Steve Steinberg
Under grey skies with light rain Endicott College graduates shined at the school’s 84th Annual Commencement. Each year I volunteer for the event. It is always the perfect culmination to an immensely gratifying academic year.
This year’s ceremony capped off a litany of high achievement on and off campus including: the Share Your Story theme, Guest Speakers Series, Gull Gatherings, Spark Tank entrepreneurship competition, championship athletics, mentoring, internships, study abroad, field trips, and coursework.
Endicott President Steven R. DiSalvo congratulated the students on their stellar accomplishments and contributions to our tightly knit community. The Class of 2024’s journey began during COVID. In his inspiring commencement address to the approximately 1,000 students, President DiSalvo said: “You never enjoyed a full and proper high school graduation. So, we have a great deal to celebrate together.
“Early on you displayed a resilience and flexibility that would become a hallmark of your class. You made the extra effort to look out for each other,” he said.
President DiSalvo challenged the students to “resist complacency, seek opportunities for growth and never stop imagining new possibilities.”
Former New Jersey Governor and presidential candidate Chris Christie set the tone for his keynote address starting that his speech would be nonpolitical. He took the advice of his daughter who told him that if he spoke about politics all of the graduates would be bored to tears. “She also said it’s pretty good of them to invite you since you lost. Very nice of her as well.
“I’ve won elections and I’ve lost them, and I’m here to tell you that winning is definitely better than losing. But I’m also here today to tell you that there is both winning and losing within each of us. I’m a flawed human being. This is not news to the people of New Jersey. But the truth is, we’re all flawed. We will have times where you win, and we will have times when we lose in life,” he said.
Christie told the students that, now more than ever, it’s important to listen and forgive. He described these as “traits of character and strength.”
He also spoke of what he called “the declining presence of human connection.”
“Our friendships are diminishing because we spend more time texting each other than we do talking to each other,” he said. “More time posting online than looking at each other in the eye. The illusion of social media is making us lonely.” He added that life can’t be fully lived on one’s iPhone.
“Sometimes it’s the unexpected encounters and the uncomfortable interactions that create the most lasting impressions on our lives,” he said.
He said: “I can’t provide any easy answers, but I urge you to challenge yourselves to find the answer that works for you to achieve.”
Graduates on the Gulls’ No. 1 nationally ranked baseball team were unable to attend commencement proceedings due to games in the NCAA regional tournament. They went on to capture their third consecutive title, and will compete in the Super Regional on Friday.
For me, the best part about working commencement is meeting the families, praising the students for their stellar accomplishments, and seizing the opportunity to share some parting advice — like make connections everywhere; rinse and repeat to engrain; and there’s no monopoly on great ideas.
I like to quote from the great and near-great philosophers too. It was Diogenes who said: “One original thought is worth a thousand quotings.” Woody Allen’s classic line was simply: “Half of life is just showing up.”
And I try to sprinkle in a dose of optimism in these uncertain times. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare said: “The best is yet to come.”
To all graduates I say: “Job well done.”
Steve Steinberg lives in Danvers and is an adjunct professor in Endicott College’s Gerrish School of Business Graduate Program.