If you don't know where Ithaca College is, take a drive south on Route 96B sometime. Just past the city limits, after a nearly vertical climb, you come upon a small stretch of four-lane highway that suddenly leaps out at you, teasing you along for about a mile. Just before that glorious open stretch of road ends, on your left, you will find one of the premier private colleges in the country: Ithaca College. Home of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, and highly acclaimed School of Music. May 18, 2002 marked Ithaca College's 107th Commencement and James Earl Jones -- The Voice -- was the guest speaker.

Dreams and personal potential were the themes of Mr. Jones' address to the graduating class of 2002 atop South Hill this cold, grey Saturday afternoon.It was shaping up to be one of those dreaded Ithaca weather-filled days: overcast, windy, a mere 46°F. At 1:00 PM, Commencement was finally underway, delayed a few hours from its original starting time of 9:00 AM in the hopes the drizzling rain would abate.

You'd be hard-put to find someone to dispute it: James Earl Jones has the most beautiful basso profundo ever to grace this Earth and the Class of 2002 agreed. As he was introduced, and Mr. Jones stepped to the podium, each small phrase from his mouth was greeted with raucous cheers and loud applause. Finally, Mr. Jones smiled and exclaimed: "Keep warm any way you can!"

He proceeded to exhort this conclave of graduates to look beyond themselves, at the greater need. "There are blanks to fill in the new sociological infrastructure," he said and spoke of the diverse paths that brought these graduates to this day of celebration -- "a celebration of potential" -- drawing upon the disparate, yet oddly similar worlds from which they come: "You who have overcome economic hardship or the hardship of prosperity, overcome cultural differences or cultural bankruptcy, overcome the disadvantages of homes and neighborhoods unsuitable for human habitation or homes and neighborhoods stifling in their socialization".

Mr. Jones informed them that every success would "not be accompanied by a party full of people telling you how wonderful you are," and that the degree conferred upon them today "is not a handout; it is a contract. None of us," he continued, "...had anything handed to us. We have to do it ourselves, and God only knows what we can, each of us, do for ourselves."

As a child, James Earl Jones was afflicted with a severe stutter and a dread of public speaking. It's hard to imagine in such a commanding presence, actor and spokesperson. But Mr. Jones knows something of working toward one's potential and realizing one's dreams, as two Tonys, three Emmys and an Academy Award nomination can attest. "You'll have to focus your worthiness into yourself," he proclaimed, "into your consciousness, very quickly, because you'll have to be reminding yourself of it by yourself, often, as you continue down this path."

And what brought these students to windy, chilly Ithaca? Mr. Jones answered this with more questions: "Do you have a dream, and did you have the dream before you came to Ithaca? Did that dream compel you to come to Ithaca College, or has Ithaca College compelled you to your dream...? So let us dream, let us hope and pray, let us reinvent ourselves every morning."

Mid-point in his address, Mr. Jones paused as he fumbled with his notes. "My hands are cold," he explained to rueful and sympathetic chuckles. It was clear the weather was getting to him as he sniffled once or twice, then produced a large hankerchief and blew his nose. The audience remained enthralled.

Finally, what everyone had secretly been waiting for, Mr. Jones grandly concluded his address as only Mr. Jones can. He drew himself up, defying the chill that was obviously seeping through his collegiate vestments, and offered the nearly 10,000 graduates, faculty, relatives and friends "one bit of advice on this most auspicious and joyous of occasions," he paused and pronounced the next phrase: "Let the Force be with you."