Remarks and Speeches
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Remarks at the Stockbridge School Commencement 2011
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May 13, 2011
Good afternoon graduates, families, friends, and faculty. At UMass Amherst, we pride ourselves on building small communities within a large university offering a wide array of learning opportunities and life experiences. No part of UMass Amherst embodies that community philosophy better than our Stockbridge School. Stockbridge is renowned for its extraordinary sense of camaraderie. I think it goes deeper than your common love of the outdoors and your abiding interest in agriculture-related careers. Your kinship grew in the French Hall greenhouses, on the turf greens of South Deerfield, in the Hadley barns, and on campus as you built a bioswale and climbed towering trees.
The practical Stockbridge spirit has its origins in the year 1863, when the university was founded as a land-grant college. The two-year school later named for Levi Stockbridge was established by an act of the Massachusetts legislature, and the first class enrolled in 1918.
You’ll notice I haven’t used the word “brotherhood,” when speaking of the Stockbridge community, because female students have been a vital part of the school from almost the beginning. One woman was acting president of the class of 1921, the first class to complete a full two-year course at Stockbridge. In that class, another woman was noted for her encyclopedic knowledge of crops on the campus farm; another stood out for her incredible hiking stamina; and one woman student was known for bringing her big police dog with her everywhere.
In the early days of Stockbridge, there began a tradition of enduring connections among all its graduates. They kept in touch by letter and visited one another at their farms, dairies, and greenhouses throughout the Northeast. Today Stockbridge alumni stay in contact, golf together, form business partnerships, give back to their alma mater, and remain friends for life. Alumni have generously endowed a Stockbridge professorship and the school director’s position. We are especially grateful that alumni help ensure that even in difficult economic times, new Stockbridge grads find jobs in their fields of study. I understand that at present in some majors there are actually more jobs than students and that most, if not all, of you who are searching have already secured employment. Congratulations.
Stockbridge graduates also share a pioneering spirit. You have always looked for more efficient, more economical, more sustainable ways to do things and have never been afraid to try something new. This fearless outlook paired with our agricultural heritage has helped put UMass Amherst on the forefront of the green movement. We are one of the leading research universities in green energy technology and environmentally friendly policies and initiatives. We are on the cutting edge of sustainability in research and practice.
We share this commitment to environmental sustainability with our allies in state government. Our partnership with the Commonwealth is another essential part of our heritage. We are pleased to have as our guest today one of the strongest of those allies, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Scott Soares. Like Commissioner Soares, we believe we can achieve environmental sustainability through prudent stewardship of natural resources. As you go forward, I trust that you will follow his example and become dedicated advocates for agricultural interests in the Commonwealth.
You're already gaining kudos for your knowledge. This year, once again, Stockbridge students have stood out at the Student Career Days national competitions sponsored by the Professional Landcare Network, placing in the top five in a number of events. In the Collegiate Turfbowl, Stockbridge students and graduates enrolled at UMass Amherst were among the top three teams in the nation this year and last. Stockbridge students and grads also continued a tradition of excelling in equine events and in regional and national arboriculture competitions.
You’re a class of high achievers and that’s why I am reluctant to give advice on occasions like these – you don’t need it. However, I think we can all benefit from the wisdom of one of Stockbridge’s most esteemed educators. Professor Victor Rice came to Stockbridge in 1919 and was an outstanding teacher and administrator and in great demand as a speaker, too. In 1955, after 36 years on campus, including a stint as Dean of Agriculture and head of animal husbandry, he wrote a farewell address to the Stockbridge School. In his letter he summarized the insight he had gained through a lifetime of teaching and research.
After all those years, his advice to students and alumni was as follows:
- Work hard
- Don’t take yourself too seriously
- Keep a positive attitude, and
- Always be “a decent Joe.”
Good, simple advice. We could do worse than to listen to Professor Rice.
We have been fortunate to have had each one of you, decent Joes – and Josephines – all, at Stockbridge, and I know I speak on behalf of our entire campus community in praise of your accomplishment. We are pleased that once again, nearly half of the students graduating today have chosen to stay on at UMass Amherst to earn a bachelor’s degree. I know you will have great success with your continuing education. Those of you planning on starting your careers right away are sure to find fulfillment doing what you love.
Congratulations to the Stockbridge School Class of 2011! I wish you all the best.
