AMHERST, Mass. (WKRC) - Each graduate at this college received a gift of $1,000 from their commencement speaker. But he asked them to do something with the money.
Robert Hale Jr. was the commencement speaker at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's 2024 ceremony. He gifted the roughly 1,200 new graduates some extra cash.
Hale is the founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications.
Before giving out the money, he encouraged the graduates to not let failure define them by sharing a personal story where he lost nearly $1 billion overnight.
He then went on to share the greatest joy he and his wife have had in life.
"The greatest joys we've had in our life have been the gift of giving," said Hale.
Hale told each graduate that they would receive two envelopes with $500 in them. One is a gift for them and the other is for them to give to someone in need or a charity.
"We want to give you two gifts," said Hale. "The first is our gift to you, the second is the gift of giving."
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