Literature is an inquiry into the deepest yearnings of the human spirit.

The connectedness of things is what the great university is all about, and I believe the great university in the coming century will be described as a community of scholars.

To push for excellence today without continuing to push for access for less privileged students is to undermine the crucial but incomplete gains that have been made. Equity and excellence cannot be divided.

It is no longer enough to simply read and write. Students must also become literate in the understanding of visual images. Our children must learn how to spot a stereotype, isolate a social cliche, and distinguish facts from propaganda, analysis from banter and important news from coverage.

When all is said and done we simply must make teaching in this country an honorable profession-since it's in the classrooms of America where the battle for excellence, ultimately, will be won or lost.

A poor surgeon hurts one person at a time. A poor teacher hurts 130.

As I watched my grandfather work with people who were impoverished, I began to understand that to be truly human, one must serve.