Went to Notre Dame’s commencement this weekend. (The Kid Down the Hall added an MBA.)
There were a lot of impressive features, not the least of which was seeing more people in the stands than at an IU football game, but that’s a discussion for another time.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better speech than that made by Jerome Bettis. After leaving for the NFL in 93, he promised his mother he’d get his degree. After a HOF career, even if it was with those hated and evil Steelers, and further success in life, Bettis came back and finished his Bachelors at the Mendoza School of Business. His speech was dynamic and moving. It hit the heart hard. And you could tell he was loving it. He practically floated out of the stadium as they left the stage.
The main speaker, Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic Church/University, is probably someone unknown to just about everybody. In a stadium filled with tens of thousands, you could have heard a pin drop during his moving and emotional talk about the courage and honor of his fellow countrymen. (He did crack up the crowd by pulling out a football and fulfilling one of his childhood dreams of throwing a pass in The House That Rockne Built. It was caught by a graduating coed in the first row.) I believe Gudziak is the effective Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Philadelphia.
if you have a chance and you can find it I recommend watching these two speeches. I’m not one for big commencement ceremonies. But this one packed a punch. Bettis was great. Gudziak was powerful.
Go Irish! (That’s for Sope. He chides me for my reversible IU/ND jacket.)
There were a lot of impressive features, not the least of which was seeing more people in the stands than at an IU football game, but that’s a discussion for another time.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better speech than that made by Jerome Bettis. After leaving for the NFL in 93, he promised his mother he’d get his degree. After a HOF career, even if it was with those hated and evil Steelers, and further success in life, Bettis came back and finished his Bachelors at the Mendoza School of Business. His speech was dynamic and moving. It hit the heart hard. And you could tell he was loving it. He practically floated out of the stadium as they left the stage.
The main speaker, Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic Church/University, is probably someone unknown to just about everybody. In a stadium filled with tens of thousands, you could have heard a pin drop during his moving and emotional talk about the courage and honor of his fellow countrymen. (He did crack up the crowd by pulling out a football and fulfilling one of his childhood dreams of throwing a pass in The House That Rockne Built. It was caught by a graduating coed in the first row.) I believe Gudziak is the effective Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Philadelphia.
if you have a chance and you can find it I recommend watching these two speeches. I’m not one for big commencement ceremonies. But this one packed a punch. Bettis was great. Gudziak was powerful.
Go Irish! (That’s for Sope. He chides me for my reversible IU/ND jacket.)
