In separate addresses, United States President, Joe Biden and his Attorney General, Merrick Garland have urged graduating students to consider Public Service careers in order to “restore hope” in America.
Mr Garland (pictured) went further, saying good people were needed to combat ongoing turmoil in the US with “democracy under threat”.
Both men were speaking days after the school shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and against the background of the war in Ukraine.
Delivering his commencement address to Harvard University’s graduating class, Mr Garland said it should not take a tragedy to prompt people to look for ways, day in and day out, to help those in need.
“There is one particular reason that makes my call to public service especially urgent for your generation,” Mr Garland said.
“It is an urgency that should move each of you, regardless of the career you choose — it is the urgent need to defend democracy,” he said.
“Both at home and abroad, we are seeing the many ways in which democracy is under threat.”
President Biden urged students at the University of Delaware not to lose hope in America and to take up a life of public service.
“We need all of you to get engaged in public life and the life of this nation,” Mr Biden told graduates in his commencement address.
“There’s one message I hope you take from me today: This is no time to be on the sidelines,” he said.
“It’s not hyperbole.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”
Mr Biden graduated from the university in 1965.
Washington, 30 May 2022
