The Final Lecture: 2006

The "Final Lecture" of Victoria Mantzopoulos, Professor of Political Science

UDM Honors Program Induction Ceremony and Dinner
October 1, 2006

It's a great pleasure to be here this evening and honored by those that I honor so much. I truly thank you.

I want to start by telling you a story. It is one of those fairytales where everyone lives happily ever after. Long ago and far away, there was a large family growing up in a working-class neighborhood. These were the days when the 8 kids could get in the LTD, 4 across the front seat, and take road trips. Some kids would even sleep on the floorboards. There were no seat belts or car seats. They were not too different than most working-class families except that both parents had finished high school. And…now and then…there might be panic on the face of restaurateurs as they approached their store doors.

These were also the days of the "melting pot." It was never clear to anyone how one melted. But melt one did. Everyone tried to look the same, never to draw attention to one by speaking a foreign language in public. People were not Greek American or Chaldean American, simply American. African Americans were segregated, not by law but well, they just were…

The eighth of nine children was a girl. She was just a bit of a tom-boy growing up with three older brothers right before her. Not too much though, just enough to race, jump, and throw the baseball like a boy. She also had several older sisters. Her first real memory of her oldest sister was visiting her at college. Not sure what college was, it seemed really cool to not have to share her room with someone. College wasn't really something that was discussed too much. She was just a little young to really understand.

She remembers busing and some of the local school riots. But she really didn't understand why the issue was so controversial. After all, they lived just a mile down the road. She was just a little young to really understand.

Anyway, her world was figure skating. Her family owned skating rinks and everyone competed. She was exceptionally good and usually won. While she had to take a lot of dance classes for the figure skating, she was often placed with the boys for speed skating and hockey (even won there too!). Yes, they even had skateboards then. She was even pretty good at jumping barrels with the skateboard. She always thought she would grow up and be a skating coach.

As an almost straight "A" student, she had been placed in advance classes in Jr. High. After a few weeks into the school year, one of those standardized tests was administered. She did terribly badly. They even wondered if she was special-ed. They removed her from the advanced program and placed her back in to the general population. She still made straight "As." A few years later, someone told her about an international college program. She had never thought about college and surely didn't think her parents could afford it. Her oldest sister was now in graduate school and some of the other siblings had gone to college. But it still wasn't something that was discussed much. Most people in town didn't go to college. Anyway, she filled out the application and sent it in for early admission. Hurray, not only did she get admitted; they gave her a full academic scholarship (not bad for the special-ed student!). The only problem was, she hadn't finished high school yet, she was a junior. Word spread through the high school. Soon she was talking with a counselor and the school decided to promote her to allow her to graduate. She had a whole month of her senior year.

Now she is off to college in a foreign country at the age of 16. She returned to the states after a year to finished college while living with her sister now doing doctoral work. She still didn't appreciate the true meaning of it all. Her sister became her mentor, role-model and overall super hero. These were still the days where few women were in academia. Her sister was the "three-piece pin-striped suit generation" of feminist.

Since the girl had always been a skater, she sought out most physical education classes that the college offered. She often ran from Judo class stripping off her "Gi" to reveal her pink tights and black leotard for classical ballet class. But what does this have to do with the feminist movement? She had to fight the school to get into the all-male judo class. Now she begins to understand the conversations she had been overhearing around the dinner table.

She finished her B.A. in three years with double majors and double minors. The girl finds her way to graduate school. Not easily though. When she opened her GRE scores she was elated that she had received slightly over the required score of 600. The bubble was burst, however, when she found out that the 600 requirement was per section, not combined. Wow, those standardized tests! She managed to beg her way in to the school. The school admitted her conditionally on taking a statistics course and passing with at least a B. For a supposedly bright girl, she had never heard of statistics. She got an A, of course, and was soon teaching her own section of statistics.

One day, one of her professors approached her and offered her a research assistantship. She was shocked. She was so intimidated by this man. Next to her sister, he would become the most influential person in her academic life. The catch to the offer was that she had to be a doctoral student. She didn't think she was ready for that. Should she retreat to the skating rink? What if the Jr. High people were right and she was really special-ed? A doctorate? Maybe it was time to really talk to her sister and find out exactly what it meant and where would it lead. Indeed, she went on to finish her Ph.D. in record time, of course.

She joined the faculty at a local university. It is here where she experiences the second wave of her personal feminist struggle. She was exceptionally young and looked even younger. She often felt a lack of respect and confidence from faculty and students. She was often brushed aside as insignificant. But what hurt the most was the lack of support from female faculty. Didn't the movement progress any from the three-piece suit era? Why can't a woman have a career while wearing a dress, marry, and have kids? Wasn't it about letting us do it all? At minimum, wasn't about letting us do what ever we wanted? Petty people judge before knowing anything about another. Why were the feminists so mean? Why were they so angry? Why were they obstacles to other women?

The girl vowed to not be like them. She vowed not to be an obstacle. She vowed to not judge. She vowed to mentor anyone who sought help.

If you haven't already figured it out, the girl is me. Many of you know me. While this all sounds like "it's about me," it's really about YOU.

How did you get here? There are probably many of you that are the first generation to go to college. You may not have known what to expect. You might have come here with expectations that have been transformed by one particular professor, by one particular class, or even one particular conversation. You might have started out in pre-med and ended up in pre-law. Someone must have touched you somewhere along the line. Who was it? Do they even know? Do you?

Many of you have overcome obstacles to come here. There will surely be many more obstacles yet to overcome. Petty people will judge you. You need to decide if you will be petty.

Another obstacle often comes in the form of arrogance. I recently had a conversation with an honor's student who just graduated. She was saddened by the arrogance of students at law school. Arrogance is also petty. You do not win the right to be arrogant simply because you have proven yourself to be an honor's student. You do win the right to be responsible. You have responsibilities to better the world. You must reach those that need help or guidance. This does not mean to reach "down." "Down" is arrogance. You must choose. Will you become a mentor or an obstacle? Being a mentor is a great honor.

I like the words of Dr. Oljar who spoke from this podium a few years ago. She said that we have the greatest job in the world. We do. We get to touch the lives of so many people. We try our best to make your experience here as positive as possible. So many of you have touched us. Many of you have touched me. I thank you.

I am blessed. I thank you; I thank my sister, my parents, and my professor. I have a wonderful family, husband and children. I have a wonderful job that I love more each and every year. I thank you for continuing to challenge me to learn. Oh yes, hopefully, we will all live happily ever after.