Quinnipiac Graduates Encouraged to Give Selflessly

For Elaine Reid, the tears started early on her oldest child’s graduation day.

“She did all this by herself,” said Reid after she broke from a hug with her daughter, Bernadette, so that the graduate-to-be could proceed to her seat beside her classmates. “She took out all her own loans and worked two jobs.”

Bernadette, who’s from Oceanport, N.J., has 14 cousins in the U.S. and 30 more over in Ireland, where her mother was born. The occupational therapy major was born in America and is the first out of her 14 stateside cousins to graduate college.

“I’m very proud of her,” said Elaine, sniffling back tears as she made her way to her seat to observe Quinnipiac University’s 2011 Undergraduate Commencement.

Quinnipiac University President John Lahey began the ceremony by asking students to acknowledge the help they have received from their teachers and family by giving them a round of standing applause. The students acquiesced.

“I have every reason to be optimistic all of you will be successful,” said Lahey. “You will lead the world and leave it in great shape for future generations.”

With that, Lahey ended his speech and the featured commencement speaker, Mitch Albom, took the podium and addressed the class of 2011, which was 1,333 graduates strong.

“When you walk out of here today it will be up to you where you want to belong,” said Albom, an internationally renowned author best known for a memoir titled, Tuesdays with Morrie.

On a day when most graduates are giddy about starting a new life, Albom shared with students a cautionary tale about breaking promises and morality.

One of Albom’s former college professors, Morrie Schwartz, asked the grad-to-be a favor on his graduation day: “Mitch, you are one of the good ones,” Schwartz told Albom. “Promise me you’ll stay in touch.”

Albom said he would but for 10 years he broke that promise. Albom said he was simply busy and ambitious and got caught up with his life. Then, one night as the writer was surfing TV channels, a “sickly, white-haired version” of his former professor jumped on the screen. Schwartz was dying of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Guilt-stricken, Albom went to visit his former teacher. He quickly became impressed – amazed, even – at the dying man’s vivacity and tenderness. The old friendship was quickly rekindled. Then, on a Tuesday, he asked Schwartz why he does not envy the youth – his youth – and why is it that most times when visitors come to cheer him up, the old man ends up cheering the guests.

“Giving makes me feel like I’m living,” Albom remembers Schwartz telling him.

Albom said that profound line has stuck with him ever since.

“Share yourself with others, touch others, give yourself to others,” he told students. Even after Schwartz passed on, he never really left Albom because of the character he was while living. “Share yourself with other people and you’ll never truly be gone.”

Albom advised students not to spend all day self-involved and said that the idea of perfectness in our society – the ideal body type, for example – should not be a target to shoot for.

“Imperfection can be a blessing in disguise,” Derek Stanley told his classmates in the response of the class of 2011 after the degrees were handed out. He called imperfection “the force that allows our society to progress” and told fellow graduates to pursue original thought even if failure threatens the outcome.

“Your idea may be the next idea,” he said. 

Click here to watch a web cast of the ceremony.

Quinnipiac University grads hailing from Ellington:

MaryKate E. Connolly, Bachelor of Arts in Social Services 

Daniel F. Hodgdon, Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Quinnipiac University grads hailing from Somers:

Evan Richard Belisle, Bachelor of Arts in History