To listen to Chancellor Boschini's remarks, click here.

“To each graduate today, I offer my heartfelt congratulations. This day belongs to you. The degree you soon will receive is not only a celebration of your accomplishment – it is a symbol of your commitment to make this a better world for all of us. And to the family, friends, faculty and staff members here today – thank you for sharing in this grand occasion.

Graduation day is a family reunion, a personal milestone, and New Year’s Eve for the life you begin tomorrow. . . cheers and tears… a day to reflect on good friends, good times, and goodbyes.

TCU has prepared you well for whatever lies ahead. True to our mission, you are ready to go into the world and take your place as ethical leaders. And this is a time when the world cries out for ethical leaders. A time when the problems that face our society require creative solutions, when the international discourse demands an ear tuned to diverse viewpoints, when a TCU education – and all that it implies – is more important than ever before.

Your thoughts will turn to TCU often through the years to come: When you recount to a job interviewer how you learned to be an effective leader. When you spot a stranger wearing a TCU class ring and know you’ve found another Horned Frog friend. When you hear a football score, and – wherever you may be – cheer another Frog victory.

As the person offering this Commencement message, it’s my duty to pass on some memorable advice – words that will stay with you for a lifetime. As I prepared for today’s ceremony, I thought back fondly to my own commencement in 1978. Then reality hit: not only could I not remember the words offered on that otherwise memorable occasion…but I couldn’t even remember who spoke at that commencement!

Since then, my academic career has taken me to a number of graduations. I know the expectation of a commencement speech: quickly delivered and more quickly forgotten. And I assure you, as President Bush told a recent graduating class: “This speech will be shorter than it seems!”

Now that you are college graduates, you will be moving into “The Real World,” a.k.a. TRW. That’s the place where there is no spring break. To ease your way in your freshman year at TRW, I will share some suggestions offered by two of my favorite authors, Terry Bibo and Wes Smith. Because from now on – there is no spring break.

You might address these tips with the same intensity you put into memorizing French adverbs. Because you may need them more often than those French adverbs. Unless, of course, you are moving to France.

The good news is that if in “The Real World” you should find out you really don’t know anything, at least now you know where to look it up. Here goes. And you don’t even have to take notes!

• Never make a credit decision on a beach.

• Don’t confuse reality shows for Reality. You can’t vote a troublesome co-worker or difficult neighbor off the island. You have to work it out.

• Beware the purchase that requires nothing down and no interest until 2012.

• Most babies and student loan payments come due in about nine months.

• Never grocery shop on an empty stomach.

• If the payment on that new BMW seems low, make sure you’re really buying it and not just leasing it.

• Your parents’ good name is theirs. Your credit rating is now your own.

• Some people have never heard of Fredrick Nietzsche. Others don’t care.

• Before long, people your age will be buying lawn mowers and having children. Learn to feign interest in both.

• You are now old enough to tip…and hopefully will pick up the tab the next time you dine with your parents.

• Soon your parents will expect you to pay for half of the golf cart.

• Save up to buy quality everything. Good stuff lasts.

• Never wear flip-flops after the temperature drops below freezing.

• Income tax refunds are not a gift from the government. They got more than you did.

• If the authors of self-help books have figured out an easy way to make a fortune with no money down, why would they tell you?

• Nobody sells a used car because it runs well.

• Never borrow money from anyone, especially a friend you want to keep.

• Never lend money to anyone, especially a friend you want to keep.

• Life isn’t on the semester plan. You don’t get a fresh start every 12 weeks.

• And finally, if you remember just one thing today, remember this: Class of 2006, you get what you give. Be a little more charitable in all your actions to others and you will reap a lifetime of close family ties and lifelong friends.

Graduates, you have completed your degrees at TCU, and most of you will be leaving our campus. But it is my sincere hope that your graduation does not mark the end of your connection with your alma mater, but merely the beginning. You are making the transition from student to alumnus. We need you now more than ever.

Yours is a very special group. You are among the first TCU students to have your picture taken at the Ray Gates… to sit on a stone at “Froghenge”… to learn in the Tucker Technology Center and Smith Entrepreneurs Hall … to jog on the purple track in the University Recreation Center… and grab a bite in the Jazzman Cafe. Some of you wore fedoras and helped to launch the Schieffer School of Journalism just a year ago. Others put on a star-spangled debut performance of “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” at Bass Hall… Many of you heard Ben Stein crack jokes… Mary Matalin and James Carville debate… and Thomas Cahill make history come alive. You cheered the football team on to three bowl games and a No. 9 national ranking and the women’s basketball team on to four NCAA tournaments.

You have experienced great success in your academic careers, as signified by the degree you will claim today. You acquired a breadth of knowledge, vital skills and new abilities. You not only passed your classes, but you also learned how to think critically, how to craft an argument and, then, how to make it. You have built the foundation for the next phase of your lives — and that is quite an accomplishment.

Our world is a rapidly changing one, where so much is disposable. Few things last. But there is one thing that can’t be taken away from you. That is your degree and your relationship with your alma mater. Our university is defined by unity and a sense of community, and you are leaving your indelible imprint upon us.

You now are taking a new place in that one-of-a-kind community and joining the elite circle of TCU alumni. And as you successfully venture into the world beyond the campus borders, we are proud that you are a TCU Horned Frog.

So I’ll close now — not with “good-bye” and “good luck” — but with “so long.” I look forward to seeing you soon and seeing you often.

May your future success match today’s great accomplishment and bring credit to TCU, your family, and most importantly, to you.

God Bless you as you embark on a life that I hope will be filled with joy and peace.

Congratulations and thank you.”