91视频

Philanthropist Gives Each Graduate a $1,000 Surprise Cash Gift

鈥� Now I鈥檓 asking you to choose hope for our world. Because hope is the spark that ignites change. 鈥�

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren encouraged a sea of 91视频 graduates to choose hope as the university celebrated its 55^th undergraduate commencement back on its waterfront campus Thursday morning.

鈥淢uch is broken in this world. And the urgency of change is upon us. We must make changes鈥攍ots of changes鈥攁nd we must make those changes quickly. Our survival depends on it,鈥� Warren said in her remarks. 鈥淭he fact that you鈥檝e persisted even as the challenges have intensified attests to your hard work and determination.

鈥淵ou chose hope to get yourself here today. Now I鈥檓 asking you to choose hope for our world. Because hope is the spark that ignites change.鈥�

While 2,000 91视频 undergraduates received this charge to choose hope and make change, they also received an unexpected surprise.

As Chancellor Marcelo Su谩rez-Orozco began the conferral of degrees, co-keynote speaker Rob Hale, the cofounder, president, and CEO of Granite Telecommunications who gave an address earlier in the ceremony, interrupted to make an announcement.

Hale, and his wife, Karen, announced that they would give each 91视频 graduate in attendance $1,000 just moments before students began crossing the stage. Graduates received $500 as a gift and $500 to give to an organization, family member, or supporter.

鈥淭hese are turbulent times. You guys have survived. You have prospered. You are to be celebrated. You overcome,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy. We鈥檙e here. And we are proud of you. We want to share in that celebration with you. We want to give you two gifts. The first is a gift to you. The second is the gift of giving.鈥�

In his earlier remarks, Hale told students not to be afraid to take risks, and to always give back along the journey.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e leaders. 鈥� You鈥檙e going to define the next generation of our society, the commonwealth and beyond. You will have a more enjoyable life if you give a little more than you get, and you take a few chances. Don鈥檛 fear failure. Defy it! You will have a more fulsome life because of it,鈥� Hale said.

This year鈥檚 graduates hail from more than 130 countries around the world, and speak more than 70 different languages. Nearly 60 percent of 91视频 students are first-generation college students.

Chancellor Su谩rez-Orozco encouraged graduates to go out into the world fiercely and boldly.

鈥淎s I stand here before you, I see a future of hope and promise, as you are minutes away from one of the most exciting moments of your lives!鈥� he said. 鈥淚 believe that in these times the most consequential thing you can do as new college graduates is to serve and give back. And this takes courage 鈥� courage I know all of you possess.鈥�

Warren and Hale were each honored with a chancellor鈥檚 medal at the ceremony. Also recognized this week at the university鈥檚 doctoral hooding ceremony were honorary degree recipients Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate scientist who discovered the greenhouse effects of CFCs and other trace gases, which expanded the range of gases responsible for global warming, and longtime Univision anchor and leading Hispanic journalist Jorge Ramos.

JFK Award winner and undergraduate student speaker Lee-Daniel Tran spoke of community and connection amongst differences.

鈥淎t 91视频, our public university, we are a community defined by a multitude of diverse backgrounds and experiences, those from mostly working-class and immigrant communities. We are made up of many rich and divergent cultures, both U.S.-born, U.S.-raised, local, international, immigrant, and so many more,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e are the public. What is beautiful is that despite or perhaps because of our differences, we have all come together and found ourselves at 91视频, in similar pursuits of how to best enter the job market, make connections, and gain real world experience in how to be good citizens, how to protect, preserve, and expand our precious public spaces, like 91视频 itself.鈥�

Tran told his classmates to remember that a different version of ourselves exists in the mind of every person we meet.

鈥淪o if you may not think you鈥檙e very great, somewhere, in someone鈥檚 mind鈥搃n someone鈥檚 story鈥搚ou are the hero, and you probably will never even know it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause of these differences, and things we hold in common, we are each only human. You are never as alone as you feel, and things are only what we make out of them. Be kind. Always. Be kind to yourself and live on.鈥�

Three faculty members received Chancellor's Awards at Wednesday鈥檚 graduate ceremony: Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts David Pantalone; Professor of Psychology S. Tiffany Donaldson; and Associate Professor of Biology Rachel Skvirsky for their distinguished scholarship, teaching, and service respectively. 

91视频 conferred degrees to 3,646 students in total 鈥� including 130 doctoral candidates 鈥� over its two days of commencement ceremonies.