MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Tufts University graduates on Sunday at the school’s commencement to do like him and call their mothers everyday. Bloomberg’s mother still lives in the same house where the now-billionaire grew up in Medford, a blue-collar town just outside Boston.
“She said since she was in the neighborhood she’d come over to hear me speak,” Bloomberg said. “Mother, I hope I’m not embarrassing you. You should know she dislikes the Yankees almost as much as most of you.”
Bloomberg urged the graduates on a soggy morning to take risks. He recalled his biggest: the day after he was fired from a Wall Street firm, he founded his namesake media company, Bloomberg LP, one of the world’s largest providers of financial data, news and trading systems to the financial services industry. The mayor also weighed in on the school’s decision not to kick off campus a conservative student magazine that printed a Christmas carol parody called “O Come All Ye Black Folk” that many found racist.
“The Primary Source” was reprimanded earlier this month for “harassing” black students with its insensitive writings, but was allowed to continue publishing.
“Instead of suppressing the publication, which might very well have happened on other campuses, and despite the emotion of the moment, I think the students and the faculty and all of Tufts University deserve an enormous amount of respect because you respected the rights of others to express themselves,” he said.
Across the Boston border at Suffolk University, Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell delivered the commencement address. He led the team to 11 NBA championships in just 13 seasons, and also served as the first black coach in league history.
But Russell also was the target of racism from many fans in Boston. He said Sunday that the best way to respond to injustice and unfairness in society is to be kind and civil.
“And a lot of times in my life, I have heard people say ‘that I would like for the society to be better, to be a society that does things for each other and not to each other. But I, as an individual, what can I do?”‘ Russell said. “What you can do is be kind.”
At Brandeis University’s ceremony in Waltham, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said as the country continues to outsource jobs, it is increasingly important for graduates to have passion for their work.
“The good jobs that remain will be those that demand or encourage some uniquely human creative flair, passion and imagination,” he said. “In other words, jobs that can only be done by people who love what they do and bring something extra to that work.”
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