The 2020 Commencement Address I Wish They Had Given

Our business is to win the war. Begin now.

Those were the parting words of the man who stood on this very spot 102 years ago. It was 1918 on the eve of the 92^ndcommencement exercises. In front of Northam Towers was the largest crowd ever assembled in the history of the College. 5,000 people hung on every word from the 26^thpresident of the United States. One of his last speeches, it lasted over an hour. And just six months later, he would be gone. 

There had been Roosevelts at Trinity, but Colonel Roosevelt (he preferred “Colonel Roosevelt” to “President Roosevelt”) was there at the behest of his friend, President Flavel Luther. Later that year, those brass letters in front of Northam that are so familiar to us all were embedded in the Long Walk to memorialize that very special moment in history and the Biblical passage read in his address. 

Consider what that morning looked like. It was 11 o’clock on a beautiful, cloudless Sunday. A large dark blue banner with the name Trinity in old gold lettering hung from Northam and furled in the wind behind the podium. The flags of wartime allies Belgium, Britain and Italy surrounded the dais. And in the audience were 40 empty chairs, each with an American flag draped over it representing a member of the College who couldn’t be there because he was serving in the military.

Although they didn’t know it, at that moment there were two wars raging. 

One was in Europe where the First World War was in its final bloody months. German forces stood within 60 kilometers of Paris. American “doughboys” were arriving on the Western Front by the thousands and the second battle of the Marne—the final German offensive—was about to begin. In all, 40 million souls would perish in that war.

But even as bloody as that war was, there was another far bloodier war. Nobody knew it, but as Colonel Roosevelt addressed that audience on June 18, 1918, the Influenza Epidemic was wending its way across the globe laying waste to everything in its path. As soldiers returned later that summer, many would bring the contagion of the deadliest pandemic in modern history back home with them. Some estimate more than 50 million died. 

We will look at the Teddy Roosevelt plaque on the Long Walk differently from now on. It will remind us not just of a giant in history who once spoke on this spot, but it will remind us of a time of unimaginable loss of life and personal sacrifice.

I hope it will remind us all of one more thing though. History will forever remember that Trinity College was fearless in confronting the dual challenge of war and sickness on a global scale. At a time when this college numbered no more than 250 students, a total of 521 alumni and undergraduate men served in the war effort. 21 would perish. Similarly, two decades later, when there were roughly 3,500 alumni, a total of 1,460 enlisted to serve in the Second World War. 76 Trinity men lost their lives. 

These are the brave souls who came before us here at Trinity. But history is more panoramic photo than snapshot. The broad expanse of events after the First World War tell a larger story that reveals the true fabric of the institution. The soul of Trinity College.

Conventional wisdom says hardship and adversity build character, but history tells us hardship and adversity reveal it. The Great War and the Great Depression that followed it did not stifle Trinity. Instead, they galvanized it. 

Students, alumni, faculty, administrators and friends all came together to mount the institution’s single greatest period of expansion. Trinity College grew from 167 to 530 students. At a time when endowments at private colleges fell more than 25% and alumni giving sank more than 70%, the endowment at Trinity grew by 250%. Faculty expanded from 25 to 62 members. Salaries doubled. The value of the land, buildings and equipment more than doubled. 8 different buildings were erected in a space of 10 years, creating twice the major buildings on campus. Among them is one of the greatest chapels on any campus in the country even today. 

The people who came before us on days like today gave their everything for their country and the college we know today. We stand on their shoulders. And we are stewards of a 197-year old repository of everything that is good in our society. One that grows stronger with each student and each passing year. 

Today, we recognize the class of 2020. You are now graduates of this college. Wear this moment with pride in your accomplishments and in your newfound standing in a community that has confronted its share of challenges. Slavery, the Civil War, the Influenza Epidemic of 1918, the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, Korea, Vietnam, 9/11, and, now, the Pandemic of 2020. In the face of each, we endured. And for the class of 2020, it’s time to do that yet again with one more war we will overcome.  

Remember that you are not alumni for life. It’s a lot longer than that. History will record you among the Class of 2020 at Trinity College for eternity. Forever. But consider this: History also includes your name among “that class that graduated during the Pandemic of 2020.“ So congratulations. Your life is just beginning, yet you have already attained a place in history. 

And so it is time to continue that Long Walk—the lifelong one—that we know the sons and daughters of Trinity take together.

I leave you with words you have heard before. Now hear them again. For the first time. 

Our business is to win this war. Begin. Now.