Sesame Street Developer Gives Mercy College’s 75th Commencement Address to 1300 Undergrads

On Wednesday, 1,300 undergraduates filed into the Westchester County Center in White Plains for one of the most important days of their lives.

Mercy College's 75th commencement ceremony began with the Monaghan Pipe Band playing bagpipes in green kilts, knee socks, and white shirts to a boisterous and lively crowd.

Honorary degree recipient Gary Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, a media experiment beginning in 1968 to teach children language and tolerance through television, gave the commencement address to a jam-packed stadium. In the true spirit of Sesame Street, Knell opened with, "This speech is brought to you by the letter M and the number 1. We all know what the M stands for," Knell said. "But the number 1 is the notion that one idea can change the world."

Knell told parents, faculty, and graduates about Sesame Street's beginnings. A conversation with experimental psychologist Lloyd Morrisett on the power TV was having on children sparked an idea: to show kids how to get along with those who may seem different by featuring a large yellow bird and a green grouch living together peacefully, all while teaching language.

Upon meeting Jim Henson, it all came together. "He created something very special," Knell said. "It was TV meets education."

Knell put the show's conception in context. "There was a controversial war, political assassination, and President Johnson had declared a war on poverty." At that time, the idea was considered radical, and Mississippi banned Sesame Street during its first year because it went against their laws of segregation.

"Technology changes and kids learn differently," Knell said. "There are 5 billion mobile phones in the world. Can we teach healthy eating habits to prevent childhood obesity through text messaging?"

Ending his speech with the admirable traits of Sesame Street's finest, Knell said, "Be like Grover. Grover teaches us to never be afraid of failure, to always persevere through another day." Knell continued, "Be honest like Elmo, or approach challenges like Big Bird."

Adding that Sesame Street also taught us that it's okay to be a grouch sometimes, he shared the ancient African proverb which Bert and Ernie have always lived by. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." He told the graduates to see possibilities where others see hopelessness.

Knell took the stage after Senator Charles Schumer dropped in for an unexpected speech. Recognizing the parents of the graduates for the sacrifices they made for their children's studies, Senator Schumer spoke of his own financial struggles in college. Though Senator Schumer's parents were not happy with his choice to be a politician and run for Congress, they still made sacrifices for his education. Knowing what it's like to wrestle with student debt, Senator Schumer told the audience about his fight to enact a college tuition tax credit for New York's middle-class families as one of the first things he did when he got into office, allowing them to receive up to $2500 per student per year.

Senator Schumer urged graduates not to let anyone dissuade them from their dreams, and with his fist raised in the air, he proclaimed, "Go for it!"

Closing with several lines from the poem, If, in which Rudyard Kipling wrote to his son about how to become a respectable man, with such lines as, "If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;" Senator Schumer congratulated the graduates.

"I'm definitely going to look into that tax credit. It's refreshing to hear that someone's trying to help students with their bills," Christine Elio, a sociology major attaining her B.S. with department honors, said of Senator Schumer's speech.

Elio, a Yorktown Heights resident, spent the majority of her first three years at the Yorktown Heights campus for both her classes and her job at the library.

"I was able to take a lot of evening classes," Elio said. She finished her fourth year online so she could work full time as an assistant in the principal's office at Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford.

"I'm relieved that school's over, but I'll miss it. I met some of my best friends and my boyfriend at the Yorktown Heights campus." Elio added, "I think more people should consider going to the Yorktown campus. The classes are smaller, so you get more attention. There's only ten to twelve students in a class." Elio will be pursuing her M.S. at Mercy in a few years once her student loans are mostly paid off.

Deborah Messina of Putnam County also took advantage of the Yorktown Heights campus's evening classes. Through Mercy's intensive EDGE (Executive Development and Growth Experience) program, the Putnam County woman earned her B.S. in organizational management at night while working full-time.

Messina's daughter, Corinne, a junior in college, appreciates how hard that is. "I am so proud of my mother. She did her bachelor's in one year while she was working full time," Corinne said.

Messina will go back to Mercy in the fall to pursue her M.S. and will continue working at Stanford Hospital as the director of patient billing.

Other graduates shared that sense of pride.

Queens resident Tyreef Lenoir received his B.S. in business administration and is already taking steps to get his business off the ground before he starts grad school.

"I want to abolish those five gallon plastic bottles from Deer Park and Poland Spring. They can't be recycled and are used once, maybe twice, before getting thrown in a landfill."

Currently working on a water filtration system, Lenoir wants to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

"I've taken the concepts I've learned and am building a business off it, to give service to others," Lenoir said.

Another B.S. in business administration graduate, Garisson Jorge of Yonkers, is looking forward to starting his future.

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for. I've accomplished my goals, which is to come out on top." Jorge added, "The teachers always provided tutors if you needed help, the whole faculty in general has been great."

The Monaghan Pipe Band marched toward the stage and played as the graduates exited the stadium. For Mercy's 1400 graduate students, their ceremony kicked off in the same location at 4 p.m., with a commencement address given by Notre Dame football player, Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who received Mercy's honorary degree.