Michelle Obama Receives Honorary Doctorate in Public Health from Oregon St. Univ.
- Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:25am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Drawing on memories of her childhood and early career, Michelle Obama told Oregon State University graduates Sunday to live life for themselves, not for anyone else.
The first lady spoke at the invitation of her older brother, Craig Robinson, the head men’s basketball coach at Oregon State. The siblings grew up in a working class family with high expectations, and both chased successful and lucrative careers – Robinson in finance, Obama in a prominent law firm.
“We still had all the traditional markers of success with a fat paycheck, the fancy office, the impressive lines on our resumes,” the first lady told a crowd of about 30,000, including 5,000 graduates. “But the truth is, neither of us was all that fulfilled.”
“I was living the dream, but it wasn’t my dream,” Obama said. “Craig felt the same way, unbeknownst to me.”
Eventually, both left their lucrative jobs for other passions. Obama went to work for the Chicago mayor, Robinson to coach basketball.
“Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own,” Obama said.
A rich life is defined by more than a paycheck, Obama said, urging graduates to focus on what they have rather than what they lack.
Obama also advised graduates to keep in close touch with the family and friends who are important to them, saying she never missed a chance to tell her father she loved him before he died from complications of multiple sclerosis. She fought tears as she recalled her mother’s assurances that her father was proud to be her dad.
“Liking them on Facebook doesn’t count,” she said. “Nor does following then on Twitter. What counts is making the time to be there in person.”
Obama’s stop in Oregon was also a chance for her to catch up with family and meet a new nephew. Aaron Robinson was born four months ago to Robinson and his wife.
Robinson said he was surprised, but pleased, to see excitement on campus after the university announced the commencement speaker
“It’s exciting, as her brother, to be able to hear her doing such a good job for our country,” Robinson told reporters before Obama spoke.
Obama was awarded an honorary doctorate in public health for her work as first lady on fighting childhood obesity and improving health. She held up the diploma and mouthed, “Go Beavs,” a rallying cry for Oregon State Beavers’ athletics.
The Oregon State speech was Obama’s third commencement address this year. She spoke last month at Virginia Tech and North Carolina A&T, both in swing states for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
The first lady had campaign events scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday in Western battlegrounds Nevada and Colorado.
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Comments (95)
southernORcobra
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:55ambeavers suck anyway
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 9:14am“Michelle Obama told Oregon State University graduates Sunday to live life for themselves, not for anyone else.”
It is/will be very hard to NOT live for everyone else in the socialist world the current administration is building.
Report Post »black9897
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:08pmExactly. How can I live my life when someone puts a gun to my head to force me to buy something.
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:17pmBig as her buttocks are she should get 2…
her husband sneaks all kinds of junk food and smokes and she gets a doctorate that rates right up there with hi nooobel pees prize.
wide load and down low… what a pair.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 1:42pmAnd… the Medal of Hero of the Soviet Union… goes to… the Obamas!
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 3:11pm“live life for themselves, not for anyone else.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That is just what is wrong with our society today — AND out presidency — ME, MY I, MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To hades with everyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »MRMANN
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:38amWonder if M.’s honorary doctorate in public health means that Obama will have to obtain his hamburgers covertly.
Report Post »Independent4233
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 9:16amShe worked about as hard to earn this degree as she did her other one, which means it’s another “gimmie” award, like her AA one for sub-standard accomplishment she obtained as a part of the AA quota system wherein most all her time was in whining about racism, as her college thesis was.
A BS degree is an acronym for a word that describes what it is worth under AA.
Report Post »mycomet123
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:58am“Success is ony meaningful and enjoyable when it’s your own”?? Then she turns around & accepts an “honorary doctorate degree”?????????? Hey Michelle, you didn‘t earn it so how’s it your own?
Report Post »TrueSoundsOfLiberty
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:31pmI wonder if Glenn ever returned his honorary degree from Liberty U. Nothing like getting an award just for showing up.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:25amThe Obama doctrine…spreading others’s wealth, lecturing the serfs and taking from others .. as long as it benefits the Obama mafia! BTW did the college pay for the flight, Kobe beef, security, hotel for Michelle and 200 of her closest “friends” or did the taxpayer’s foot the bill!
I wish I could open my computer once and not see an image of Barry, Michelle or Bo (their dog)! I can’t wait for November!
Report Post »Msgt Ret
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:24amI wonder if this is the first time she is proud of oregon state univ?
Report Post »pghpatriot
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 9:34ami like it!
Report Post »watashbuddyfriend
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:22amDang! I saw this blog twice, before I stopped to see the posts. All of you did a bang-up GOOD job!
Report Post »DesertRose1960
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:16amMrs. Obama already holds a doctorate that she earned, she has a J.D. from Harvard. She has proven she can succeed in an academic setting. She has worked tirelessly to address the serious problem we have in this country with childhood obesity and the illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure that comes with it. None of you minded when Liberty University gave Glenn, someone who barely made it through high school, an honorary Doctorate. Besides dropping out of his single theology class at Yale, what success has he had in academia?
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:24amOh-oh. The Obama choir is getting testy. Time to bring on the Bash Beck stuff. ( so predictable )
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:26amCan we see her records ? Or are they hidden like those of her secretive husband’s ?
Report Post »OhioRifleman
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:31am@ Desert Rose
Your final question is the crux of your internal conflict, and also the crux of the existing problems with this nation.
You ask what successes has Glenn had in academia? I ask you, what does it matter how many successes one has in academia? We live in the real world, kid. This is not a lab setting or theory classes; results are the alpha and omega of Existence itself. You don’t get results by way of theorizing, you get results by way of doing.
Michelle, and by extension her husband and his administration, are theorists (those who believe in theories) who are trying to force those theories on the rest of the planet. Said theories have already been proven to fail, ergo the Eastern Bloc nations of the Soviet Union, but hell, let’s give it another try. Who cares if China is less Communist than Capitalist nowadays? Who cares if the Soviet Union died of its own failings in ‘91? Who cares if North Korea is a hell-hole where you have to weep for a dead megalomaniac or you are executed for embarrassing the state? IN THEORY, Communism should work, right? Right? It works in the theory, right?
There is a reason the phrase “Those who can, do; Those who can’t, teach” exists in the real world. Roughly half my instructors in the public Screwal system fit that description to a tee. I would venture to opine that the Obamas, if they are so academically endowed, should have stayed in academia instead of trying to screw us all.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:38amHey Rose..did you notice this “honor’ is in “Public Health”!!! Michelle couldn’t last a minute in the private sector..Oh yeah she worked in a hospital..noticed when she left her job wasn’t ever filled, the position was eliminated…wow was ever really needed..or just a payoff!
BTW…Check how Glen has shared his wealth with those who are in need as well as created jobs with his money…not the taxpayers!! So let your friends Barry and Michelle go back to college and teach theories that don’t work and lecture kids!
Because their baloney is playing with the taxpayers!
Report Post »pghpatriot
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:05amRose,
C’mon. Why is it that seemingly the only way a Democrat (or socialist if you are one of those) can represent the accomplishments of an admired (by you) person is to tear down someone else. Can’t she stand on he own merit? must she be compared to ANYONE for her to look good? Her cause is admirable, her process is not. She spends millions of our dollars to re-invent the food groups pyramid (actually I believe she changed the shape) that I‘ll bet 10 people in this country outside of the nutrition profession couldn’t tell you what it is. Maybe even you. She gets her socialist friend Bloomberg to outlaw salt, popcorn, pop (soda), and big drinks. That’s right, we can’t let people make their own decisions, we must REGULATE them. Go to big city welfare and food stamp lines (throughout the country) and look at all the obese adults and children standing to get their monthly fix of ‘entitlement’ so they can buy snacks and soda, and junk food. If she REALLY wanted to make a difference, she would deduct 10% of the allotment that every obese person gets and do it every month until they lose the weight. She also needs to take every ‘handicap’ special parking permit for those that have them because they don’t want to have walk more than a couple of feet to where they are going. They are afraid a little exercise may cause them to REALLY need that handicap pass. She wouldn’t do that because they would lose 2/3ds of their constituency. If she did that, I’d present her the
Report Post »betsp
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 10:08amYep, she’s a genius, just like her hubby. She’s lived a wonderful life, given to small orphans, tended the sick and deserves every accolade we can find laying around….designer of course.
Now, let’s just start packing her stuff up for the big move back to Chicago, ok?
Report Post »garylee123
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 12:19pmWhy was she disbarred?
Report Post »RGFROMTEXAS
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 4:22pmIn 2004 I was able to witness Laura Bush at a middle school here in Texas in an effort to encourage her reading agenda on children. Now we have another first lady with her own agenda. Two ladies, one a Republican, one a Democrat, one is short, the other is tall, one is white, the other is black. Both gracious ladies that our country can be proud of.
Report Post »Zipit
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:16amPretty much sums up both of the Obama’s careers! Nothing of substance, just honorific!! Or is it horrific?
Report Post »Nemo13
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:12amYes yes, as we all know, the Obummers, like others of their kind, need things given not earned.
Report Post »dadsrootbeer
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:06amWell deserved by overly progressive Oregon State. Awarded someone for dictating to the country on how they should eat with the backing of governmental departments while not adhering to it herself. A perfect example of liberalism progresssive socialist rule.
Report Post »brntout
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:06amReally should have given her a PHD as “smart” as she is in that department.(Piled High and Deep)
Report Post »Bryan B
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:59am“Michelle Obama Receives Honorary Doctorate in Public Health from Oregon State University.”
For doing what ? Pointing out all the Fat Kids ????
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:25amThanks.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:40amHa ha ha!!!!!!
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 5:19pmYou are so right Bryan…this does cause problems for kids “that don’t fit“ her progressive ”example” of what kids are!
Report Post »oldsoldier10
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:55amAH you mean to say, gets toilet paper from Organ State University, because now that is what a degree is worth from Oregon State U. Thanks Moochelle McO’Bama for stinkin up the joint!
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:54ammichelle should be getting a doctorate as being one of the most anti- American person in the USA. The question is how much of our money went to buy this from Oregon St.Univ..
Report Post »EP46
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:53amAmerican jihadist group conference in Chicago on Sunday…..did obama attend after going to the wedding ?
http://quitenormal.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/chicago-to-host-international-jihadist-conference-to-discuss-world-domination-and-global-islamic-caliphate/
Report Post »Andy Cooper
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:51amNow she’s qualified to perform a snootectomy on herself!
Report Post »Vic Tory
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:50amShe finally found an outfit that doesn’t make her look fat.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:55amShe is one hard-looking woman. The last Republican FLOTUS’ seem to have a softness about them, while Michelle and Hillary look mad at everything all of the time.
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:22amGRAND: The Far Lefties are all angry people. That attitude is why they are permanently mad about something and why they like to stir up their angry base. Part of their so-called “social justice” philosophy …aka ” revenge.” ( notice all of her husband’s anti rhetoric : banks , CEOs, Wall Street, the rich , capitalism, George Bush , General Be-tray-us )
Report Post »Msgt Ret
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:26amhave you taken a good look at what both of them were married to?
Report Post »starman70
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:40amI just wonder what kind of grant and how many federal dollars this the University of Oregon is pandering for?
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:39amEveryone gets a trophy.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:39amCan she get any uglier?
There goes that university from my donations list!!!! (jk)
Report Post »Athinkerinaseaoflibs
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:37amWhy ????????
Report Post »Southernguy
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:50amYour guess is as good as mine, lol
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:33amI hadda look twice. I thought it said pubic health.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:59amEwww…. :)
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:31amIs there ANY college/university out there with a shred of self respect?
Report Post »It seems like they’re all scrambling to disgrace themselves… and succeeding.
Southernguy
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:51amAnd it’s just gonna get worse.
Report Post »DaveCCC
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:31amShe deserves an honorary degree like her husband deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:43amBingo.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:47amAt least now she has a piece of paper that justifies (in her mind and Obama’s) being the unnamed Food Czar. It reminds me of the commercial where Alec Baldwin tells the pilot not to worry because he played one on TV. Surprised that she deigned to accept a degree for one of the non-elite universities.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 8:28amAgreed, but she and Mikey B are the experts on what we should do and eat.
In their minds, the serfs that pay for her lavish lifestyle are too dumb to think for themselves…NOT!!! WAIT till NOVEMBER when the taxpayers remove these simpletons from their offices and our Whitehouse!
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:30amWho knew that commencement gowns could be cut to fit bovines? :)
Report Post »huey6367
Posted on June 18, 2012 at 7:27amPlease. Nothing more to say except – please.
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