Canisius College May 20, 2017 Commencement Address: Nelson D.Civello 67 The Best is yet to come Thank you to President Hurley and the Board of Trustees for this wonderful honor. Thank you to the faculty for making my 7 years on their team amongst the most satisfying of my career. I am profoundly moved by this recognition; it certainly represents the CAPSTONE of my long 16-year relationship with this wonderful community, which is otherwise known as Canisius College. But today is about you: The Class of 2017!! And it is a privilege to address you: So, let s get started. The first thing I want to say is: Out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum; Then, The Class of 2017 came along and everything s starting to hum; still, it is a very good bet, the best is yet to come!! These cool lyrics are by the great musical poet from my generation: Tony Bennett (old timer spotted doing duets with Lady Gaga) Why do I think the BEST IS YET TO COME? I have three main reasons: But first, why do I feel qualified to make this prediction. You are not getting today someone from Time s list of the 100 most influential people; but I am someone who sat where you sit 50 years ago. As did my 30 classmates in front of me. I am one of you! And I am someone, like some of you who became a late bloomer: I was neither Summa nor Magna nor Cum Laude and in fact, had to transfer from Niagara after my freshmen year because I wasn t accepted as an incoming freshman. 1
Can you even imagine what you will be doing 50 years from now? Or who amongst you will be standing here? Honestly, I wish I could remember what my commencement speaker had to say 50 years ago. So I only ask that I may have your attention for a real and a fast 10 minutes. This is a tale of two generations: the Class of 1967 has faced and helped to reform the world as Jesuit trained soldiers, and we are now bringing that world to you. We are a bit tired now and need to hand the baton off to you. We will recede and become your counselors as you will become the doers. Now, if today is about you, why am I so very Optimistic about you: Optimistic for you, your parents, your stepparents and grandparents and siblings and friends. For all of us at Canisius and for our city, state, country, our church and our world. That is what my message is today. Plain and simple: The Best is yet to Come. You came to this campus four years ago with a mission to go set the world ablaze! Some of you have, some of you have not yet. But all of you will! I am excited because of what you, the Class of '17 represents. Very special people and fresh reinforcements. Newly minted and Jesuit trained men and women with and for others. The world!! needs you. Does the world seem messed up to you today? Indeed! It certainly seemed messed up to us 50 years ago also. If you go to the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C. you will see the names of the 58,307 fallen members of our generation. Quite a sacrifice! And at the same time there were race riots in the very streets surrounding this campus in 1968. We faced war, poverty, famine, racism, corruption, human degradation, and all manner of weapons of mass destruction. And yes, also student loans! In short, Evil. 2
We did our best. We fixed some things in part, e.g. the USA is still the world s leading economy, our generation pushed for the civil rights act, the voting rights act (some of us marched in Selma, Alabama in 1964), we made a big push for equality for women, cleaner air, cleaner water and until 9/11 a relative peace. But new problems have come along to rival those intractable old ones. Today you are more talented, more diverse and you have better tools than we did and you will succeed and will do even better than we did. Now to my Three Reasons: 1) Technology It is clearly true that you are digital natives and your digital experience is primarily mobile. I was nearly 40 by the time I bought my first Apple Mac. The day you were born there were personal computers in your house if not in your nursery at home. You never lived a day without the Internet. You are connected and get information at warped speed compared to our generation. We will demonstrate this point a little later. We live in a high tech world at every level but social media truly grabs your attention: Facetime, Skype, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, UTube, Pinterest, and others. Always in touch: texts, emails, photos and video, which is now everywhere! Everyone can be a filmmaker. Five of the most valuable companies in the world are Apple, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon and Google so the money is bet on technology. In the health care field: we are seeing the digitization of medical records, which I think in the long run, will lead to improving longevity of human life. The discovery of the human genome, the coding instructions for life. There is robotic surgery and computerized prosthetics. Recently, a friend had a heart procedure in the hospital and while he was in recovery his surgeon came in and asked for his cell number so he could send the pictures of his inner heart and arteries from iphone to iphone. 3
When I started my career in banking and investment banking, stocks, bonds, and money (currency and checks) were pieces of paper. Today all financial wealth is digitized in bytes and bites, and money and capital flows around the globe by the billions of dollars in seconds with just the click of a mouse. When I returned to teach at Canisius I wanted to be sure that this technology from Wall Street was available to our students so we acquired the first very expensive Bloomberg computer on any campus in Upstate NY. And how about the fact that there are now 12 Bloomberg computers on campus, the very machine used by financial professionals worldwide. And the depth of it s research and analytics is so pervasive that we also have two in the library for general use of all students and faculty. But this trend also means that your attention span is a lot shorter, so let me move on. 2) Diversity of demography and thought: Diversity is now a defining trait in your America, much more so than in the Class of 1967. You are a more pluralist generation and you have a stronger conviction in diverse races and religions, and believe more strongly that people can co-exist in society. You are the most ethnically diverse generation in American history. And listen to these numbers: your generation will comprise 47% of all ethnic minorities in the U.S. In 1976 the American campus was broken down as 52% male, 48% female and only 18% minority. In 2008 it was 43%, 57% and 37%. And that trend continues right along with demographic patterns in American society. Still about 50% are first generation college students and that has not changed in all of these years. As Nelson Mandela, the great President of South Africa said: education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. As you, so-called Gen Zers or igens enter young adulthood, you will face the same challenges that everyone faces in that space of life transitioning from school to work, separating from parents, forming your own identities, and developing relationships with others. 4
However, like any generation, you have distinct factors that shape your aspirations and how you will attempt to achieve them. For example: you are passionate, independent and want impact, open minded, balanced, mature, somewhat naïve and somewhat prone to instant gratification. But your class is more representative of today s America and this fact should help to bring a greater sense of unity, tolerance, and understanding as you go out and lead in this society. 3) The constancy yet modernization of Jesuit Education: Cura Personalis, Magis, Women and Men with and for others, Service to the less fortunate. Sound familiar? Cura personalis translates. It is not just a phrase from the Ignaitian Spiritual Exercises. Where Leaders are made! Not just a slogan! These are not just words I can tell you because I lived these values for 50 years! Just consider the work that this campus does in service learning, e.g., the Burrito Project, the Westside Bazaar, the Harvest House for refugees in Buffalo, plus the international service commitments made by our students in less fortunate countries, e.g. El Salvador, Nicaragua and orphanages in Poland. JESUIT EDUCATION HAS ALSO STAYED RELEVANT IN MODERN TIMES AND YOUR CHOICES WERE DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT THAN OURS WERE. TODAY CANISIUS OFFERS SO MUCH DIVERSITY:. BACHELOR S DEGREE PROGRAMS = 66 MASTER S DEGREE PROGRAMS = 47 POST-MASTER S DEGREE PROGRAMS = 11 AND YET THIS IS NOT JUST ANY JESUIT EDUCATION, IT IS A CANISIUS EDUCATION. ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION: DID YOU WANT TO BE EDUCATED OR WELL EDUCATED: REST ASSURED YOU ARE WELL EDUCATED. As William Barclay, the Scottish theologian said There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why. For me, the Canisius experience started to address the second day. Perhaps the greatest principle that I took away from Canisius was the drive to seek out my authentic self. As an Economics major and a philosophy minor, I had a big dilemma: do I go into social work or banking.? 5
Although I choose banking for various reasons, I continued my efforts to push my organizations to social consciousness in the greater society. I did not know when I left here that I would become a leader in large organizations and my industry, but as I analyze why it turned out that way, I can say with certainty that it was my liberal arts, humanities background, critical thinking skills, humility, and my moral and ethical compass rather than just my technical skills that carried me. Do what is right first, and profitable next. My knowledge of the human condition lead to what today would be called people skills. Remember that it will not just be your IQ that will get you through the real world of life; it also takes EQ, or emotional intelligence, which guides you through the interrelationships with the myriad of people you will encounter, in terms of empathy, insightfulness and listening skills. And this search for my authentic self is what drove my need to perform service in the form of a second career in teaching and in my philanthropy. Today, you are joining a community of more than 45,000 living Alums, the vast majority of which really care about Alma Mater. I can confidently say that because I have spent 16 years of my adult life on and around this campus, I know that any Canisius graduate is not only a Golden Griffin, but also a Golden SWAN. What is a SWAN? That is a person who is smart, works hard, is ambitious and is also nice! I have never met a Canisius graduate that I could not say that about. But yet, to whom much is given, much is expected. You are privileged and blessed today to have earned your way into the Canisius College family. Now let s demonstrate technology: Take out your phones, take a selfie, and upload it to Instagram using the hashtag #Nelsongriffgrad. Let me know who you are. Feel free to post a picture with the person next to you if they don t have a phone and tell me who they are. You ll be able to see each other and I will be able to see you by searching for Nelsongriffgrad in the app. For these three reasons: Amazing technology, a highly diverse student body and a modernized Canisius Jesuit education, the Best is yet to come for the Class of 2017. Go forth and make the world a better place! Congratulations!! Go Griffs!!! 6