Convocation Address
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III
President, UMBC
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
I now need to share with you tragic news about a special young woman who was to be with us today. Madison “Maddie” Bingaman, a recent graduate of
Stony Point
High School
in
Austin, Texas
, was to become a UMBC freshman this week. An outstanding student and volleyball player, Maddie died in a car accident outside of
Memphis, Tennessee
on August 8th while she and her mother were driving to UMBC. Mrs. Bingaman also died, two days later, in a
Memphis
hospital. Needless to say, the Bingaman family, their hometown community, and all of us at UMBC are devastated. Described by one of her coaches as “quiet and exceptionally intelligent,” Maddie Bingaman is with us in spirit, and I ask that you keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year. I ask that we now have a moment of silence in her memory. In fact, we dedicate today’s Convocation to Maddie.
This tragedy puts into perspective – and magnifies – how precious our lives are, and how fortunate we are to be able to live each day, pursuing our dreams and making decisions that shape our life stories. We want you to be inspired by your own story and the stories of others, and to appreciate the opportunities you have to learn and grow during this important period of your life. A defining chapter of my story took place a few years before my freshman year in college, during the Civil Rights Movement. I had the privilege of participating in the 1963 Children's March in
Birmingham, Alabama
, and of going to jail with Dr. Martin Luther King. That experience taught me one very important lesson – that even children can make important choices that affect not only their own lives, but the lives of others. Because of that experience, I know that each of you has the potential to be a leader in our society – not 20 years from now, but now.
UMBC Convocation Address Excerpt