TREATING OTHERS WITH dignity and respect is the key to success, Commencement Speaker Brad Eric Scheler told 1,271 graduating seniors from Monmouth University at Spring Commencement held at the PNC Bank Arts Center at Holmdel last week.
“The true meaning of equality is treating others with dignity and respect and with equal deference, captains of industry, the homeless and all in between,” he said. “We define ourselves by how we act and by leading by best example. Never allow success to over take grace, warmth, concern, respect, deference and treating all with dignity. We make better our world when we extend our hand equally.”
Scheler, an attorney with the global law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, received an honorary degree during the ceremony and immediate past Board Chair and Trustee Robert B. Sculthorpe from Monmouth’s Class of 1963 received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree for his years of service to the university.
As a college degree becomes more and more expensive and many students leave the hallowed halls with student debt that can paralyze their ability to make inroads into their chosen careers, Scheler maintains education as a right and a privilege “that comes with duty, with responsibility and with burden … to do all to heal and to make better our world,” he said. “Every day, each and every one of us should and must answer the paraphrased call to my generation to ask not what others can do for us but to ask what we can do for others. All of you, with your energy, enthusiasm and commitment to be of help to others, are and will be our very best hope for a better tomorrow.”
The paraphrase is of course from President John F. Kennedy’s Jan. 20, 1961 inaugural address.
The inaugural presentation of the Jules L. Plangere Jr. Medal went to former Monmouth University trustee and philanthropist Ann Unterberg of Rumson. Plangere, who presented the award, is a former chairman of the Monmouth University’s Trustees. The medal recognizes outstanding commitment to the university in the areas of philanthropy, leadership or support.
Since ending her career in investment banking, Unterberg has worked to support non-profit organizations concentrating on health care, education and women’s rights. She has been a long-time benefactor of the university’s partnership with the Two River Theater Company and the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Marjorie K. Unterberg School of Nursing and Health Studies was established through an Unterberg family gift to honor the memory of Ann’s mother-in-law, who was a member of the Monmouth University Library Association and actively involved with nursing education.
–Carol Gorga Williams
