Limitless...

I welcome you all to our second-ever graduation ceremony on this beautiful island of Mauritius!

At African Leadership College, there is always an air of expectation. There is always the sense that something big is about to happen.

Over the next few hours you will experience one of the most memorable events of your lifetime. I say so with certainty, not just because I have the honor of being President of this university but also because just last year, I was in your shoes, in the audience at the first-ever ALC graduation ceremony. And indeed, my life changed. As I said - today, I am the President!

This graduation will be forever memorable because you will experience many ALC moments. If you let yourself, you will come to the moon with us, for free and you not need to save for that SpaceX ticket with Elon Musk. Actually, you must still save for the ticket but just send that money to us!

On September 29, 2015, led by Olfa Fdhila of Tunisia, our Student #1, 75 young people from 27 countries started to arrive in Mauritius and pave the way for a new college conceived on a vision of a transformed continent, that would lead itself and the world into and through the 21st century.

Much has happened on this campus since that historic day in 2015. That founding class has been followed by other classes no less distinctive. And on these young lives African Leadership College has already begun to make a mark, as it was intended to do. Among today’s graduates are members of the 2015 and 2016 entering cohorts.

109 graduates and 86 honors candidates – 43% with first class and 52% with second class upper honors.

Later in today’s program, you will meet a remarkable young woman named Hope Mukeli Mutua. Hope hails from Kenya and is the student speaker. Hope is not just representing her class today. She represents the promise of generations to come and is typical of her class in this regard. She is not only academically gifted and ethically grounded, but also endlessly creative and professionally ready.

Indeed, these young people came to ALC looking for a college degree but they received much more – they are leaving with a sense of their own limitless potential. They are pursuing new beginnings in graduate schools, companies, non-profits, as entrepreneurs. Their parents encouraged them to come here so that they can build better lives for themselves. Instead they graduate today as builders of movements that will transform societies. 

Catherine Njeri is a builder and so is Morema Mafantiri. Lum-neh Angela is a builder and so is Rosemary De Moor, and Fatuma Ingabire, and Yassmine El adib and Mohamed Bangura and Deborah Nyarko-Mensah and Farai Munjoma and Dagmawi Assefa and Onyedika Atuchukwu and Angel Kobelo.

I could go on. These are but a few of the pioneers in this class. They breathed life into the new white walls of our campus and wrote the script of our culture, accomplishing in 4 years something that many of us here have not done in our careers and most people in the world will never do in their lifetimes.

When they leave here, they will be asked - What can you do? And with their heads held high they can respond – I’ve already built a university and helped to create the future. I have a degree in Doing Hard Things and I am prepared for a lifetime of Doing Big Things.

So, students, spread your wings and soar. Soar with confidence. One of you said to me that the further you travel away from home the closer to home you get. I can testify to that because after 30 years of meandering around the globe, I found home in this community.

Things will not always be easy, but when you fall, rise a thousand times more. The more others challenge you, the more you should believe in you. When you celebrate teach someone else how to find something to celebrate too. And no matter where you go, as lonely as you will ever feel, you will never be alone because of this place you can now call home.

Yes – as I stand here and as I look at the graduating class, I can see Africa’s future, and it looks bright.

African Leadership College – Graduating Class of 2020

I see you. 

I hear you. 

I respect you. 

I stand with you. 

We all do.

There is a proverb that says “two drops of water do not make a pool”

We did not do this alone.

Without parents and guardians, without our dedicated staff of faculty and administrators and Executives-in-Residence, without our academic and regulatory partners, without NovaTerra, without supporters like the late Allan Gray and his family and foundation, as well as Anthony Farr, without extra-ordinary souls like Ms. Rebecca Oppenheimer, Ms. Surama King, Dr. Judy Dlamini, without our campus management teams of Mosaic and MasterKey, without willingness of all of you to navigate uncharted territory, none of this would be possible.

So, Graduating Class of 2020 - For you and for the continent, let it be forever remembered that there was a moment when things changed, a moment when new beginnings were launched, a moment when an entire community showed up and created the future, a moment when you transformed an air of expectation into the gift of legacy, and a moment, and a place, when you became LIMITLESS.

Ladies and gentlemen, as President of African Leadership University, it gives me great pleasure and a distinct honor to again welcome you to our home and formally open these graduation ceremonies.

Thank you.

#ALCGraduation2020