ITHACA, N.Y. -- Mixing traditional graduation sentiments with a smattering of politics, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark got Cornell's Commencement Weekend off to a rousing start with a Senior Convocation address in which he invited the graduates to assume leadership roles in the "community of American citizens" and, incidentally, to lead the country in a different direction than the one it's now pursuing.

Clark, a decorated Vietnam war hero who made an unsuccessful run in the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential primaries, spoke to a standing-room-only audience of some 5,000 students and their families at the Class of 2005 Senior Convocation in Barton Hall Saturday, May 28. 

This was the first major event of a weekend that culminates with Commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 29, in Schoellkopf Stadium. In accordance with tradition, the Commencement address will be delivered by Cornell's president, Jeffrey Lehman. 

Convocation began with a welcome by senior class co-chair Sabeen Virani and an address by senior class president Stephen Blake. The class alumni co-presidents Jacqueline Koppell and Jason Jendrewski presented a check for $53,492.70 to Susan Murphy, Cornell vice president for student and academic services. The class gift will create an annual scholarship for "a senior in need." David Katz-Doft, convocation co-chair, had the challenging job of delivering closing remarks after Clark's speech. All of the student speakers invoked memories of their four years at Cornell, from the first student reading project to the Hot Truck, and reminded the audience that it was all about to end. "The future begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow," Virani said. 

After a brief introduction by Lehman, Clark told the students that he identified with their transition to a new way of life because of his own recent adjustment to civilian life, leaving behind a huge staff and cars, planes and helicopters. Likewise, he said, graduates were about to go into a world with no rigid rules, no dictator, no code of conduct. Quoting Forrest Gump's mother, he noted that while life is like a box of chocolates, it shouldn't be a Whitman's Sampler. "Opportunities aren't created by people who sample … but by people who choose and make hard decisions," he said. 

After mentioning the jobs to be done in law, medicine, science and other professions, he added, "And I'm proud that some of you had decided to enter the armed forces and defend our freedom" -- a remark that drew applause. But he went on to suggest that American military power is not being used wisely. "We need a new strategy of American leadership," he said. "We haven't found it yet."

He noted that along with every other West Point graduate he had memorized President Dwight Eisenhower's statement, "Leadership is the art of persuading the other fellow to want to do what you want him to do." Without mentioning any names, he drew applause by adding that leadership is not bullying or exerting raw power. "We need to move people with our ideals," he said, adding that new approaches were needed at home as well as abroad.

Also, he said, America must overcome the "vicious partisanship that has turned off so many voters" and the divisive debates over moral and ethical issues. 

Returning to the topic of graduation, he announced that this wouldn't be a job for "The C-SPAN crowd." He added, "I'm talking about you ."

He offered the Biblical parable of the talents, from the book of Matthew, in which a master praised two of his servants for investing and building on what they had and, like Donald Trump, fired one who merely squirreled his assets away. "Dare to dream and become something larger than you are," Clark said. "The joy comes from taking those risks." 

Again urging the graduates to make conscious choices about the direction of their lives, he concluded, "You'll help our country, and you'll find joy."