Governor urges SCC graduates to live collaboratively

Speaking before hundreds of Spokane Community College graduates and faculty Monday, Gov. Chris Gregoire decried partisan bickering and urged students to be part of a more tolerant, deliberative world.

Too many Americans are too quick to shut out people with opposing views, Gregoire said. Too many only read or listen to like-minded bloggers and pundits, she said.

“In the most extreme cases, I see people so locked in defense of their own views that they fail to see common opportunities,” she said in remarks prepared for the ceremony.

Students from the school’s divisions of health and environmental sciences and arts and sciences graduated Monday.

Gregoire cited debate over whether human activity is worsening climate change. But both sides, she said, should be able to see that reducing carbon emissions also saves gas, weans America’s dependence on foreign oil and leads to cleaner air. She urged graduates to remain open-minded and collaborative as they enter the job market and community life.

“There are no problems we cannot solve together,” she said, quoting President Lyndon Johnson, “and very few we can solve by ourselves.”