Three Big Questions

Steve Sample has been described as the greatest university president of his generation. For nineteen years, by his capable leadership, Sample led the University of Southern California to new heights of growth and to a worldwide educational influence never imagined. At his last commencement address, he spoke to forty thousand members and friends of the Trojan family who had gathered to celebrate the academic achievement of America’s most gifted leaders of tomorrow.

Looking out of over the crowd, Steve Sample urged the graduates to think about life’s biggest issues and not just their future careers. His commencement address raised three questions, which would in large measure set the trajectory of the graduates’ lives. First how did they feel about money? Second, how did they feel about children? Third, how did they feel about God? As Steve Sample raised his third question, there was pin-drop silence. Respectfully but courageously, USC’s outstanding president challenged all who gathered to carefully consider the spiritual reality and the profound implications it had for their lives and our world.