Utah Governor Spencer Cox Speaks at Law School Commencement
Utah Governor Spencer Cox Speaks at Law School Commencement
Republican governor advises graduates to give back to the community.
(Utah Governor Spencer Cox speaks at the W&L Law School Commencement. Source: Washington and Lee University)
First-term Utah governor Spencer Cox, ‘01L, addressed the Class of 2024 at Washington and Lee University Law School’s 169th commencement ceremony on Friday, May 10. After receiving a Bachelors from Utah State University, Cox chose to attend W&L Law over Harvard when he visited Lexington with his wife.
The first piece of advice that Cox offered to the 141 graduates was to “remain curious.” He prompts curiosity by reading books with his cabinet members and senior staff.
The first book he mentioned was “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth,” by Sam Quinones. The lesson from that book is to prioritize happiness over pleasure. Whereas they both bring satisfaction, pleasure is fleeting while happiness is long-lived. Likewise, pleasure is achieved alone while happiness accompanies others, Cox said.
Another book Cox drew lessons from was “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life,” by David Brooks. The governor described how the book identifies two “mountains” in everybody’s life. “The first mountain is all about us. It is about achievement,” Cox continued. “The second mountain is about everyone else.”
“The sooner we get to that second mountain, the better off we are,” Cox said. Testifying to this point, he shared how he left a Salt Lake City law firm to return to his central Utah hometown of 1,200 people, Fairview. Cox moved back to Fairview to help run the family farm, a move which a colleague warned would destroy his career. Shortly after, however, he was asked to fill a city council vacancy and provide much needed legal support.
“That was the best thing that happened to me,” Cox said. “That was my opportunity to give back to the small town that had given me so much … That’s when we started to care more about the people around us, what was happening in our neighborhoods. Lifting others and trying to make the world a better place.”
“When you lift others, when you give back, when you invest in your community, they will invest in you, and good things will happen on that second mountain,” Cox continued. That small mountain in Fairview started his path toward the position he now holds.
He concluded by telling the graduates that “today, friends, is all about you, and it should be all about you … But I sincerely hope that this is the last day that’s all about you. If you look behind you, there are all these people in your life that made this possible. You did this, but you did not do it alone. I hope that you will turn around and do the same favor for other people.”
