Tomorrow is graduation day at Concord High School. To the Class of 2016, we offer hearty congratulations. You have earned that march down the aisle in cap and gown, the cheers from the crowd and the presentation of your diploma. Smile for pictures with your family and friends. They no doubt helped you find your way through the past four years, and achieve.
You have a lot to think about as you step out on your own into a harshly divided nation – and a turbulent, insecure world. As young adults, citizens and voters, you will make decisions that will test your principles, even more than we are tested now. You need to be ready – we are depending on you.
We want to offer encouragement and support – starting with a few words about bravery.
This graduation ceremony will be the last for Gene Connolly, who is retiring after 14 years as principal. The physical effects of ALS – he was diagnosed with the neurological disease in 2014 – prevent him from carrying on in the job he has loved. A mural, created by CHS students, describes the qualities they have seen in Mr. Connolly, not just now, but over the years: courageous, passionate, inspirational, humble, generous and proud.
Thank you, Mr. Connolly, for being a hero to the Class of 2016, and to all the students who have known you at Concord High. Your dedication as an educator, your strength and resolve, give us all something to think about, and admire, on graduation day and into the future.
As graduation plans were finalized this week, the American flag flew at half staff at Concord High, as it did at public buildings throughout the country. It symbolized our nation’s mourning and respect for the 49 men and women, slaughtered at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday. Many of these innocent victims were young, in their 20s; two were just 18 and 19 years old. Not much older than you, our graduates, and just like you, socializing with friends in a place where they felt safe. That night, as the nation searched for consolation, the creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, addressed an audience of Broadway performers determined that hate would not prevail. “Nothing here is promised, not one day,” he said.
“We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger,” he continued, but history remembers that “hope and love last longer.” We take those words to heart, and you should too.
We have expressed our raw frustration with those who want a neat explanation for this latest killing spree. We fear, as has been the case after every other mass murder, that the result will be nothing – all talk, no action. But we also know we cannot surrender to frustration, or the opposition. Not for something we believe in. Neither should you.
No matter what the issue – gun control, college tuition or free health care – we urge you to reject the relentless drumbeat of soundbites, tweets, instant analysis and impossibly simple answers to complex issues. We know you are smarter than that. Think for yourself, that’s your first duty. We suggest that from this day forward, you cut through the garbage, get the facts and find the truth. This is not just a lesson about current uncivilized, distorted political tactics. It’s a lesson about life that young and old need to learn.
Here’s to you, the graduates, and to your future. It’s a complicated and challenging world out there. Jump in.