In his address to the campus at noon today, Robert Iger ’73, president and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, praised his Ithaca College education for giving him “curiosity, confidence and an open mind.” He also gave students advice on how to find success in a competitive business world.

“When you look to hire someone you look for brains, energy and integrity,” Iger said. “If you don’t have integrity, you’ve got to watch out because the first two will kill you.”

Iger’s speech, which started at around 12:30 p.m., kicked off the day of events that officially marked the start of the college’s Capital Campaign, the largest fundraising effort in the institution’s history. The college hopes to raise $115 million in its six-year campaign, which began in June 2001 and is slated to end in December 2007.

In a speech that lasted about 12 minutes, Iger called his years at the college formative and said his television-radio education and classes with Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone” and a former professor at the college, allowed him to appreciate the importance of creative freedom and independence.

“Ithaca allowed me to tailor my studies in support of individual interest,” Iger said. “Mine at that time was becoming the next Walter Cronkite.”

Before his speech, clips were shown from Iger’s days broadcasting with the Ithaca College television station. Smiling, Iger said if he ever got his hands on the tape, he would burn it. Iger said he looked back fondly on his time spent as a weatherman at a local Ithaca television station.

“Being a weatherman in Ithaca taught me one thing: How to give people bad news,” he said.

In a question-and-answer session after the speech, junior Sara Sorentino said Iger and Disney practiced corporate imperialism and cultural misrepresentation. She also questioned Iger’s donation to the campaign, accusing him of donating corporate money that would be used to build “big, marble buildings.”

Iger responded to her accusations by stating that the money was his personal donation, but said where the money goes is up to the college.

“The money will be put to good use.” he said. “I wouldn’t donate it if I didn’t think it would be put to good use.”

In response to the accusations of cultural misrepresentation, Iger said Disney is a global company.

“Everything we do is reflecting in the world we live in today,” he said. “We don’t claim to be perfect, but we can stand firmly behind the product.”

Junior Dewey Fleszar asked Iger a question about Disney’s interest in creating original musicals during the question and answer session.

“My only regret is not asking, ‘How do you hire your composers?’” he said. “The speech] was really good. He brought things back to Ithaca College a lot and how Ithaca actually helped him.”

Dianne Lynch, dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, said she appreciated that Iger made reference to his days at Ithaca College.

“It’s hard to come back to your alma mater and say things that make a difference and that matter,” Lynch said. “He did an amazing job of connecting and making sure that we recognize that he remembers his roots and that he became who he is while he was here.”