HILLSDALE, Mich. — Clarence Thomas, the justice known for his conservative though quiet voice on the U.S. Supreme Court, urged graduates to preserve liberty during a commencement speech Saturday at Hillsdale College.
Justice Thomas spoke to an audience of about 5,200 graduates, parents, faculty, and others at the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center at Hillsdale, where statues of conservative icons Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher dot the southern Michigan campus. Another 14,710 people watched online, a college spokesman said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Justice Clarence Thomas at Hillsdale College
The justice’s half-hour keynote speech — bookended by standing ovations — was tinged with wistful reminisces of his upbringing by grandparents and America’s constitutional history, and a plea to graduates to fulfill the obligations and duties of citizenship.
“Hallmarks of my youth such as patriotism and religion seem more like outliers, if not afterthoughts. So in a sense, I feel woefully out of place doing this or any commencement,” said the 67-year-old, characterizing his remarks as those of a “vintage” nature.
“I admit to being unapologetically Catholic, unapologetically patriotic, and unapologetically a Constitutionalist,” he said, to applause.
He praised the independent stance of Hillsdale, which refuses to accept federal funding, and noted a cultural shift in which citizens focus on rights and what they are owed instead of obligations and duties.
He urged graduates to lead by example, to shine as “a beacon of light for others to follow,” to show kindness to the shy or unpopular, and to be bold in their faith, “especially in this world that seems to have gone mad with political correctness.”
“Today, we rarely hear of our personal responsibilities,” he said. “It is as though freedom and liberty exist wholly independent of anything we do.”
At staunchly conservative Hillsdale, whose motto is “Pursuing Truth and Defending Liberty Since 1844,” graduates embraced the message.
“We were absolutely blown away by the things he had to say,” said Mikayla Brown, a history major from Findlay, who said previous senior classes repeatedly requested the justice to speak at commencements.
“We all had some hesitation about what he might say given that he is a man of so few words,” she said.
Earlier this year, Justice Thomas made headlines when he spoke for the first time in a decade during oral arguments.
But his words to these 353 graduates to give back will be remembered, Ms. Brown said.
“We have a responsibility to take what we’ve learned here and do good with it,” said Christy Allen, a political economy major from Arizona. “I think he really focused on that — that we have a duty to do that.”
Justice Thomas also paid tribute to Justice Antonin Scalia, who died this year, leaving a vacant seat on the sharply divided court.
“When I think of Justice Scalia, I think of the good man whom I could instinctively trust during my first days on the court, and those were challenging days,” he said.
Hillsdale also gave Justice Thomas an honorary doctor of laws degree during the ceremony, and he remained on stage to shake hands and greet graduates as they accepted diplomas.
“This is the largest audience we’ve ever had at commencement, and the reasons for that are obvious — this is the greatest senior class we’ve ever had,” joked Hillsdale’s President Larry Arnn, who described Justice Thomas as “the greatest public servant I know.”
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated the Georgia-born Yale Law School graduate to the Supreme Court seat held by the retiring Thurgood Marshall. His controversial confirmation hearings were marked by accusations he sexually harassed Anita Hill.
He spoke to a Hillsdale crowd in 2000, for Mr. Arnn’s presidential inauguration.
Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.
First Published May 15, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
