Entrepreneur and author sets the tone for commencement ceremony
By Jessie Hethcoat
Paul Hawken, a globally known environmental business entrepreneur is speaking at the University of Portland's 2009 Commencement on May 3.
Hawken, whose start in business stretches back more than 30 years when he and a colleague opened a garden tool store, has become a household name among people involved in the marriage of business and sustainability.
Hawken is also a prolific author whose books have sold more than two million copies and are read widely on college campuses across the country, including UP.
Hawken's address would seem to signal that environmental consciousness is the theme of this year's commencement. In addition to being the featured speaker, Hawken will receive an honorary doctorate from the University. He is joined by the Most Rev. William Skylstad, the bishop of Spokane, Wash. Dan O'Neill, Alaskan journalist and writer, will also be receiving the award, along with contemporary classical music composer Chen Yi. Nobel Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, one of the world's most regarded opponents of the South African apartheid, will receive a doctorate among others.
Josef Zohrer of Salzburg, a friend and benefactor of the University's Salzburg program for many years, received an honorary doctorate in Austria from University President the Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., late last year.
Steve Kolmes, director of UP's environmental studies program, considers Hawken one of the most important, if not the most important, figures in the environmental sustainability world.
Kolmes believes that Hawken's books have been incredibly influential, namely two of his first books, "The Ecology of Commerce" and "Natural Capitalism."
Both of these books changed the face of environmentalism, Kolmes said. "The Ecology of Commerce," in fact, was voted in 1998 as the best college text on business and the environment by professors in 67 business schools.
"'The Ecology of Commerce,' in many ways, set the tone for what environmental commerce would be like," Kolmes said. Of the other, "'Natural Capitalism," Kolmes said, "it is one of the most important books that has ever been written about the environmental world."
More recently, in 2007, Hawken released "Blessed Unrest," which explains how the environmentalist movement came into being as the largest movement in the world, and why no one saw it coming.
"The most recent book he has written tries to point out that the environmentalist movement is the largest civil movement in history," Kolmes said.
Hawken's address comes at a time that seems particularly appropriate. The school has made great strides environmentally. With the new River Campus and the environmental program's transition to a full academic department, the environmentalist movement is very much present at UP.
Editor of UP's Portland Magazine, Brian Doyle explained that he believes Beauchamp, invited Hawken to be this year's graduation speaker for two reasons. One is that Hawken is an incredibly creative entrepreneur.
The second reason is how significantly Hawken has used his entrepreneurial energy to spread environmental consciousness. Hawken maintains that environmentalism is not about politics; it is simply a necessity.
"He's coming at things from an interesting angle," Doyle said. "He is saying that we are in the largest movement in the world, skipping right past all the politics and looking at the big picture."
"Especially when factoring in the honorary doctorates that will be given, there's going to be a very interesting environmental presence on stage," Doyle said.
Doyle believes that Hawken's message is relevant to all graduates. Doyle explains that Hawken's creativity is what has gotten him as far as he is today.
Besides the sustainability emphasis, Doyle said, "I think that the message of the graduation overall this year will be for students to bring their creativity to bear."
