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White Castle or White House, be motivated, Penn tells DePauw Class of 2014
By ERIC BERNSEE
Editor
DePauw University commencement speaker Kal Penn, with experience at White Castle and the White House on his resume, told the Class of 2014 Sunday morning to stop worrying so much about fame and fortune and being an immediate success.
Penn, a film and television actor known for his roles as Kumar in the "Harold and Kumar" movies and Dr. Lawrence Kutner on "House," told the Class of 2014 that he spent six years getting "really bitter" in trying to break into Hollywood as an actor.
Instead he spent that time getting coffee for people, making copies, running simple errands and being the quintessential go-fer -- not something he thought worthy of his intellect and college degree.
"Now I look back at those years in terrible apartments, working odd jobs, and I realize I learned a lot," Penn said, adding that in retrospect, it was not just a big waste of time.
"I don't think there's such a thing as a waste of time," he told the 175th DePauw commencement gathering in Holton Memorial Quadrangle. "I just had the wrong attitude."
Consequently Penn urged the graduating seniors to "remember to be kind and smile and continue to learn."
"Things will sometimes be unfair," he cautioned, reminding them that fame and status "are not a profession."
Happiness can come from something other than financial stability, he stressed, noting however that such a concept may be difficult for friends and family -- particularly parents -- to understand.
"Be motivated," urged Penn who served as associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement before returning to acting recently, "but don't worry unnecessarily. And try to understand the difference between those two things."
He told the graduates to "turn off cable news, the world isn't falling apart," and break from their mold.
"Talk with people who disagree with you," he suggested. "Date someone who doesn't think like you. Watch only 'CBS Sunday Morning' for your news."
Penn, who was also awarded the university's Arts Medal Sunday -- for, as DPU President Brian Casey praised, "distinguishing yourself from the film set to the White House" -- said he recently learned a valuable lesson.
"Try not to let your work be an excuse for missing the things that really matter," he offered, telling the DePauw seniors, "you will be tested."
He also told them not to forget "to do good things."
"Go to weddings," Penn said, "even if your grandfather doesn't understand how your fraternity brother is getting a husband."
Sunday's opening speaker was senior Sandy Tran, recipient of the 2014 Walker Cup, emblematic of the DPU student contributing the most to the university community during his or her four years on campus. She told her classmates to learn to love their fears.
"Fear made it impossible for me to find a balance between my old life in Chicago and the new life I wanted here," said Tran, one of 506 undergraduates awarded bachelor's degrees Sunday. "Fear stopped me from speaking up in some of my classes because I was too intimidated.
"Fear did not allow me to accept change or failure," she continued. "And biggest of all, fear stopped me from reaching my potential and from becoming the woman I wanted to be."
Luckily, Tran said, she had a strong support system.
"This university is the place where I made my dreams become my reality," she said. "DePauw helped me find my purpose in life."
However, Tran added that "to be quite honest, I am fearful of what is to come. But this time, I am welcoming my fears because they feed my drive."
The Chicago product said she is leaving Greencastle with several lessons learned: Love and be lovable; keep changing and keep learning from failure; have an open mind and heart; give back to the people who shaped you "and always keep it real."
Sunday's program also included honorary Doctor of Letters degrees presented to Oxford University Professor Emeritus Emilie Savage-Smith, a 1962 DePauw graduate, and renowned poet Gjertrud C. Schnackenberg.