Biden to grads: Seize historic moment

Vice President Joe Biden told University of Delaware graduates they had a rare opportunity to alter the trajectory of the world, just as his peers did in the 1960s.

Delivering the commencement address on Saturday, Biden added that the world was at a critical juncture, and they had a key role to play in shaping it.

“You have a chance to get your hands around it…a chance to bend history a little bit, that’s the moment you are graduating into,” he said. “You have the most incredible, incredible opportunity.”

{mosads}He recounted the number of challenges facing the world, ranging from terrorism, climate change to global inequality. But he also said graduates have more tools available to them than ever to fight those challenges, noting the rapid technological growth underway today.

Biden struck a particularly optimistic note about America, saying that anyone who argues the country’s best days are behind it are mistaken.

“Whenever the American people have been given a chance, they have never, ever, ever let their country down,” he said.

Biden, who graduated from the school in 1965, also joked about his time playing football there, recalling a unique skill he displayed in practice.

He recalled his coach telling him, “Biden, you run faster backwards than anyone I’ve ever seen.

“A lot of my political opposition thinks that as well,” he cracked.