went back to the hotel. I was so excited I couldn’t even sleep that night. But I asked myself always the question, why am I so excited? I mean, I didn’t make any money, since that was always the most important thing to me. It was not a career move for me, since that was always the most important thing. There was no press there or anyone. Why was I so excited? Well, the fact of the matter was I realized that it was because I was helping. I was reaching out and helping other people that needed help. (Applause)
And I tell you, that my father-in-law, my father-in-law Sargent Shriver put it best. He started the Peace Corps, he started Job Corps, Legal Aid to the Poor, under the Kennedy administration and under the Johnson administration. But he gave a commencement speech at Yale University where he said to the students, he said, “Tear down that mirror. Tear down that mirror that makes you always look at yourself and you will be able to look beyond that mirror and to see the millions of people that need your help.” And that’s when it rang true to me, that’s when I realized, that is what I was doing. I realized that’s why working with those kids felt so great to me. I was looking beyond that mirror and I was giving something back.
So for years now I have been involved in Special Olympics, for years now I have been the National Trainer and the International Trainer, their Torchbearer, their Ambassador, traveling around the world and promoting Special Olympics and helping those kids come through the finish line, hugging them and giving them the medals and going to their power lifting events and so on.
And I tell you something—as a matter of fact, on one of those trips around the world when went to South Africa I met one of my heroes, President Nelson Mandela. (Applause)
Now, talking about greatness—you see the difference between greatness and between rich and famous. That man is great. He spent 27 years in prison because he believed that black South Africans should have equal rights as white South Africans. But when he was released, instead of seeking revenge, he talked about forgiveness—he talked about forgiveness. Mandela said the most important thing was reconciliation, bringing this country together, not revenge. He became a living message, a message of love, inclusion and tolerance. Now, that is greatness. You see what I’m saying? That’s what I learned over the years. That is greatness. (Applause) Helping others and making a difference beyond the mirror. In my measure of greatness, that is my greatness today.
That’s why this makes me feel so good about myself, when I can go out and do those kinds of things. And this is why, they same is here, what a great pleasure it is to serve the people of California now as governor.
But as you move forward in your work here, I know that you will feel the same joy and fulfillment. Now, as you depart this university you will become part of an incredible medical machine, of course, out there. The machine consists of hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses and pharmacists and allied health professionals. But never doubt the impact a single person can make. Never doubt the impact a single person can make.
Never forget that you are in America and the sky is the limit. The American Dream is not just a catchphrase; it is reality. I have experienced it myself. I came to America in 1968 with absolutely nothing, with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of desire, full of hope and a fire in the belly. And within six months I got already the first movie offer, to star in the movie Hercules in New York.
And let me tell you something. Yes, granted, that the movie went in the toilet and didn’t make it. And granted they didn’t use my name and they just called me ‘Arnold Strong’ and granted they didn’t use my voice. They dubbed my voice because they couldn’t understand my English, and all of those things. But I was in a movie! I was in a movie, it didn’t matter. I called all my friends in Europe and said, “I am in a movie!” (Applause)
So the bottom line is, you can do anything in this country. And today I stand before you as an immigrant success story and I’m the living, breathing incarnation of the American Dream. I became the leading bodybuilder, I became a leading actor, I became the governor of the greatest state of the greatest country in the world. (Applause) Where else but in America? Where else but in California?
And today each of you is living your own American Dream. So remember, anything is possible. Reach for the stars. You are all winners. Just look at the awesome impact of one individual who reached for the stars, the university’s namesake, Dr. Charles Drew. (Applause) think about that.
His pioneering work in blood preservation has saved millions of lives. How many people do you know that have saved millions of lives? I don’t know anybody. Think about how great it is, one individual inventing and coming up with something to save millions of lives. That is greatness.
This is awesome, the awesome power and the potential of each and every one. Each and every one of you has this potential. So as you graduate today I’m heartened to know that you are using that power and that potential to make this community, to make this state and to make the nation a better and a healthier place.
So congratulations once again, and God bless all of you. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)
>>: I can’t hear you out there. Governor, thank you so much for those inspirational words. At this time on behalf o the board of trustees and faculty, I am honored to confer the 2009 Charles Drew University Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, upon the Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause) |
