Kasich at UC story
By
Joe Vardon
CINCINNATI — Being a material girl (or guy) is “empty,” fame is fleeting and power disappears,
Gov. John Kasich told the University of Cincinnati’s fall graduating class yesterday.“When someone says how much money you make, how important is your job title, you can answer that question,” Kasich said in his commencement speech to about 750 students participating in the ceremony and their families and friends who filled Fifth Third Arena on campus.
The university awarded more than 2,000 degrees this weekend.
“Deep down inside, you know that you are making a difference in someone else’s life,” Kasich continued. “That you’re lifting somebody else and sometimes putting yourself second in the process. You’ll never fail if you follow that advice.”
Kasich, a 1974 graduate of Ohio State University, matched some themes in his speech to the Cincinnati graduates with those he used in his June commencement address to Chardon High School graduates, including the importance of recognizing one’s personal gifts and using them to help others.
Yesterday, Kasich spoke of Albert Lexie, a Pittsburgh-area man with a developmental disability who shines shoes at the local children’s hospital, who has donated more than $200,000 in tips to families struggling to cover medical bills. Kasich also talked about 14-year-old Savannah Day, a Virginia girl who was scheduled to undergo brain surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital last week and had solicited donation of 4,000 toys to give to other hospital patients.
“Love somebody, encourage somebody; it will not be lost,” Kasich said. “It will follow you through eternity.”
Before the governor’s speech, Cincinnati President Santa J. Ono gave Kasich the president’s award for excellence and made some statements the Republican will probably use next year when he seeks re-election.
As he presented the award, Ono said Kasich has “pursued the creation of a jobs-friendly climate, to put more Ohioans into the workforce,” has “closed an $8 billion budget deficit without a (state) tax increase” and “crafted a new higher-education funding formula that is a model for the nation and an envy of my colleagues as presidents across the country.”
While the state has added nearly 143,000 jobs since Kasich took office in January 2011, the state’s labor force — those working as well as the unemployed who are looking for work — has dropped by 93,000 in the same period.
John T. McNay, a registered Democrat and university professor, said in an op-ed column published on Friday on a TV station’s website that Kasich’s appearance “has the trappings of a campaign appearance, which is inappropriate for a graduation.”
McNay also criticized the same Kasich higher-education policy Ono later praised — to more closely align state funding to graduation rates — as having been crafted without consulting faculty members, and a policy that could cut funding to institutions that “arguably need the most financial assistance.”
jvardon@dispatch.com
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John Condo (hiltcondo1)
My niece was there yesterday who a big republican and she said what a big disapointment his speech was
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John McNay (JohnMcNay)
President
Ono says he is a Democrat, too. This is an issue of the poor judgment
involved in providing a current candidate for governor a campaign venue
that ought not be politicized.
posted by Moose | 8:16 PM
