BOONE—A college diploma shouldn’t be viewed solely as a ticket to financial success. It also signifies a responsibility for graduates to use the skills they acquired in college to become leaders and make a difference in their communities, speakers told graduates of Appalachian State University this weekend.

Each of the university’s degree-granting colleges and schools holds individual commencement ceremonies.

N.C. Treasury Secretary Richard H. Moore told Walker College of Business graduates May 6 to create opportunities for success and public service in their careers and the communities in which they live.

“Opportunities for success and leadership are not always about making money or having a big office or an important title,” he said. “It means doing the right thing and making a difference in the world. Those are the values that have led me to a life of public service.”

Moore is serving his second term as state treasurer. He also has served as a federal prosecutor, member of the N. C. House of Representatives and secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Moore said his career focus on public service has enabled him to push for changes in state laws to improve the quality of life for the state’s citizens, including a proposal to increase the state’s minimum wage.

“I don’t care where you live or where you work, there is no way that you haven’t noticed an increased cost in health care, gasoline and housing,” Moore said. “For North Carolina low-income families, these costs are all too often a crushing burden. I feel very strongly, and most North Carolinians I talk to feel very strongly, that people who work hard and play by the rules should be able to make ends meet. We can help our working families in North Carolina take a step in that direction by raising our minimum wage by at least a dollar.”

Moore asked graduates and their families to urge their state legislators to support an increase in the minimum wage.

Graduates of the College of Fine and Applied Arts heard from Dale Collie, a motivational speaker and retired major from the U.S. Army, during ceremonies May 7.

To survive in the world of work they will be entering, graduates must have a vision for success, be prepared for whatever obstacles come their way and persevere through challenging times, he said.

Collie recounted an incident when he was a young commander in the Vietnam War that illustrated these three components of success.

His infantry company was faced with a seemingly impossible task: to rescue a company of soldiers pinned down in a steep valley by enemy fire.

Even though the soldiers being rescued had no climbing experience, Collie, an Army Ranger, and his men had ropes and were able to help the soldiers climb a 300-foot cliff to safety without incurring any injuries or attracting the attention of the enemy.

They were able to succeed, he said, because they focused on the solution, not the problem facing them.

“Everyone will run into problems, but you need to keep your eye on the solution,” Collie said.

By being prepared, graduates can overcome the obstacles they face in life. “You’ve been here all these years getting ready,” he said. “But do you have the ropes that you need to climb those cliffs of life?”

And when faced with obstacles, don’t give up, he said. “You have to persevere. You can’t give up when you find obstacles. You can’t run from the problem. You must embrace the danger and keep fighting.”

By having vision, preparation and perseverance, they will succeed, Collie told the graduates. “With these (tools), you can do anything you set your mind to.”

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper told graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences during commencement May 7 that earning a college diploma was an important symbol of their hard work during the past four years, but it also was a tool they should use to improve their life and the lives of others.

“With this degree from Appalachian State, you have been handed a new tool and even a weapon for the battle for economic prosperity,” he said. “Make sure that you know there is more to this degree than economic success. This degree brings a solemn responsibility to your country, to your fellow human beings.”

Cooper said education was a gift to be shared with others.

“One of the reasons that you have reached this milestone is because you want to be prosperous and successful,” Cooper said. “You want to be able to make a good living, have a good job and a secure family.”

But others across the state won’t have the same opportunities, he said.

“Beyond thinking about your own economic success, we need you to help those in the community who have missed out on the opportunities that you have been able to seize,” he said. “Because you have been given the gift of an education, you must take your place in the fight to make our state, our nation and our world a better place.”

Cooper has been the state’s attorney general since 2001. He served for14 years in the state legislature where he was senate majority leader and chairman of the judiciary and ethics committees.

Robert Glidden, president emeritus of Ohio University, spoke to graduates of the Mariam Cannon Hayes School of Music on May 7.

Graduates of the Reich College of Education were shown a video that highlighted their college career. Cratis D. Williams Graduate School graduates viewed a video presentation highlighting student research and internships.