Gov. Gregoire gives keynote address to graduating students at WSU Vancouver

For Immediate Release: May 12, 2008

VANCOUVER � Gov. Chris Gregoire today encouraged the graduating class at Washington State University-Vancouver (WSU-Vancouver) to value their individuality, while remaining open to other viewpoints and ideas. The governor addressed graduates at the second graduation ceremony for this new four-year college.

�Too many Americans feel so sure they have the right political or philosophical answers that they simply shut out other people and their views,� Gregoire told the crowd. �As a result, we lose the chance to find common ground -- on which we can learn, grow, and start to find real, lasting solutions.�

Gregoire encouraged students to use their degree to work with others who may not share their same viewpoints to improve their communities and the state. �I am working closely with some who do not share my belief that the climate is changing because of human activity,� she said. �I�m working with them and all kinds of people to make us a leader in the nation in production of alternative energy,�
This is the nineteenth graduating class from WSU-Vancouver, formerly known as the Southwest Washington Joint Center for Education. WSU formally established Vancouver as a branch campus in 1989. In fall 2006, WSU-Vancouver began accepting freshman and sophomores for the first time.

The school has an enrollment of 2,562 students. The university offers 38 undergraduate degrees and nine graduate degrees in subjects ranging from electrical engineering to biology and nursing. WSU-Vancouver granted degrees to 585 undergraduates and 126 graduate students at the ceremony today.

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