Every UMass Dartmouth Graduate Got $1,000 From Graduation Speaker

As an alumni of the University of Massachusetts, I can say that I'm a little jealous that this didn't happen at our graduation ceremony. But it is pretty awesome stuff for the class of 2024, and we love to see it!

Robert Hale Jr. is the CEO of Granite Telecommunications in Quincy, Massachusetts, and he is worth a pretty penny ($5 billion, to be precise). He spoke at the commencement ceremony at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth last Thursday.

He mentioned in his speech how he and his wife feel like the greatest joy in their life is their ability to give to others. That was the perfect segue into revealing that he would be gifting each graduate $1,000 in cash. All 1,200 of them!

Every graduate who crossed the stage received a $500 envelope to keep, and another $500 envelope to give to someone in need or to a charity of their choice. How amazing is that?

His words really stuck with the graduates, not just because he gave them money, but because he was honest about his own career challenges. He opened up about the time he lost a billion dollars in one night. OUCH!

He used his experience to inspire resilience among the graduates. He urged them to persevere and to not let failure define them. 40% of the graduates were first generation graduates, so it was a pretty monumental day for everyone involved!

Congratulations to the class of 2024. To quote Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, "WE DID IT!"