Graduation Speech for Class of 2011 (pdf, 66.23KB) - St. Louis ...

St. Louis University High School
Graduation Dinner Speech
May 28, 2011
Where did you go to High School?
In my three years in St. Louis I’ve come to understand that this is the quintessential
question for St. Louis natives.
Where did you go to High School?
The question itself appeared on the cover of St. Louis Magazine this spring.
Where did you go to High School?
One thing I’ve learned about this question is that the only thing worse than saying that
you went to the “wrong” high school – whatever that may mean to the person who is
asking – is to say that you didn’t go to high school in St. Louis at all.
So instead of saying “Xaverian Brothers High School” which just seems to confuse
people, I’ve begun to respond – as politely as possible – with, “why do you ask?”
I believe the question “Where did you go to High School” really has more to do with the
person who asks the question than with the person who is being asked, so I respond,
“Why do you ask?”
Are you asking for noble reasons? Are you hoping that perhaps we went to the same
high school, or that I will know someone who went to your high school? Perhaps we
might be able to establish a social or business connection through our high schools.
Or are your reasons for asking less than noble? Are you trying to size me up? Are you
planning to make assumptions about my intelligence, my socio-economic status, even my
personality based on where I went to high school?
What will people hear when you say, “St. Louis University High. The U. High. SLUH”?
Will they think of you as a “Man for Others?” A person of faith, skill and leadership.
Or will they have a different impression of SLUH? Maybe they’ll think you’re arrogant,
or that you think you’re better than everyone else.
The fact is, what they will hear when you say “SLUH” is beyond your control. More on
this later…

Now, in deference to all of the alumni fathers and older brothers in the audience, I’m
about to offend all of you.
I believe the class of 2011 is the greatest class in the history of St. Louis University High
School. I told you that you could be the greatest class when we met for the first time at
the beginning of your sophomore year, and as seniors you proved.
Your scores on standardized tests, your athletic achievements, a new service trip to
Appalachia, a renewed Prep News format & website, the proliferation of all things
Gadfly, some of the most memorable stage performances, and the first class in the history
of the school to have 100% participation in the class gift even before you’ve graduated –
I would challenge anyone to find a greater class in the history of SLUH.
But in case you plan on spending your college years or even the rest of your life checking
in to see if your records have been broken, if some class has had a higher ACT average,
more service hours, a larger class gift than yours, let me save you the suspense. Some
class, maybe many classes will come along and break every one of your records, start
new initiatives, and give even more back than you guys did.
We didn’t challenge you to be the best class ever so you could spend the rest of your lives
looking back on your high school years. We’ve been training you to stretch your mind
and your muscles to be ready for the achievements in front of you, not behind you.
President Laughlin is fond of saying, “we don’t have a great high school because we had
a great high school.” You heard him say it earlier this evening. Starting next fall we’ll
be challenging students to break all of your records and recreate the school again. We
will not protect your legacy against them just as we did not protect the legacies of the
thousands of grads who came before you.
What we now expect of you is that you will go out into the world and set new records,
give us new bars to hurdle over on the roads beyond SLUH. We expect you to be leaders
on your college campuses and then in the workplaces you will go to beyond them. We
expect you to be active in your parishes, to be community & civic leaders. We want you
to be great husbands, fathers, uncles & even grandfathers some day.
And how do we expect you to do these things? Be Religious, Loving, Academically
Competent, Committed to Justice and Open to Growth.
Come on, you knew you weren’t getting out of here without at least one more reference
to the Grad @ Grad, right? It’s Graduation!
The Grad @ Grad are the requirements for graduation, because long after you’ve gotten
sick of hearing me talk about these things, you will find that these are the requirements
for being leaders in life.
Tonight, I’m going to take a small liberty and add one more graduation requirement, and
I say “small” because I believe it’s a requirement you’ve already fulfilled.

I once asked a colleague of mine, Mr. Steve Ruemenapp, one of the many wise educators
I’ve had the good fortune of working with, what he thought an all-boys Catholic high
school should require of its graduates. His response: “Do the boys know that God loves
them?”
When you look back on this place, if you look on this place, I hope you don’t just look
back to see if your records have been broken, to relive your Glory Days.
I hope you remember that you were loved here, and that through the love of your
teachers, your parents, your friends, your coaches, your classmates and teammates, you
came to understand that God loves you, and that he did not give you all these graces,
these talents, this opportunity for your glory, but for his.
Where did you go to High School?
At a place where you became a true Man for Others and not just for yourselves.
Where did you go to High School?
At a school where you learned to dedicate your thoughts, words and actions to God’s
Glory, not your own.
Where did you go to High School?
In a community where you were able to feel, and share and express God’s love.
Where did you go to High School?
St. Louis University High. The U. High. SLUH.
Why do you ask?