At Monday night’s Corvallis High School graduation, teacher Rob Cornell gave a keynote speech that was somewhat disputed. Some people called him out, calling his speech “partisan.” This column is dedicated to them.

Cornell is a teacher at CHS who has the reputation of being a Birkenstock-wearing, yoga-teaching, co-op-shopping, hippie vegan. He teaches advanced math classes and has been known to lead his students in yoga stretches to serve as relaxation before a stressful calculus test.

When the senior Class of 2006 voted on a keynote speaker to have at their graduation, Cornell was the teacher chosen.

His speech, rather than the generic “go out and do something useful” that we think of when we think of graduation speakers, was a passionate one about America and its goodness ... or lack thereof.

The senior class, for the most part, enjoyed his speech.

In my next day at school, I heard several people there talking about it, and everyone sounded as though they had enjoyed his message. “It was a pretty cool speech. No, actually, it was a(n) ... awesome speech,” remarked David Lev, who graduated in Monday night’s ceremony.

The message Cornell presented was simple. It began with a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political analyst of the 1800s: “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Cornell went on to give his own examples of how he feels America has ceased to be great: one example given was the mishandling of the war in Iraq, and a major message he offered was that sustainability should be a more prevalent issue in today’s society.

However, while some of the examples given might have been partisan, the message in itself was not; the point of Cornell’s speech was to urge tomorrow’s workforce to think critically about what needs to be changed. In the end, he was urging students to go out and find for themselves what is good and what is bad about our country.

It wasn’t an issue of persuading his audience that the war in Iraq was wrong. It wasn’t some fiery sermon to make everyone think they should shop the co-op or else.

It wasn’t about persuading people that his position on any partisan issue was right. He was merely telling today’s graduates — tomorrow’s thinkers — to think for themselves.

Now, that’s a concept, isn’t it? A high school educator who encourages his students to critically analyze the world around them. Sounds like someone might be trying to undermine authority or subvert the system ... which is exactly what a good teacher should be doing.

The fact is, Cornell’s parting words were heartfelt and inspiring.

They offered a break from the monotony of traditional graduation messages, and if the class of 2006 gained something from them, then Cornell’s goal as a keynote graduation speaker was fulfilled.

The rest of the community can pitch a fit if they want, but Cornell’s words were ones of inspiration, not of brainwashing.

Ellen Nitchals is a junior at Corvallis High School. She can be contacted at felixcanis11@gmail.com.