By Brian G. Ricca, Ed.D.

Since this is only the second time I’ve addressed graduates of East Greenwich High School, I sought some advice as to what I should say to all of you. I recently heard a sound bite from a commencement address that got my attention. The sound bite came from the remarks that Denzel Washington gave in 2011 to the University of Pennsylvania. Denzel Washington grew up in Mt. Vernon, New York. I grew up in Mt. Vernon, New York. Denzel Washington graduated from Fordham University. I graduated from Fordham University. Mr. Washington and I have a lot in common, in fact, between the two of us, we have two Oscars! Not bad for two kids from Mt. Vernon….

All kidding aside, he gave some great advice. But the best part of his remarks, according to Mr. Washington, came from his wife, Pauletta, when she told him, “To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

You are all preparing to do something you never did this coming fall and whether it’s a gap year, a job, the armed services, college, or something else, you will have to grapple with this question: How, then, shall you live meaningfully in a world where there are so many claims to what is true and good?

So, if you will indulge me for just a few minutes, I would like to offer two bite-sized pieces of advice to help you to find your answer to that question. Because the answer to that question will be as individual as the 174 of you are. The first one is this: Be kind or, at the very least, be decent. 

Be kind, or at least be decent. In whatever you do, wherever you go, whoever you meet. Be one inch kinder, one inch more decent. I assure you that I did not coordinate my remarks with Justice Stern, but if you listened carefully to his remarks at Ivy Day, he said the same thing. 

Be kind or decent – simple in concept but seemingly and somehow terribly tricky in our world today.  

Consider the following: During a marathon in 2021, a Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was just short of the finish line when he got confused by the signage and stopped, thinking he had completed the race. Another runner from Spain, Ivan Fernandez, was right behind him and, realizing what had happened in front of him, shouted to the Kenyan runner to keep going. 

As you might surmise, the Kenyan didn’t understand Spanish. So Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory. 

After the race, a reporter asked Fernandez, “Why did you do this?”

He replied, “My dream is that one day we can have the kind of community life that pushes ourselves and others to win as well.”

“But why did you let the Kenyan win?” the reporter insisted.

Fernandez replied, “I didn’t let him win; he would win. It was his race.”

The reporter pressed and asked again: “But you could have won!”

Fernandez looked at him and replied, “But what would have been the merit of my victory? What would be the honor of this medal? What will my mother think?”

I think Mr. Fernandez had a point. 

Be kind. Or at the very least be decent. 

My second piece of advice: serve others. 

I am a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin, the playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He’s written for Broadway theater productions, feature length movies, and television. I’m paraphrasing him in this quote: 

I like bands, more than solo acts. I like team sports more than individual sports. This is a wonderful place to come to work – it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like a team. When successful on a team, there’s someone to high five and celebrate with along the way. In failure on a team, it’s a little bit easier when someone’s in the foxhole with you.

He writes that way as well and in 2012, when all of the graduates today were somewhere learning how to read and write in first grade, one of his television shows debuted: The Newsroom, about the fictional Atlantis Cable News network and its team of reporters, anchors and producers took on actual news stories. 

However, in the pilot episode, the main character Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels) while on a journalism panel at Northwestern University, goes on a rant, after a student during the Q&A asks: Why America is the greatest country in the world? 

McAvoy excoriates her that it is not the greatest country anymore, though it once was. Since this took place in 2012, every student in this fictional audience has a cell phone, records the news anchor shouting at a college student, it goes viral and McAvoy is given a two-week “vacation.” Upon his return though, he’s inspired to do better in his work, what he considers to be a public service. He’s asked at one point, “Is there something bigger we want to reach for, or is self-interest our basic resting pulse.” 

Class of 2024, self-interest cannot be your basic resting pulse. 

I offer to all of you today that you can reach for something, anything bigger, than self-interest by serving others. 

Your parents have served you, by choosing to live in East Greenwich, ensuring that you’d go to our public schools. 

Your educators have served you, and by educators, I mean anyone you’ve encountered while in our district: Facilities, Cafeteria Staff, Office Administrative Assistants, Guidance Counselors, Social Workers, Paraeducators and the men and women whom we have tasked with making the vision of a Graduate a reality for you, your teachers. They do this by committing to countless hours that you never see. When you arrive to class and there’s an engaging, thoughtful, challenging lesson to be a part of, that is the result of a myriad of minutes that take place when you’re not there. Planning, executing, and assessing learning in the 21st century is not for the faint of heart. Your teachers are nothing short of amazing. 

Your leadership at EGHS has served you. Dr. Page earned a statewide distinction this year as Rhode Island’s best first year principal and Ms. Sylvia, in eight short months, has made her educational leadership clear to every single student who walks through the doors at 300 Avenger Drive. I know this for a fact because I get to spend the first 30 minutes of my week with EGHS as a part of Class Block. What a gift to a superintendent who misses the classroom. 

Every single person in this room has reached for something bigger, by serving you, Class of 2024. And now it’s your turn.  

To close the loop on my reference to The Newsroom, there’s a Sorkin-esque bow on this scene with the college student. As it turns out, being yelled at by Mr. McAvoy did nothing to deter this young woman. She followed the change in his path, and ultimately applied for an internship at Atlantis Cable News. It was long enough after the original incident that McAvoy forgot about her and when he saw her in their conference room interviewing, he couldn’t place her right away… but once he did, he rushed to confront her during her interview. 

After asking the recent graduate if she indeed was the one who asked the question that caused his rant that changed the trajectory of his professional world, McAvoy asks why she’s there.

When she responds she wants to be a part of the public service she sees in Atlantis Cable News, she wants to be a part of the decency happening in this fictional world. She is reaching beyond her self-interest. 

After a beat, McAvoy urges her to re-ask the original question she asked at Northwestern. 

With some trepidation and hesitation, she looks up at him and asks, “What makes America the greatest country in the world.”

He responds: “You do.”

Brian G. Ricca, Ed.D., is the superintendent of East Greenwich Public Schools.