Alumnus Strickland addresses NSU Class of 2010

Sheltered from uncooperative weather, the Northeastern State University Class of 2010 or graduates of two of the colleges heard a commencement address from one of NSU's most distinguished alumni during exercises May 15.

Forced inside Jack Dobbins Field House by intermittent storms, commencement was held in three sessions and Dr. Rennard Strickland could not address the entire class. He spoke during the 12:30 p.m. session for the colleges of Business and Technology and Science and Health Professions and was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Strickland, a 1962 graduate of Northeastern and recognized nationally as an expert in American Indian law, spoke of NSU's roots as the Cherokee National Seminaries and the Nation's continued influence at Northeastern. He said the institution's graduates "struggle yet succeed in straddling the traditional and the modern America" and "stoke new fires with embers from the past."

"The contemplative approach and spiritual preparedness required of graduates of Northeastern State University makes us comparable and compatible with the past," he told the graduates. "This is how creativity works; where the creator's insight is appreciated for technical and aesthetic skills, but more importantly for completeness and enriching the community."

Strickland's career includes titles of professor, director and dean. His doctoral dissertation, "Fire and Spirits: Cherokee Law from Clan to Court," is regarded as a formative work in American Indian law.

Born in Muskogee, Strickland is Cherokee and Osage. He holds a juris doctor and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and a master's degree from the University of Arkansas. He has served as dean of the law schools at Oregon, Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois and Tulsa. He was the founding director of the Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy at the University of Oklahoma where he today serves as senior scholar in residence. He also has spent more than four decades acquiring an exceptional collection of American Indian art.

He told the graduates of the importance of community involvement and leadership and how one's impact can be appreciated beyond the hour, the year or even the lifetime.

"In the final analysis, the value of an NSU graduate rests first and foremost in the public demonstration of citizenship," Strickland said. "Through the personification of the virtues and qualities of a good man and a good woman. Good men and good women must be receptive to the pursuit of knowledge, flexible and judicious in its application to wisdom, compassionate in their approach toward and support of others and willing to accept the guardianship of future generations."

He said those receiving their degrees that they could make a positive impact felt for generations and congratulated them as "graduates of one of the oldest institutions of higher education west of the Mississippi: Northeastern State University, the successor to the original Seminarians."