Photo: Courtesy of Roxbury Community College.
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — In a speech that promoted giving back, part owner of the Boston Celtics Robert Hale practiced what he preached, giving more than 150 Roxbury Community College graduates each $1,000 in cash during the school's 46th commencement ceremony on Friday.
Hale, the Founder and CEO of Quincy-based telecom company Granite Telecommunications, LLC, gave each graduate $500 as a gift and an additional $500 for them to give to an organization, family member, or supporter of their choosing.
“Follow your heart. Give a little more than you get, and you will be better for it,” Hale told the Class of 2022. “Don’t let fear of failure define you. Defy it and you will have a better life.”
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“This institution provided me with a great support system allowing anyone to start from scratch and achieve their goals,” said RCC Valedictorian and student speaker Shadia Singo. According to RCC, Singo lives in Roxbury and came to the United States from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the summer of 2018.
School officials say that most graduating students received their degrees in either healthcare or STEM fields, with most of the class living in Boston.
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