QUINCY, Mass. — Dartmouth University of Massachusetts’ graduation held a fabulous surprise for the graduates in attendance: Rob Hale, a local telecommunications billionaire, showed up with more than $1 million in canvas bags and handed over $1,000 for each graduate when they receive their diplomas. They should keep $500 for themselves and donate $500 to help a person or organization that needs it more than they do.
But 20% of the graduating class, which totaled 1,200 people, missed the ceremony and did not receive the money.
“You have to show up,” Hale told the magazine People when the story of the rich man handing out $100 bills caught media attention.
But one graduate said she missed the ceremony because her postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome flared up. Another had elderly parents who couldn’t handle the weather and didn’t want to leave them at home. Paige Santos, another graduate, has cerebral palsy and uses an electric scooter that doesn’t work well on rainy days.
This Thanksgiving season, what are we to make of a billionaire with a soft spot for hard-working graduates who makes a hard-and-fast rule about being there for the occasion, regardless of the circumstances?
“Even though he certainly feels sorry for the people who couldn’t attend, for whatever reason, there were still over 1,000 graduates who were there with him in the pouring rain for graduation,” said Katie Sheridan, his executive assistant. “He wanted to maintain the original idea that you had to be there in person to receive the envelopes.”
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Ryan C. Merrill, a university spokesman, said that under an agreement signed by the school, the $1,000 was only for students who participated in the May 16 ceremony.
“That said, the university remains committed to Hale’s vision for its philanthropic distribution, should that change,” Merrill wrote.
Emma Yell, who missed the ceremony because her 8-year-old daughter, Elena, has a tracheostomy and feeding tubes and couldn’t be exposed to harsh weather conditions, hoped Hale would make an exception for her and her partner, James Ristaino, who also was forming. But their expectations were disappointed.
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“I just want people like me – or us – to be seen,” she said. “I constantly feel isolated in every way, and the graduation ceremony was like the icing on the cake of it all.”
