Remarks as prepared for delivery on May 9, 2015

Thank you Bob, my friend and cherished professor. I know you remember all those years ago, sitting for many hours and listening to me pontificate, and always allowing me to pretend that I actually had something to say. And now these many years later, I'm back to pontificate some more! Truly, it means so much to me to receive this honorary doctorate from you. I will never forget your wise counsel and all you did to make my years here so rich and exciting. I am ever grateful.

Good morning ladies and gentleman. Thank you, President Porterfield. Welcome members of the Board of Trustees, distinguished guests, proud parents and families, and most importantly, fellow graduates.

I am very excited to share this special day with all of you. When President Porterfield was kind enough to invite me here today on your behalf, I knew immediately what I wanted to share with you.

Stop stealing your parents' HBO GO — it's time to pay. The gravy train ends today. And that's really all I have to say this morning.

The truth is, I remember sitting in these classrooms behind us very vividly. I remember the magic of studying American History with Professor Miller, the joy and thrill of getting acquainted with Shakespeare with Professor Wickstrom. And of course, the magnificence of my government professors, all of whom I remember with love; Karlesky, Michalak, Gray, Wise, Freidrich. They all had a profound impact on me. Quite simply, they helped teach me to think, explore the great minds and demand excellence from myself in everything I did. I still think of them often.

One of my beloved high school teachers, Jack Chatfield who sadly passed away last year, first introduced me to e.e. Cummings who wrote one of my favorite lines of poetry that I have never forgotten:

"Humanity, I love you, because you are perpetually putting the secret of life in your pants, forgetting it is there, and sitting down on it."

Today, I want to discuss the "secrets" that I have uncovered in the 34 years since I left the chairs that you are sitting on this morning. But before I do that, let me give you just a little taste of my journey that helped me to frame and understand the world you inhabit and will now inherit. I hope in doing so, it will help you see that while the road ahead, to quote from Game of Thrones, "is sometimes dark, and full of terrors" it is hardly insurmountable.

While roaming around these very grounds all those years ago, I decided that what I really wanted to do was immerse myself in politics and do everything in my power to secure a job, however lowly, in the nation's capital. I got in my little Honda, and on a snowy night in March from right over there (points), drove to Washington to use all my energy and powers of persuasion to try and talk my way on to the staff of a young United States Senator from my home state of Connecticut, Christopher Dodd. I was relentless, and I think I drove his young staff so crazy with my enthusiasm, that I left them no choice, but to say yes. I was wide-eyed, idealistic and naïve. How naïve? Let me tell you just how naïve. The Israelis had just bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak. My first day was the next morning. I stayed up all night thinking that the senator would want to hear my views on the crisis. So I framed some, and I sat outside his office the entire day waiting for someone to acknowledge me. No one did. In fact people walked past me all day, seeming to ask, "Who is this?" Finally, with compassion and his native empathy, the senator asked shortly before dinner, "Young man, may I help you?"

"Well Senator," I replied. "It is I who can help you. I have a solution to the Mideast conflict!"

And that was exactly Chris Dodd's response back then.

But, I believed with Emerson, that if a man planted himself on his convictions and hopes that, "the huge world would come 'round to him." I always felt that, and all these years later, still do. I had an absolutely magnificent experience with Senator Dodd, and in my four years there, was exposed to the mysteries and hidden secrets of Washington power. Lessons that I carry with me to this day. I soon headed to the mysterious and bewitching island of Manhattan — nervous, excited, and hopeful. And while I was certainly prepared to be lucky, the vagaries of life stared me right in the face. I was poor, I knew no one, and had absolutely no idea how I could possibly make my way in the vastness of that great city. And so I had my ups and downs before inventing and creating my own tiny consultancy firm. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. I was the only employee. I called it RLP International. RLP of course, my initials — and as for the International part, why not think big?

Shortly after I setup my grand venture, one night in a Chinese restaurant in New York called Fortune Garden — no kidding it was called Fortune Garden — I looked up and spotted the then Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., now Prime Minister of Israel Bibi Netanyahu. Now, I had a long passionate connection to the history and political complexity that defined Israeli politics in that period. 1987 marked the beginning of the first intifada where images of Israeli soldiers with guns and tanks facing Palestinian youngsters with slingshots and stones, were filling American television screens each evening. The "David and Goliath" metaphor had been flipped on its head, and Israel had become Goliath. I thought the story was far more complex and nuanced than appeared on American TV screens and I decided that a documentary film explaining that complexity would elevate the public dialogue and illuminate a better path to understanding. So I approached the ambassador.

"Mr. Ambassador," I said, "my name is Richard Plepler, and I am President of RLP International, a global consulting and communications firm, and I have an idea for you." He barely looked up from his dumpling. But I would not be deterred. He finally asked me to sit down, he listened, nodded and after a variety of happy accidents in the coming weeks and months, I produced a film which did indeed lay out the myriad challenges that informed the conflict between Israel and Palestine. A conflict which all too tragically plays out to this day. The film captured the imagination of the then Chairman of HBO, who invited me to join the company and gave me the opportunity to embark on a career which has been nothing short of a blessing. I work with extraordinary people of transcendent talent – fellow executives, writers, producers, directors, geniuses really – who make our network come alive with breathtaking creative work. The Wire, Sopranos, Band of Brothers, John Adams, True Detective, Silicon Valley, VEEP, John Oliver, Vice, Bill Maher, Girls, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and the list goes on and on. My journey has been, and continues to be, a joy — A constant education and adventure. And to borrow from the poet Seamus Heeney, there is no other way to feel, but that, "A fortunate wind blew me here."

But, as I have indicated, the road is not always easy. I can assure you that as you make your way, that just like me, you will trip, stumble and be disappointed over and over again. The key, and now I begin to explain the "secrets" part of my talk, is to keep your eye on the North Star. Your North Star. Defined by you, and no one else. I keep a little sign in my office that I have had from very beginning of my career. The words are from the great Boston Red Sox six-time American League hitting champion, and two-time AL MVP, Ted Williams. It reads, "Never let anyone monkey with your swing." Let me say that again, "Never let anyone monkey with your swing."

Now, that's not the same thing as being inordinately stubborn, or refusing to listen, adjust, or modify your behavior. It's simply to say, keep your style yours, your particular way of moving through the world, your own. Don't alter it for anyone. Whatever your intrinsic swing, practice it, work at it, perfect it, but keep it yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are entering a very complicated, indeed alarming period of tension and turmoil around the world. Income inequality has never been greater. Wage stagnation plagues our workforce. Our national education system is in peril. Our infrastructure is broken. And our polls make clear that the vast majority of our citizens do not believe that our political system works. The world is filled with chaos, from Southwest Asia to Yemen, to the streets of Ferguson and Baltimore. It's a mess out there folks, sorry to tell you what you already know.

But, there is nothing better in life than joining a mission or cause when you are needed — and boy are you needed. We need your energy, your sense of possibility, and your belief that anything is possible — because it is. You are all arriving on the world stage just in time. You are the most informed, most plugged in, most tolerant generation in our history. But you must focus.

In a stunning new play at the Public Theatre in New York, the brilliant, young composer and actor, Lin-Manuel Mirand, has given us the magical, hip-hop musical, Hamilton, based of course on the life of Alexander Hamilton — the orphan-born self-taught founding father who helped invent our country. You think you're looking at a tough world? Imagine what he saw and felt from his abject and impoverished beginnings in the West Indies. No one would have bet on him. Yet, he becomes an aide to General Washington and emerged as one of the most brilliant and essential voices of the founders. In the play, as he sets out on his journey, Miranda writes for Hamilton his version of, "don't let anyone monkey with your swing." Hamilton says, "I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot," and he didn't. He kept his swing his own and moved the world. If you harness your passions and gifts in the direction where you believe you can make a real contribution, I promise you, you will move the world as well.

In another wonderful play, Amadeus, we learn that god spoke to Mozart, and Mozart wrote. In contrast, the playwright Peter Shaffer also introduces the court composer Salieri, who while excellent at his craft, is no Mozart. And thus is tortured throughout his life, trapped in the knowledge that he was good, but hardly great. He had talent, insight, and passion, and yet he was paralyzed. Salieri did not take his shot simply because to him, if he couldn't be Mozart, it wasn't worth trying. I am here to tell you my friends, that that attitude is a sin. And, while I'm sure there's an enormous amount of talent before me today, most of us are not the Mozart's of our generation. So we are left to harness our passion and use it to the utmost of our ability, to strive to fill our silhouettes.

The painter Robert Henri said, "You must paint like a man coming over the top of the hill, singing." And that is the way you must live and work as well.

So here's what I know.

Don't be angry at silly things. Everyone gets frustrated and agitated, but I assure you your anger is a wasted emotion if it's petty or directed competitively or jealously at anyone. Save your anger for what matters. Bullies, unfairness, and cruelty. There is plenty of that around to keep you busy if anger is your go-to emotion, just focus it properly.

READ. READ. READ and when you are done reading, read some more. I have always found that while I dedicate a number of hours each day to reading, I am always woefully ill-informed because there is so much more to learn and grasp. You simply can't read enough.

Be forgiving of the foibles and mistakes of your friends. And be forgiving of the foibles and mistakes of even the people who are not your friends. The thinking here is actually simple — most bad behavior in life arises not from malevolence or even meanness, but rather from clumsiness and insecurity. I can't tell you the number of times that I have observed bad behavior from people, some of it directed at me — given them the benefit of the doubt — shown generosity of spirit — and then discovered very soon after that I had a new friend. It's hard to do. It's sometimes counterintuitive. But a simple trick is to apply my two-week rule and ask yourself a question when you're agitated by someone's behavior, "Will this matter in two weeks?" Most of the time the answer is "No" and you can move on. To engage and create conflict is only exacerbating and rarely productive.

Plato said, "Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a hard battle." If you can remember this, particularly in moments of frustration or disappointment, you will find it very comforting. Because no matter how talented, how good looking, or how successful you think a friend or colleague might be, I promise you that they too are wrestling with a challenge in their personal life, with their friends or family, that you are unaware of. So give them the benefit of the doubt and you will find more often than not that the generosity is returned.

Don't let anyone tell you that marriage has to be work or that work is a chore. If you are patient and you trust your gut, and you find somebody with a shared vision, marriage will be a joy. And while that's not to say that you won't have your moments, the vast majority of time you will feel that you are where you belong. And that is the greatest blessing of all. As for work, there is absolutely no reason if you keep your eye on your north star, that you won't land in a place, which like mine, is a daily delight and adventure.

The great director Mike Nichols, said, "The only thing that works is love, and only connect." What he meant is that there is so much that is perfunctory, facile, and silly in our day-to-day lives, that it is essential that we engage each other in the understanding that real relationships are a sacred trust, born of respect and nurtured with time, commitment, and heart. Think about it, as you leave here this afternoon, the relationships that you've built with friends and faculty, the results of real connections, ones that you worked on over time with a genuine spirit, are the ones you will cherish in years ahead. Pay attention. Only connect.

Stick with the optimists. My dad always told me that. He said, "Stick with the optimists, Richard, it will be tough enough even if they're right." My dad was a wise man.

You have all been given a huge head start, a beautiful undergraduate education which will serve to undergird all the learning that is ahead of you. It's a blessing, so take that blessing seriously. Because Churchill was right when he said to a gathering much like this many years ago, "You will make all kinds of mistakes. But as long as you are generous and true and also fierce, you will not hurt the world, nor seriously distress her. For the world was made to be wooed and won by youth." And indeed it was.

So, my fellow graduates, Go Woo and Win. Take your shot. Pay attention. Love wisely. Care for your friends. Be generous of heart. Be forgiving. Don't let anyone monkey with your swing. And then, I promise you, the world will indeed come 'round to you. God speed class of 2015. God speed.

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Citations:

Richard Plepler '81: Doctor of Letters

Robert Kwesi Koomson '97: Doctor of Humane Letters

Sherry Turkle, Ph.D.: Doctor of Science

Lynn Matluck Brooks: Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching

Michael L. Anderson: Bradley R. Dewey Award for Outstanding Scholarship

Robert Gray: Socrates Citation

Cecile Zorach: Socrates Citation

Lina Bernstein: Socrates Citation

Christine Alexander: Richard Kneedler Distinguished Service Award