Senior Chapel

6/2/2020

June 2, 2020

Good evening. It is an honor and a privilege to gather with you this evening and to have one final opportunity to address you, seniors and families of the Class of 2020.

Before sharing the full text of my remarks with you, I want to be very clear about what this evening is and what it is not, and also about what the events Wednesday through Friday on our Terraces are and are not.

This gathering is not Baccalaureate, a service in which we gather with our sisters from St. Catherine’s School, in order to pray, celebrate, and offer thanks to God on the eve of your Commencement.

Last night’s gathering, as lovely and meaningful as it was, was not our customary Athletic Banquet, filled with fellowship, stories, and laughter.

And the services of tomorrow through Friday, beginning with Carlisle Bannister at 9 am and ending with Hank Valentine at 510 pm on Friday, are not meant to be Commencement.

We know that we cannot offer you, at this time, the things that have been promised to you, things you may have dreamed of or looked forward to since you were a little boy. And for that, gentlemen, moms and dads, I am sorry. We are truly sorry.

We do not know exactly when or how we will do it—but, seniors, we will call you together again, in person, in some way, so that we can properly honor and celebrate with you, together. That will be your true Commencement, in whatever form we can make it, together.

Tonight is a gathering, however, a virtual gathering, the best that we can do under these circumstances, a chance to be among each other, one last time, as students, faculty, and families of St. Christopher’s. While not physically proximate in St. Stephen’s Church or in our own Memorial Chapel, we are, in other ways, still together, still deeply connected.

And tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday, will be something special, new, and different—We will have the opportunity, privately and simply, to honor each of you as individuals, something we are not able to do within the time constraints of a traditional Commencement. And for that, may we all be grateful.

There’s been a lot of that recently, of course—not having one thing, but discovering or creating another. Cancelling or postponing one event, only to find something else, not the same, but something that can be beautiful, or at least unique, to fill its place.

It’s a mindset, really, something we’ve all been forced to adopt—of choosing surplus, over deficit, thinking—Focusing on what we have, often in abundance, rather than what we are missing.

And, seniors, this bend toward positivity, to celebrating what we do have, to leaning in and to engaging rather than checking out, grumbling, distancing, or removing—these are qualities I have learned from you. And for that gift, given to me and to thousands of others, I will forever be grateful.

Walker, Harry, and Eli, do you remember the meeting in my office in the spring of your junior year? You initiated it, asking to meet with me so you could share some concerns and ideas you had regarding the very integrity and quality of our institution.

As sophomores and juniors, you did not like what you had been observing—a certain lackadaisical attitude when it came to topics such as honor, student engagement, and school spirit.

You thought that the student body as a whole, with support from the faculty and administration, could do more to emphasize honor, to play within the rules, to care about our institution, and to demonstrate excellence and commitment in all that we do.

I’ll never forget that meeting—your initiative, your leadership, and your general care for the welfare of our school—I knew then, as I know now, that you were representatives of the initiative, leadership and care of your entire class.

I have seen that same sense of commitment and buy-in from every one of you, at different moments throughout the past school year.

You cared about the health and wellbeing of our school, you wanted there to be school spirit at games, performances, and even chess matches. You worked hard to choose the hard right over the easy wrong. You orchestrated the Greatest Pep Rally of All Time. You were not perfect. No student and no class is. But the point is that you cared, you strived, and you reached excellence in every possible venue—intellectually, socially, emotionally, athletically, artistically, and otherwise.

No, this year was not like any other year in St. Christopher’s history. But then again, you have not been like most classes in St. Christopher’s history. If there were ever a group of seniors we would want at the front of our student body, to help us navigate this pandemic and, today, racial and social turbulence, that class is you. How fortunate we are to have had you at the helm these past 12 months. Thank you.

Gentlemen, we will miss you, but we will not forget you. By the end of this week, each of you will be an alumnus of St. Christopher’s School, and you are forever Saints to all of us. May God bless you all. Amen.

Back

StC News

Senior Chapel