Mr. Darryl Robinson '76 speech to the Class of 2022 at the Alumni Senior Luncheon

Good afternoon.

Before I begin my remarks, I want to thank Brother Boynton and Board Chair Karen Cullen and the selection committee for this honor.

It means a lot to me and to my family to receive recognition of this type from the school we all love.

I would not be standing here today if it wasn’t for my parents Robert and Shirley Robinson. It was their dedication and their desire that their children received a quality education as well as a learning environment that was well-rounded.

My brothers and I thank them every day for all they’ve done for us!

I suspect that each of you have parents and family members that have made the same sacrifices and investment in you… It is only fitting that you thank them, love them and care for them after all that they have done for you.

Second, I must acknowledge two extremely important heroes in my life First is my brother Ron from the class of ‘75…he was my role model and inspiration then, and remains so today.  He was inducted into the U Of D High Hall of Fame in 2016….a well-deserved and earned recognition!

Second, I want to acknowledge my brother Mark from the class of 1984.

Although he is the youngest of the four boys, he is the heart and soul of our family…and is “second to none” with respect for his love and care of so many. I admire all that he has accomplished and what he has done for others!

I became a Cub in 1972 and it was quite a challenge for me. The work was difficult but the environment was rich because of the acceptance I received from so many. I enjoyed playing football, basketball and running track…it was great to represent my high school and its traditions.

As I mentioned the school work was challenging. While I had a good education at Gesu, I was not prepared for the rigors of a college preparatory school. However, I persevered because of my parents, teachers and coach’s encouragement…and… I knew they wanted me to be successful.

Whether it was Mr. Bila, Senor Rodriguez, Mr. Coyne, Mr. Offer, Mr. Hafner, Mr. Tenbusch or Fr. Hagerman … they extended their kindness and grace to me and it made all the difference.

I’m sure that each of you…as you reflect on your four years…have had similar experiences with your own loved-ones, teachers and coaches. Each of you owe them a debt of gratitude. I encourage each of you to extend a heartfelt and firm handshake or hug to those who have meant so much to you.

But perhaps the most significant part of my years at U of D is how I was able to see role models among my peers. I was so impressed by the seniors & upperclassmen like Michael Washington… Kevin Curley, Shawn Curley… Bill Ward, Walter Jones, Darryl and Tony Hosey, Mark DeCoster and how they carried themselves… I wanted to be just like them. But there were others that also inspired me like Bill Wheeler, Andy McGuinness, Dave Ciesnicki, Don Fucinari, Tony Everson, Bill Hittler, Keith Jackson, Matt Zang, Shaun Bradley, Tim Anderson and Phil Dagostini…they carried themselves with a sense of pride and honor because they were Cubs… They were different… they were leaders. To me, they proudly wore their leather jacket as though it was a robe for kings…yet they were humble and dignified!

There were so many who inspired me!!

I suspect you have your own role models that come to mind… Hold them dear to you for the rest of your days because they provide an example of what a real “man for others” looks like.

Since 1877 this great high school has been holding commencement lunches or celebrations just like this one… Since 1877!

I’m always proud to be a Cub and I’m always proud to be among Cubs…because we are different and we change the world.

In closing I’d like to leave you with a poem. It’s by Rudyard Kipling…you may have heard of it or read it yourselves… it’s called “IF” and it was one of my mom’s favorites…and she would recite it to us…at a moment’s notice.

IF by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

   But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

   Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

   And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

   If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

   And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

   Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

   And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

   And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

   And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

   To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so, hold on when there is nothing in you

   Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

   Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

   If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run—

   Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!

Congratulations on your journey to being a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit high school. You are joining a fraternity that will never end.

Go forth and serve and love the Lord your family and your community wherever it might be.

And now and forever… Go Cubs!

Thank you!!

Mr. Bill O'Brien speech to the Class of 2022 at the Alumni Senior Luncheon

Thank you, Michael Lauchlan.  And thank you, President Brother Jim Boynton. 

I am a community organizer.  Community Organizing is not exactly a household topic.  I first heard of community organizing when I was a young Jesuit in training, teaching at St. John Jesuit High in Toledo in 1971.  Three other Jesuits there were Community Organizers.  At first, they intimidated me because they were doing rough and tumble work in neighborhoods and power structures of Toledo.  But several years later, after my own work in a Chicago neighborhood parish, when I left the Jesuits, I decided that this is what I want to do because it was consistent with Jesuit values:  it’s about community.  It’s about powerless people getting a voice.  It’s about changing the world. 

Community organizers organize organizations in “the community.”  But I have found that most of the time, there is very little “community” out there.  There is so much that divides people -- even in their own church or school.  Racial differences.  City vs. suburb.  The old-timers and young families and immigrants.  Differences of politics.  Religious affiliation:  it’s said that Sunday is the most segregated day of the week.  So, our work as community organizers is to discover what might UNITE a community – and most often uniting starts with the common problem.  Everybody knows what the problems are – in the neighborhoods it’s stray dogs, crime or abandoned houses in neighborhoods; in cities or metro areas its poor schools or lack of good public transportation or a lack of mental health services.    

Everybody knows what the problems are -- but people often don’t know how to get started to solve the problems, or with work and family they just don’t have the time.  My work has always started with dozens or hundreds of one-on-one meetings with teachers, moms and dads and workers, pastors, politicians and business owners.  Maybe for two to three months – listening to hundreds of people, getting to know their strengths and fears and hopes, their connections with other people, their work in their church or neighborhood or school.  Then challenging them with a vision of what they could do if they got together and formed their own community organization.  What kind of voice they could have with the Dog Catcher if they had 20 or 40 moms?  What kind of voice could they have if they had 5000 people meeting with the Governor and US Senators?  And then begins the tedious work over months and years of training leaders and building the organization and inviting in more people.  It is a wonderful way to spend a life.  

So where does U of D Jesuit High School fit into all this?  As high school seniors in 1964, we had a Thanksgiving project of collecting food and taking it to families in Holy Trinity Parish.  It was fun – almost like a date because girls from Immaculata High school were involved.  But we got to meet Fr. Clem Kern, the pastor of Holy Trinity.  He was a community organizer!  He organized his parishioners and neighbors to have a voice on the West Side.  He treated everybody like they were HIS people, HIS parishioners, HIS responsibility – recent immigrants from Puerto Rico and Mexico, old-time Irish and Maltese neighbors, but also top brass at GM and Union presidents.  And of course, the homeless, alcoholic and often mentally ill men and women of the neighborhood.  They were all HIS people.  And he did not wait for them to find him – he actively sought them out.

And we Cubs got to meet this Man for Others because leaders at U of D Jesuit wanted us to experience the world, and people who suffer – and to get to know other “men and women for others.” 

But “Man for Others” does not quite capture Fr. Kern – nor the teachers at U of D Jesuit back in 1965.  “Others” makes it sound like “those people,” “over there.”  For Fr. Kern and his parishioners – and the teachers at UD Jesuit – they were taking responsibility for suffering people not as “OTHERS” but as “OURS.” 

Similarly, in 1979 when the Jesuits took the decision to keep U of D Jesuit in Detroit, a city which was deeply suffering, it was because Detroit was OUR city – with all its history and people and problems and suffering.  It was not only a decision to be Men and Women for OTHERS – but Men and Women for OUR city and OUR people.  Not “OTHERS” but “OURS.”     

A last word about U of D Jesuit:  the staff introduced us to Jesus as a Man for Others – who treated outcasts and lepers and the mentally ill and foreigners – like they were HIS brothers and sisters – and taught his followers – like us here in this room – that these people are “OURS.”  And he was punished – assassinated -- because the things he did and said challenged the religious and civic status quo. 

I am grateful for my time at U of D Jesuit when I was your age.  My son Nick O’Brien-Kovari, Class of 2005, feels the same about the challenges, the values, the example, the exposure to the larger world and to people who suffer. 

To you seniors as you get ready for the last step here at U of D Jesuit – congratulations.  My wife Vicky Kovari and I want to encourage you not to run away from suffering, your own or others. 

To the leadership of U of D Jesuit, congratulations and thank you. 

To the alumni here – many of you have given so much to the school – to you, I say congratulations for what you do and have done for OUR school.  Thank you.