‘This Nation … Enshrined Pluralism’ VA250 Honorary Chair Addresses VMI Convocation
Editor’s note: The following piece is excerpted from a story written by Marianne Hause, media relations specialist with VMI Communications & Marketing.
The national honorary chair of the Virginia 250 Commission talked about radical ideas that changed history and American values and when she spoke at Virginia Military Institute’s convocation ceremony Sept. 3.
Carly Fiorina, businesswoman and politician, served as the guest speaker as VMI officially kicked off the new school year in a ceremony at Cameron Hall.
Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi, dean of the faculty and deputy superintendent for academics, opened the observance with a welcome to all assembled, especially the Rat Mass to their first convocation.
Acting Superintendent Brig. Gen. Dallas Clark ’99 also welcomed the audience, which included eighth grade students from Lylburn Downing Middle School.
Before introducing the guest speaker, Clark stated that the Center for Leadership and Ethics (CLE) schedules many of the speakers who come to VMI.
“The CLE’s theme this year is ‘American Values,’ selected as a recognition of the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary,” he said. “Throughout the year, the CLE’s programming will reinforce the shared democratic core values of honor, service to our country, integrity and the purpose of our nation, as outlined in our Declaration of Independence.” He then welcomed Fiorina to the lectern.
Fiorina told the corps that the theme of “American Values” is one they exemplify each day. To truly understand the meaning of American values she advised they examine history.
“A lot of Americans have become apathetic or cynical about our history, and we cherry pick it to talk only about the heroes or the horrors,” she said. “Yet we know as people, our personal history is hugely important to us. The popularity of genealogy websites speaks to a human longing to know, ‘Where do I come from?’ We know if we do not know who and where we come from, we feel unmoored, rootless, and it is hard to plot our future.”
She went on to acknowledge that some family stories are difficult to talk about because they are embarrassing, shameful, or frightening, but in order for a family to heal, those stories must be shared.
“What is true for a family is true for a community and nation,” she declared, referring to injustices in the country’s history. “Ours is the only nation not founded on territory, ethnicity, religion, or tribe. Ours is the only nation in human history founded on ideas, values, and a system of government which you are trained to defend. When we do not know our history, then we do not know why we are Americans.”
She listed radical ideals throughout history that changed the world.
“Plato spoke about the unique nature of an idea. It is abstract. You cannot see or touch it, yet ideas have substance, because ideas have the power to motivate and change behavior,” she said. “Aristotle taught that ideals are models for our behavior and objects for our striving. Think about the Christian value that humility, mercy, and compassion are sources of strength, not of weakness. The philosophers of the Enlightenment who influenced our founders, believed in the ideals of human reason, human rights, and the skepticism of authority. Our nation is, despite all of its flaws and imperfections, the greatest nation on Earth.”
She reminded the audience that on July 4, 2026, the nation will celebrate its 250th anniversary.
“Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July? Because the Declaration of Independence marks our highest ideal, our greatest American value. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ These words were written by enslavers,” she boldly declared, “and the men who gathered together to debate these words had many opportunities to change them, yet they did not. They were aware of the contradiction between the world around them and the ideal. These words were radical at the time, and they have shaped every movement toward human liberty, dignity, and equality ever since, in this country and all over the world.”
Fiorina stated one American value stemming from the radical idea that all are equal in the eyes of God is pluralism.
“We have always been a nation of differences and division,” she said. “The first Americans were divided over all the same things we are now: ethnicity, class, religion, and race. The colonists were divided over whether or not a revolution was treason or heroic, and yet this nation chose to enshrine pluralism and respect for others in our founding documents. In the Constitution, we enshrined for the first time anywhere on Earth: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press.”
A second American value according to Fiorina is innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Entrepreneurship is a reason this is the most powerful, innovative, wealthiest economy on the face of the planet,” she said. “Like so many other things, entrepreneurship was made here in Virginia. When the colonists first arrived, they were serfs, and yet necessity demonstrated over time that people work harder if they own the fruits of their labor. In the Constitution, private property was enshrined as a right. You can own your ideas. These were as radical a set of ideas as anything else that founded this nation.”
She stated another distinctly American value is the power of the individual, that a single person can make a difference. She spoke of Alexis de Tocqueville, a French philosopher and writer who traveled in America around the time VMI was founded.
“He remarked what I think was a hugely perceptive observation, ‘The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.’ We are inspired by the actions of others, and this is a nation of citizen-leaders.”
Addressing cadets she said, “You are an example of citizenleaders. What qualities should a citizen-leader possess? Courage to do important, difficult things; character to do the right things even when no one is watching; humility to know great things always require a team; and empathy to respect, listen, and learn from others. We see possibilities in ourselves, in each other, and in our future. Despite the reality we fall short every day, it is an undeniable truth that here in this nation more things have been more possible for more people from more places than anywhere else on the face of the earth. As citizen-leaders it is our duty to form a more perfect union.
“Virginia is sacred ground. Because Virginia is the birthplace of this great nation,” she continued. “It was the place where three great cultures came together for the first time: Indigenous, European, and African. And those three cultures coming together built a uniquely American culture. Virginia is where American values and ideas were formed. America was made in Virginia.
“You may be whatever you resolve to be. May you resolve to be a great citizen. May you resolve always to form a more perfect union. May you always find courage to stand strong for what you believe, to set an example for others through your actions, and to change things for the better. It doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, or how you pronounce your last name. If you believe in these American values, then e pluribus unum — out of many one — is still possible in this great nation,” she concluded to a standing ovation.
