Saturday, December 16, 2000

WILMINGTON, NC -Speaking to the summer and fall 2000 graduating class at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington this morning, Surgeon General David Satcher told this group on the cusp of new experiences that the greatest challenge they will face will be the challenge of change.

And one way he admonished them to cope with change was by following the Surgeon General's Prescription. Graduates were given a 4 x 6-inch card in red, white and blue containing his four-point prescription for healthy living:

· Moderate physical activity, at least 5 days/week, 30 min./day

· Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day

· Avoid toxins -- tobacco, illicit drugs, and abuse of alcohol

· Responsible sexual behavior; abstinence where appropriate

In addition to encouraging the 1,080 graduates to take care of themselves, he told them to find a faith or belief that will propel them to the future and that will give them the right attitude toward life. He also urged them to invest in people and treat everyone with respect and dignity.

He invoked his father's comments to him when as he was boarding a bus to take him from the cotton fields of Alabama to Morehouse College. His father told him, "Always treat everyone with respect and dignity regardless of what they own." As America becomes more diverse, Dr. Satcher said this

will be one of the great challenges the graduates will face.

After his talk, UNCW Chancellor James R. Leutze said that this was "by far the most meaningful graduation message I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot of them. I hope everyone will heed it."

Among a platform of distinguished trustees, deans, and representatives of the UNCW Alumni Association and the UNC Board of Governors was UNC President Molly Corbett Broad. Her message to the graduates focused on North Carolinians' pride in their university. "They hold that education is the key to a better life," she said, explaining to the audience that public higher education was born in this state 200 years ago.

"That pride in education is deeply ingrained in what defines North Carolina - a bedrock believe in the transforming power of education." She reminded the graduates of their birthright, "the opportunity to pursue higher education and at an affordable price, a birthright that has enabled the sons and daughters of farmhands and mill hands to become doctors and business leaders and even university presidents."

She also thanked everyone for the passage of the $3.1 billion bond issue for higher education, and noted that its passage by 73 percent was an "amazing statement."

In other action, the UNCW Alumni Association awarded its honor for the summer graduate with highest academic record to Esther Lee. A 1997 graduate of North Brunswick High School, Ms. Lee received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Accountancy with an emphasis in information systems at UNCW.

Today's ceremony was for approximately 770 students earning bachelor's degrees at the conclusion of the fall semester, approximately 210 students who earned bachelor's degrees during the summer, and approximately 100 master's degree candidates.

Dr. Satcher's Background:

Dr. Satcher was sworn in as the nation's 16th surgeon general in February 1998. He is only the second person is history to simultaneously hold the positions of surgeon general and assistant secretary of health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From 1993 to 1998, he served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Prior to that, Satcher was president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., from 1982 to 1993.

A graduate of Morehouse College, Satcher earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve in 1970. He did residency/fellowship training at Strong Memorial Hospital, the University of Rochester, UCLA and King-Drew Medical Center. An internationally recognized scientist, scholar, physician, researcher, educator and administrator, Dr. Satcher has received almost two dozen honorary degrees and numerous distinguished awards including the New York Academy of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award and the Jimmy and Roslyn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.