Flint researchers Professor Marc Edwards and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha address the Class of 2016 — Transcript

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1. 0:01while it may be unconventional to have
2. 0:04to commencement speakers today it is not
3. 0:07only appropriate it is essential that
4. 0:09these two individuals stand before you
5. 0:11together their story is a story of
6. 0:14teamwork collaboration and community dr.
7. 0:18Mark Edwards is the charles p Lunsford
8. 0:21professor of civil engineering at
9. 0:22virginia tech dr. mona hanna-attisha is
10. 0:25a director of the pediatric pediatric
11. 0:28residency program at hurley medical
12. 0:29center in flint michigan together along
13. 0:32with their teams and a group of
14. 0:34residents who became citizen scientists
15. 0:36they saved the community on august 4
16. 0:402015 an environmental injustice was
17. 0:43occurring in Flint Michigan for 16
18. 0:46months residents of the second poorest
19. 0:48city in the United States were paying
20. 0:49the highest water bills in the nation
21. 0:51and were unprotected by federal lead
22. 0:54corrosion control laws the mother of one
23. 0:57child with elevated lead levels sampled
24. 0:59in her tap water with Virginia Tech and
25. 1:02found hazardous waste levels of lead an
26. 1:06employee with the environmental
27. 1:09protection agency cited those results
28. 1:11and a warning that the entire city was
29. 1:13in danger but incredibly Flint residents
30. 1:15were told their water was safe to drink
31. 1:17and no further help was in sight at that
32. 1:20point of team of two dozen people at
33. 1:22Virginia Tech decided to go all in for
34. 1:26Flint they provided the funding
35. 1:28analytical and technical support needed
36. 1:31to test the water they launched a web
37. 1:33page to share scientific results
38. 1:35disseminate sound science and release
39. 1:38documents they obtained through the
40. 1:39Freedom of Information Act they helped
41. 1:42expose a man-made disaster and a
42. 1:43possible environmental crime that harm
43. 1:45children and damaged the city's vital
44. 1:47infrastructure thanks to this team the
45. 1:50world learned what was happening and now
46. 1:52work is underway to fix the pipes treat
47. 1:54the victims and learn from this tragedy
48. 1:56so it never happens again their work may
49. 2:00well have inspired some of you to leave
50. 2:02Virginia Tech today with a new
51. 2:03dedication to our motto with pros them
52. 2:06that I may serve would you please get on
53. 2:09your feet again because there is only
54. 2:11one way to
55. 2:13welcome a team like this into Lane
56. 2:15Stadium let's cheer for careers that are
57. 2:19dedicated to helping others and a flint
58. 2:21water team let's go let's go let's go
59. 3:47just
60. 3:55wow that was amazing Mona you know in a
61. 4:04million years did you ever think you'd
62. 4:05be running out in the lane stadium with
63. 4:0730,000 dancing Hokies that was
64. 4:11absolutely incredible but I thought the
65. 4:14official Virginia Tech dance was the
66. 4:15Hokey Pokey for some that can master
67. 4:19those more complicated moves yes but for
68. 4:21me it's a nurse and Manson you know when
69. 4:25I saw all of you standing up jumping up
70. 4:28and down I thought that if only one
71. 4:30person had stood up and jumped up and
72. 4:33down how lonely and uncomfortable and
73. 4:37strange that would look but when
74. 4:40everyone stood up when everyone jumped
75. 4:43up you're a force a movement that
76. 4:46couldn't be stopped to really live up to
77. 4:50your incredible motto of service there
78. 4:53will be times in your life when you'll
79. 4:55have to stand up and sometimes you may
80. 4:59be the first person to stand up and it
81. 5:02will be lonely and you'll feel powerless
82. 5:05and uncomfortable and you may even be
83. 5:07scared and others may tell you to sit
84. 5:10down you know I'm just trying to
85. 5:13remember the first hokie who started the
86. 5:16Enter Sandman tradition and that was
87. 5:19either one very very brave person or
88. 5:22maybe they were just under the influence
89. 5:26but you know they started something
90. 5:29special something we all appreciate and
91. 5:31as for the more serious matters in life
92. 5:33where would we be without those brave
93. 5:37souls who are willing to go it alone and
94. 5:39take a stand hokies today I'm asking you
95. 5:45to prepare yourself for the day make a
96. 5:48commitment to take a stand in service
97. 5:52for others when it is you or no one when
98. 5:56you will go all in for a cause greater
99. 5:58than yourself everyone stand up
100. 6:01take out your cell phones Oh your
101. 6:05smartphone's I've been authorized to
102. 6:09give you your last assignment here at
103. 6:11Virginia Tech and I know it's a tough
104. 6:12one Tate please take a selfie and send
105. 6:17it to hashtag I will serve all right
106. 6:22we're gonna do this you guys everybody
107. 6:23else too okay what we're going to be
108. 6:32doing here when you're done is we're
109. 6:35going to be rededicating yourself to the
110. 6:37principles of a prism and the moment
111. 6:40took care of this for us because I'm
112. 6:43kind of technically challenged and I
113. 6:46don't even know what I told you to do it
114. 6:47with that hashtag thing there but but
115. 6:50when you're done with it sit down mark
116. 6:56one day I'll teach you about selfies and
117. 6:57hashtags book lesson number two so my
118. 7:01good friend Mark over here he's been
119. 7:03taking a stand for a long time he's over
120. 7:06a decade into standing up for children
121. 7:09for science for truth and i have to
122. 7:12admit when I first heard that a team
123. 7:14from Virginia Tech was coming to Flint
124. 7:16to check out about our water I had
125. 7:18doubts why would a team from blacksburg
126. 7:21virginia come all the way to flint
127. 7:23michigan we don't have a mellow mushroom
128. 7:26and we don't even have a waffle house
129. 7:29yeah that's true but uh but then I
130. 7:33realized it it's because your Hokies and
131. 7:36that's what Hokies do and then with the
132. 7:39help of my longtime friend Elin who also
133. 7:42happens to be a hokie I met mark and I
134. 7:46watched him I watched him holding
135. 7:49Flint's orange water in his hand
136. 7:53standing alongside the resident heroes
137. 7:56of Flint and he held a press conference
138. 7:58on the lawn of our city hall with
139. 8:01another grad student SID and that's when
140. 8:05he took a stand and in my singular world
141. 8:08of medicine and pediatrics I never
142. 8:11thought that I would meet anyone else
143. 8:13who cared
144. 8:14as much about children and more
145. 8:17importantly about the future of our
146. 8:18children's as he does this man right
147. 8:23here this man is a hero this man is my
148. 8:27hero
149. 8:37he joined with his graduate students he
150. 8:41packed mrs. Edwards minivan and he drove
151. 8:44to Flint overnight to prove that our
152. 8:46residents were right that our waters was
153. 8:48contaminated he took a stand he risked
154. 8:52it all he used his own money he stopped
155. 8:54sleeping and then he became my hero and
156. 8:57then he was stuck answering my 1,000,000
157. 8:59emails antics Mona taught me how to text
158. 9:05apparently I've been standing around so
159. 9:07long that technology has just passed me
160. 9:08by but I'm going to catch up but I want
161. 9:12to tell you about the day I saw dr. Mona
162. 9:16take a stand in Flint Michigan she
163. 9:20peered over a podium at a press
164. 9:22conference at Children's Medical Center
165. 9:25and she held up a baby bottle full of
166. 9:29leaded water now I guarantee you she did
167. 9:34not feel like the strongest person in
168. 9:36the room at that time and it was scary
169. 9:41but dr. Mona she was ready she stood
170. 9:46straight she looked people in the eye
171. 9:48and she said today not on my watch our
172. 9:53children are getting hurt and that was
173. 9:58the beginning of the end to the madness
174. 10:01when all the combined voices of the
175. 10:04pastor's the moms the dads the activists
176. 10:07the journalists the reporters the
177. 10:09scientists the pediatricians they
178. 10:12finally knocked over the house of cards
179. 10:15that was claiming everyone could relax
180. 10:18because Flint water was safe to drink
181. 10:21and at that moment our dr. Mona here
182. 10:27stood taller than anyone else on the
183. 10:30planet this woman here is a hero and at
184. 10:36that moment she became my hero kindred
185. 10:40spirit and sister and we've been taking
186. 10:43a stand ever since thank you but you
187. 10:47know what
188. 10:48don't forget that it started with just
189. 10:50one person one Flint resident who's
190. 10:54really been lost to history that first
191. 10:57person who stood up and they were
192. 11:00standing up alone powerless
193. 11:03uncomfortable scared and that one person
194. 11:06said what on earth is going on with my
195. 11:09water and then they were followed by
196. 11:11another brave soul and another and some
197. 11:15of them got arrested for complaining but
198. 11:18they set into motion along and cascading
199. 11:20run of dominoes a force was created a
200. 11:24tipping point was reached that
201. 11:26ultimately dislodged the truth from
202. 11:29within a seemingly a movable object but
203. 11:32it all started with one person one
204. 11:36person who stood up now our role in the
205. 11:40Flint miracle it was not an accident and
206. 11:44it was not luck it took years of
207. 11:48preparation no one wakes up in the
208. 11:51morning stretches and yawns and says
209. 11:54today you know today is the day I
210. 11:58finally feel ready to take a stand
211. 12:02because the biggest injustice is don't
212. 12:06come announce with flashing lights and
213. 12:09on a schedule that suits you they are
214. 12:13scarcely noticeable in faint cries of
215. 12:16pain and I can guarantee you they are
216. 12:19going to come at the most inconvenient
217. 12:21times and so unless you are ready to act
218. 12:26that moment will pass unrecognized now
219. 12:31everything that you've learned at
220. 12:33Virginia Tech has prepared you all those
221. 12:36pesky exams and papers and presentations
222. 12:41and you have this foundation for
223. 12:44knowledge and wisdom
224. 12:46and even more important is what you
225. 12:48learned outside the classroom the
226. 12:50friends you've made the friends you've
227. 12:53lost the mentors who helped you in your
228. 12:56community service and even that crazy
229. 12:59sense of fellowship that we get jumping
230. 13:02up and down to enter sandman you know
231. 13:07people from all walks of life who came
232. 13:09and fought for Flynn they earned a rare
233. 13:12sense of fellowship that is reserved for
234. 13:15those achieving a greater good and I
235. 13:19hope that everyone here today can
236. 13:22experience that at least once in their
237. 13:24life in addition to being prepared to
238. 13:28stand you also need to hold tight to
239. 13:31your common morality you never ever ever
240. 13:35give up on your ideals no one wakes up
241. 13:39in the morning and tending to poison
242. 13:41children but unless you hold certain
243. 13:43truths and ideals firm that could be you
244. 13:48people who take a stand can never be
245. 13:51changed by the world and it is those
246. 13:53people who take a stand that changed the
247. 13:56world they do not blindly go about their
248. 13:59work or their work ignoring cries of
249. 14:02pain they do not simply take orders they
250. 14:06remain alert to the suffering of others
251. 14:08and the imperfections of humans and
252. 14:11their institutions they raised their
253. 14:14voice for those who cannot speak and
254. 14:16they stand up for those who are
255. 14:18powerless hold tight to your ideals the
256. 14:23fate of the world depends on you and
257. 14:26when you hold tight and blaze a trail
258. 14:29that sometimes has to be yours alone
259. 14:32then you may do great things that trail
260. 14:36our trail took us from these mountains
261. 14:38to the Great Lakes and fate brought us
262. 14:42together at that critical time at that
263. 14:44critical place that path made history
264. 14:49the moral arc of history is indeed very
265. 14:53long and it bends towards justice but
266. 14:58that is not pre destiny
267. 15:00it's not Galileo in astronomy Martin
268. 15:06Luther King Rosa Parks and civil rights
269. 15:08susan b anthony and suffrage they all
270. 15:12took a stand they bent the arc of
271. 15:16history to justice and truth and if you
272. 15:20sit silence the arc of history will bend
273. 15:24towards darkness you know that song says
274. 15:27to sleep with one eye open it says if
275. 15:30something's wrong shut the light that
276. 15:33reminds me of what we must do to always
277. 15:36keep watch but unlike the song when
278. 15:40something's wrong don't turn out the
279. 15:42light do the exact opposite light a
280. 15:46blazing torch and find the truth the
281. 15:50aftershocks of what occurred in Flint
282. 15:53have rippled across the nation through
283. 15:56Chicago and New York Philadelphia and
284. 15:59Sebring Ohio across the Rust Belt and
285. 16:02all the way to Los Angeles people are
286. 16:05standing up and they are talking about
287. 16:07lead about water about infrastructure
288. 16:11about democracy about poverty and most
289. 16:16importantly about priorities you know I
290. 16:20have seen firsthand that this story
291. 16:23speaks strongest to you the Millennials
292. 16:27last month you became the largest
293. 16:30generation in US history but we need you
294. 16:36to become the greatest generation in US
295. 16:38history today a torch of leadership and
296. 16:43hope we're passing that into your hands
297. 16:46and use that to root out unseen
298. 16:48inequities and corruption and through
299. 16:51your careers in the humanities sciences
300. 16:54engineering medicine make sure that you
301. 16:57become part of the solution and not part
302. 17:00of the problem and I'm saying to you
303. 17:03when you find these problems take a
304. 17:07stand and say I am sorry but this here
305. 17:11this is just not right this is not good
306. 17:14enough not here in America not now the
307. 17:18story of what happened in Flint has
308. 17:19become a warning a rallying cry at least
309. 17:23some things are still not about us
310. 17:25versus them but are about all of us
311. 17:29amidst the rubble of the man-made
312. 17:32disaster in Flint Flint is a story of
313. 17:35hope with so many people who stood up
314. 17:39and who are standing up be certain that
315. 17:42Flint's tomorrow will be brighter than
316. 17:44our yesterday ever was this is much
317. 17:47bigger than us you have but one chance
318. 17:51one life time to make a mark working for
319. 17:56something bigger than yourself now this
320. 17:59collage that we created here today this
321. 18:02is your living proof that you are now
322. 18:05part of something special the hokie
323. 18:08nation with its commitment to surface
324. 18:11OOP rossum and from this day forth let
325. 18:16it bear witness to the fact that there
326. 18:17are others like you who would have your
327. 18:20back who want to help who share your
328. 18:23commitment and you are not alone even
329. 18:27though you will feel that way at first
330. 18:29the heroes that you eventually meet they
331. 18:33might not look like you they might not
332. 18:35work in the same profession they might
333. 18:38not vote like you but someday they will
334. 18:42become like brothers and sisters when
335. 18:46and not if the time comes when it is you
336. 18:50or no one when you either have to go all
337. 18:54in or stay seated you will be ready do
338. 18:59not let the world change you prepare
339. 19:02yourself to join those brave souls who
340. 19:05take a stand and change the world hokies
341. 19:09on your feet one last time as an
342. 19:12undergraduate please
343. 19:19be the first be the second but be part
344. 19:23of that critical mass to take a stand
345. 19:26those whose journeys bend the moral arc
346. 19:29of history towards truth and justice
347. 19:31let's go let's go let's go yessir
348. 19:39awesome
349. 19:59thank you dr. hanna-attisha and dr.
350. 20:01Edwards I'd like to ask the members of
351. 20:04your teams who are with us today to
352. 20:06please come forward and join us on the
353. 20:07stage still little slippery so be
354. 20:10careful
355. 20:54please join me in saluting the members
356. 20:57of the Flint water team this year the
357. 21:30Virginia Tech Board of Visitors
358. 21:31established a new university award the
359. 21:34up frozen scholar award recognizes
360. 21:36singular instances of the application of
361. 21:39scholarship and truly extraordinary
362. 21:40service to humanity at this time it
363. 21:45gives me great pleasure to present the
364. 21:47inaugural virginia tech foot pros m
365. 21:49scholar awards to dr. mark edwards and
366. 21:51dr. mona hanna-attisha
367. 22:22thank you for your extraordinary work
368. 22:24and good luck in the future and thanks
369. 22:26you thanks mark and Mona for your
370. 22:28inspirational words