"I believe God put me in the accident for a reason, and that reason may have been to be a teacher," he said. "I believe God's way is the best way. If it means getting in the accident again, I would."

Before Christopher Reeve even started to address graduates at Ohio State University's spring commencement yesterday, students stood and applauded him. The actor/activist told students to continue to stand up - for truth and honesty-after graduation day. Scandals in the Roman Catholic church, corporate America and The New York Times, as well as lingering doubts about the war in Iraq and baseball hero Sammy Sosa's corked bat all show that graduates today must be armed with ethics as well as an education to succeed, Reeve said. "The challenge before you will be to maintain your integrity in a culture that has devalued it," he said.

"You will have to bring your own persona and professional ethics with you on the journey when you leave here today, because you may not have anyone there to guide you."

Reeve, who was paralyzed when he fell from a horse in 1995, also told the 6,775 graduating students to have compassion, be champions in all areas of life and make a difference.

He was involved in public service and valued his friends and family before he was injured, Reeve said. But the accident deepened his compassion and activism, he said.

"You don't need to break your neck to learn the value of living consciously," Reeve said.

The address also had lighter moments, such as his statement that he's enjoyed watching OSU football on television for years - a comment that drew cheers. His comments on valuing family hit home with Emerald Hernandez, 22, who received a bachelor's degree in communications yesterday.

"I cried when I talked to my mother this morning," said Hernandez, the first member of her family to graduate from college.

"It's a good day for us today. It's very humbling."

Hernandez, of Leipsic, now plans to pursue a master's degree in communications.

Matt Schroeder knows what it's like to suffer a serious spinal injury like Reeve's. After he was in a car accident six years ago, doctors told Schroeder that he would probably never walk again. But yesterday, the Columbus Grove native walked out of Ohio Stadium, a bachelor's degree in education in his hand.

Schroeder, now 24 and living in Lima, was in a coma for 21 days. He spent two months in OSU's Dodd Hall, one of the nation's top 10 rehabilitation facilities for spinal-cord injuries, brain injuries and strokes.

Reeve, chairman of the board of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and vice chairman of the National Organization on Disability, paid a visit to patients at Dodd Hall.

Schroeder said his accident, like Reeve's, prompted him to re-evaluate his goals. He changed his career path from mechanical engineering to wanting to teach math to middle-school students because of the positive impact his teachers had on him.

Graduation day was another step closer to realizing his goals of overcoming tragedy and instilling the will to triumph in students, he said.