Special to The Mississippi Link
STARKVILLE – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a Mississippi State University audience that a mature democracy requires individual citizens understand not only their rights, but also their responsibilities.
Rice spoke about current world events, saying the United States and the world are facing some very difficult times, yet with great opportunities that suggest optimism.
“Whenever I visit a place like this, a great university where our best and brightest are studying, I am indeed optimistic,” she said.
“People are seizing their rights, and it’s messy,” Rice said. “What you’re seeing in the Middle East today is what happens when people seize their rights.”
Rice said democracy takes time, and freedom and democracy are not the same thing. She explained that a mature and stable democracy cannot be the tyranny of the majority, and it cannot be the strong exploiting the weak.
“Dignity only comes when the people who would govern you have to ask for your consent,” Rice said.
The United States is a great paradox, she said. “We are very individualistic, but we’re the most philanthropic.”
Rice said a great American concept is the idea that, “It doesn’t matter where you come from; it matters where you’re going.” The idea that every life is capable of achieving has brought many immigrants to the U.S. over the generations, but she said those who live as Americans need to continue to believe they are capable of breaking out of life circumstances, such as class, to achieve their own individual goals.
Rice stressed that quality education is the key to such a concept, and K-12 education is among the country’s greatest challenges. She gave the personal account of how her family came to pass along a tradition of education, which ultimately led to many unexpected opportunities for her and others in her family.
Rice said third-grade children must be able to read, and more Americans should be able to score well on the basic skills test to qualify for military service.
Rice asked students to lay the foundation now for fulfilling their responsibility to democracy by taking actions to help those who are less fortunate. She said helping others is important for keeping perspective and avoiding attitudes of entitlement.
Just over 4,000 students and guests attended Rice’s address Tuesday. The nation’s 66th secretary of state was a guest on campus participating in the university’s Global Lecture Series. The public address culminated a visit that also
included a question-and-answer session with first-generation college students, student veterans and honors students, as well as a reception with alumni.
Rice served as secretary of state from January 2005-2009. She was the second woman and first African-American woman to hold the post. She also served as President George W. Bush’s national security advisor from January 2001-2005, the first woman to hold the position.
MSU President Mark E. Keenum said Rice’s experiences have given her a unique perspective on the global challenges of the 21st century.
“Dr. Condoleezza Rice served at the highest levels of our government during a tumultuous and dangerous period in world events, and she was a forceful proponent for the spread of democracy and the establishment of freedoms around the world,” Keenum said. The president and MSU first lady Rhonda Keenum enjoyed a private meeting with Rice prior to her lecture.
Rice currently is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the university’s Hoover Institution and a professor of political science. She is also a founding partner of RiceHadleyGates LLC.
She has authored and co-authored numerous books, including two bestsellers, “No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington” (2011) and “Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family” (2010). Others include “Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft” (1995) with Philip Zelikow; “The Gorbachev Era” (1986) with Alexander Dallin; and “Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army” (1984).
Born in Birmingham, Ala., Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver; her master’s from the University of Notre Dame and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Rice is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded 10 honorary doctorates.
MSU’s Global Lecture Series previously has hosted Gen. Colin Powell and Nobel Peace Prize recipient F.W.de Klerk, the seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa.
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