I am indeed the president of the Brown Club of Munich (Dr. Corcoran holds out her Brown University doctoral robes).

I was at Brown a couple of weeks ago, and I brought back a book by Arnold Weinstein, Professor of Comparative Literature. Professor Weinstein also has the distinction of appearing of the Oprah Winfrey website. In a series of web videos, he discusses the work of William Faulkner. You are all encouraged to visit the Oprah Winfrey site and search for either Arnold Weinstein or William Faulkner.

Brown has always been the fringe element of the Ivy League. This was true as far back as the American Revolution, when a group of Brown students who were members of the secret honor society, Phi Beta Kappa—well, the students gave away the secret handshake. The result was that Brown was kicked out of Phi Beta Kappa.

Two hundred years later, the secret handshake is no longer secret.

If you want to know the secret, though, you have to ask.

If you want knowledge, you must pursue it.

And if you desire wisdom, you must seek after it.

We wish each of you good luck on your path—especially Claire Bronwitz, winner of this year’s Brown Book Award.

This speech was delivered by Dr. Marlena Corcoran on the occasion of the awards ceremony at Munich International School on 27 June 2008, at which Dr. Corcoran presented the Brown Book Award.