Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: MONDAY, May 21, 1990 TAG: 9005210264 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Associated Press DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Citing recent changes in Eastern Europe, O'Neil said this year's class at the Charlottesville school has an "unprecedented opportunity to be citizens of the world."
Graduates should try to improve America's poor voting record and encourage people to become more involved in civic life, O'Neil said.
O'Neil was honored by a surprise seven-gun salute before a crowd of about 20,000. Some 4,110 students received diplomas.
In Saturday's commencement at Virginia Commonwealth University, speaker Clifton R. Wharton Jr. told 3,500 graduates that taxes are a necessary civic responsibility ignored in recent years.
Wharton, chief executive officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and the College Retirement Equities Fund, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
by CNB