Keynote speech at the year end Freshmen Learning Community Celebration

1. Dear Gen Y: We offer
you a Millennial Challenge
Brought to you fondly by
The Baby Boomers and Gen X

2. What we know about us….
• Long gone are the days of Boomer
kids being shooed outside to invent
their own games – or of GenXer Kids
being left ―home alone‖ with a ―self-
care‖ guide."
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3. Boomers (1946-1964)
• Work Centered
– Not afraid to go toe to toe with a 60
hour work week.
• Goal/Career Oriented
– First generation to really go to college
• Seek positions of power
– (hence, the dreaded C-)
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4. If we give you too much grief…remind us that
we were the ―hippies‖ who went to Woodstock
in 1969
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5. Gen X (1964-1981)
• Technologically adept
– Not addicted like Gen Y
• Known as latchkey kids
• Cling to music from ―the good old
days‖
– Super Bowl = ―The Who‖
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6. ―The Who‖ who?
Their music? Think CSI theme song…….
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7. What we know about
you..
• Born between 1981—2000. You are the first
generation to ―come of age‖ in the New
Millennial.
• Children of late Boomers and early GenXers
• ―Baby On Board‖ signs…..you were the ―baby‖
• ―Have You Hugged Your Child Today?‖ You
were the ―child‖ in question
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9. We navigated our way
through…..
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10. You are navigating your way through…..
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11. MILLENIALS ARE
SPECIAL
• Generation of ―wanted‖ children
– We even went so far as to pick your gender,
hair and eye color 
• Central to your parents’ sense of purpose
• Many Boomer—GenXer parents delayed
having children until financially secure
– If in doubt….compare the vehicles in the
student parking lot with the faculty/staff
parking lot.
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12. MILLENIALS ARE
SHELTERED
• Your ―Boomer—Gen Xer‖ parents tend to
be over-protective
– LOL. We call them: Helicopter Parents 
• Your well being has dominated legislation
(child restraints, baby monitors,
movie/video ratings, campus security)
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14. MILLENIALS ARE
CONFIDENT
• Raised by parents who believed in the
importance of self-esteem
• Hopeful about the future
• You enjoy strong connections with
your parents
– Us, not so much…..FERPA says no 
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15. MILLENIALS ARE
TEAM-ORIENTED
• You are used to being organized in teams
and following rules
– A little tip…..your class is a team, and the
syllabus IS a list of rules!!
• You have established tight peer bonds
• You chose to be part of a Learning
Community because of these tendencies 
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16. MILLENIALS ARE
ACHIEVING
• You are very much into setting and
meeting goals
– (except for 8 AM classes)
• You have the benefit/detriment of
well-educated parents
– They expected much of themselves, and
now of you!
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17. OTHER
CHARACTERISTICS
• Technology and Multitasking are a way of
life
– just not in MY classroom please
• You are the generation of: ―Whatever‖ –
passive approach to disagreements
• Trial and error is a key learning strategy
(Nintendo logic)
– This may seem harsh but this is why we will let
you fail when you fail
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18. • Based on all of the great attributes
we know about you….
• The following are challenges we pose
to you….during the next 3 years of
college and over the next 60 years of
your life.
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19. • We challenge you to change your
―whatever‖ attitude to a ―whenever‖
attitude.
– ―whatever‖ closes doors
– ―whenever‖ is the beginning of a dialog,
and dialogs lead to solutions.
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20. Hands-On-Athens
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21. • We challenge you to not only hug your
own children but to hug the world’s
children.
– April is National Child Abuse Awareness
Month…last year 3.5 million child abuse
cases were reported (only 1 out of 2)
– 5.4 million children die from hunger each
year
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22. • We challenge you to not only follow
the rules, but to rewrite them when
necessary.
– ……some bad rules are made to be
broken!
– Civil Rights, Equal Rights and Human
Rights
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23. • We challenge you to learn not only
from your own ―Nintendo‖ mistakes,
but from our mistakes.
– We’ve had recessions, depressions and
collapses galore…..bad things can happen
when no one is ―minding the store‖
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24. And finally…..
All you need to know you already learned in kindergarten:
Share and Play fair;
Put things back where you found them and clean up your own
mess;
Don't take things that are not yours;
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody;
Warm cookies and cold milk are always good for you.
Robert Fulghum
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25. Thank You
• Have a wonderful year……from your
Learning Community Family!
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