The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Class of 2018 urged to seek change, reckon with failure
WALLINGFORD — Members of the University of New Haven Class of 2018 marked an ending and a beginning Saturday, as they gathered at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford to celebrate commencement.
Nicholas J. Mroczka, vice-president of the undergraduate student government association, and Chris Speicher, vice-president of operations with the graduate student council, spoke during the ceremony, sharing thoughts on the occasion with their peers.
Mroczka said his education had helped him embrace diversity and work toward social change and cited an Oprah Winfrey quote about stepping out of history and writing one’s own story.
“My four years have led me to want to be a teacher, and, because of my amazing experiences, I feel compelled to give back to society. I am stepping out of my college history and I am driven to write a new story that involves healing our fragile planet,” said Mroczka. “It is your turn to take your experiences and strive to be an agent of change that embraces and promotes intersectionality while making this world better for generations to come.”
Speicher mulled the value of embracing and reckoning with failure — of avoiding excuses and being accountable.
“It’s my belief that true success in life comes from accomplishing the things that we are most afraid to fail. Success is overcoming the obstacles that simultaneously energize us and terrify us to our core,” said Speicher. “I would encourage all of you, not just the graduates, to be a student in your own life. Recognize your failure. Recognize how your failures either set you up or impede you from accomplishing the things in life you’re most apt to do, and recognize how your failures affect the lives of those around you. In this way, I hope I will continue to forever be a student as well.”
Frances Padilla, president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, served as the keynote speaker for the morning’s ceremony. She offered the young people a few words of advice as she wrapped up her remarks, urging them to address our turbulent world with serenity, courage and wisdom.
“Finding serenity means you have to slow down to speed up. Sometimes it’s better to step back, be still, look to the lessons of the past before forging ahead. And then sometimes you have to go forward with conviction,” said Padilla. “And that’s where courage comes in. Take chances . ... The world of work and community need your intelligence, talent and grit.”
Padilla and Baron Carlo Amato received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees during the morning ceremony, with Paul Heth and Patricia Melton, president of New Haven Promise, scheduled to follow in the afternoon.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also spoke during the proceedings, urging the young people to keep a pact handed down over time that he considers in jeopardy — to better the country for the next generation. He said he sensed a shift in the country, as young people take over political will from their predecessors, citing recent activism around gun violence, and wished the students well.
“I know, as a recipient of an honorary degree from the University of New Haven, that my life has improved since that degree. I hope yours does too — I know it will for almost all of you. Have a great day, and a great future,” said Blumenthal.
Martin J. O’Connor, an associate professor and university chaplain, offered an invocation, leading off the proceedings with the hope of blessings to come.
“We ask your blessing upon all who have come to celebrate the achievements and promise of today’s graduates. We give you thanks for all that our graduates have accomplished — for the good things that they have done, and the good things they will do,” said O’Connor. “May you keep alive in each one of us the zeal to always seek the truth, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with you, our God, now and forever.”
After the speeches had ended for the morning, erstwhile students graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Tagliatela College of Engineering were called forward to receive their diplomas.
Each came to the front of the room with a group of their classmates, then stepped individually into the spotlight as they marked their achievement.
Whoops and cheers of joy and acknowledgement came intermittently from the audience, as attendees saw a loved one grace the stage.
As the ceremony concluded, the newly minted graduates turned their tassels from right to left, symbolizing the moment in time.
After a brief celebration, they filed outside to “Pomp and Circumstance,” stepping out of the auditorium into a crowd of family members and peers.
A second graduation ceremony, featuring students from the College of Business and the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the university.
A preceding ceremony was scheduled to be held at the university’s Lyme Academy College on Friday. According to the college, students would receive 32 associate’s degrees, 1,018 bachelor’s degrees, 492 master’s degrees, and four Ph. D degrees over the three commencement events.
“Finding serenity means you have to slow down to speed up. Sometimes it’s better to step back, be still, look to the lessons of the past before forging ahead. “
Frances Padilla, president of Universal Health Care Foundation of Conn. and keynote speaker