6/12/99
Broadcasters: A five-minute feed of highlights of the Ohio University 1999 commencement will run from 3 to 3:15 p.m. Saturday, June 12. Satellite coordinates are KU band TELSTAR 4-K-13, downlink 12094 MHZ (V). Trouble number during the uplink is (740) 593-4984.
Editors: Photos of speaker Leon Harris and a feature
commencement photo are available at:
http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/COMMENCEMENT1.JPG
http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/COMMENCEMENT2.JPG
http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/COMMENCEMENT3.JPG
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University graduate Leon Harris, co-anchor of CNN's "Early Edition," was back at his alma mater Saturday to give graduating seniors calming advice he wishes he would have received as a graduate 16 years ago.
"Relax, you've already done the hard part," Harris said, during his morning commencement address in the nearly filled 13,000-seat Convocation Center. "You are going to make it. You've got to realize the world, the economy that you are about to get into, the community you are entering into has so many more opportunities and surprises than anyone in the history of mankind ever dreamed would be possible at any one time. You are about to walk out into a lifetime of it, and it only gets better."
Harris urged graduates to lead interesting lives.
"Go on out there and take some chances and get your hands dirty," Harris said. "Fall in love with someone or something that is not related to your job. ... If you want to have an interesting life, you have to do something different every day."
Harris, a native of Akron, graduated cum laude from Ohio University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in communications. A National Merit Scholarship finalist, Harris turned down offers from Princeton and Brown universities to enroll in Ohio University's College of Communication, which he credited with giving him a thorough education and skills to work in the broadcast industry, and with helping him land an internship at CNN that eventually led to his current position.
After graduation, Harris began work at CNN for minimum wage. He worked in the satellite department for more than seven years, rising to assistant director as he traveled around the world, before he got a break when he was asked to sit in front of a camera while technicians set up a show. Harris joked and mugged through the script and two CNN vice presidents in the control booth liked what they saw. Soon he was working in front of the camera
. "That day, everything I tried in the past came together," Harris said. "I was in the right time at the right place with the right skills."
Harris also spoke at the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony.
Participating graduates seniors from the colleges of Business, Communication, Fine Arts and Health and Human Services received their diplomas at the morning session. Graduates of the Honors Tutorial College, University College and the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Engineering attended the afternoon session. An estimated 3,600 graduating seniors attended the two ceremonies.
Master's, doctoral and doctor of osteopathic medicine degree candidates participated in ceremonies Friday, June 11. Marty Schwartz, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, gave the graduate commencement keynote address.
