Andrea Mennillo's speech at Trinity Pawling

1. Andrea Mennillo
Trinity-Pawling School
2012 Commencement Address
Pawling, New York
Sunday, May 27, 2012

2. Headmaster Smith and Mrs. Smith, Board of Trustees, esteemed
faculty, administrators and staff, fellow proud parents, squirming
siblings, devoted families and friends… and above all, gentlemen of
the Class of 2012. Congratulations.
I am honored and grateful to briefly share this seminal moment in
your lives.
My son, Francesco, is sitting among you graduating today from this
special place… which makes this moment all the more meaningful to
me.
Now, some of you might be wondering who is this guy? Why is he up
there? What does he have to say to me that is worth these ten
minutes?
I am not a world leader or politician. I am not a movie star. I am not
a world-class athlete or musician. I am not even American.
Rather, I am Italian.
I am a husband and father.
And I am a businessman, who belongs to a generation that went to

3. school and studied hard to land jobs that would guarantee money,
security and status.
I come from a generation that believed a successful life was defined
by the heft of our bank accounts.
Like you, I was well-educated. After getting my undergraduate and
graduate degrees, I entered the banking sector in Italy, where I
worked hard… where I rose through the ranks… where I later held
positions that, by my generation’s standards, defined me as a
success.
Well I am here to tell you that our generation’s definition of success
was wrong.
I found that out the hard way.
Life has a funny way of reminding you that no one and nothing is
bulletproof. That success doesn’t spare you from anything.
When a serious illness became an unwelcomed guest in my family’s
home, I stopped working for more than a year to do something I
hadn’t done in a long while.

4. I got a life.
I spent time… really spent time… with my wife, Brunella, and my
children. We came together and stayed close, we drew on our faith,
we held on… and eventually we healed, thank God.
It was by far the most difficult time in my life. But it was also one that
forced me to slow down and see that life is the best gift ever, and that
I have no business taking it for granted.
I realized that I care so deeply about life’s goodness that I want to
spread it around.
That realization charted a new, more meaningful course for me.
It led me to devote more of my time to the Jesuit Missionary
Foundation in Italy, where I found myself surrounded by smart people
motivated to do good in the world.
Ten years ago, it started taking me to Burkina Faso… a landlocked,
French-speaking country in west Africa that the United Nations has
rated the third poorest in the world.1
There, the Burkinabé people live
hard lives often shortened by poor sanitation and infectious diseases.
1
Burkina Faso profile, BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13072774

5. Only the fortunate few receive a formal education.
I first went to this country to survey a dam that we funded… later
followed by a series of wells that were designed to prevent the spread
of infectious diseases.
During my time in Burkina Faso, I learned that the locals were trying
to build a school nearby. In a country where only 17 percent of young
men2
your age attend school, our foundation saw this as an
opportunity to do good.
It helped me to understand that education is a precious and powerful
privilege that all parents, everywhere, aspire to for their children.
We built that school and I am told it is the largest in the country that
specializes in teaching agriculture.
And though the Domenico Mennillo Agricultural School is only one
building, it is the beginning of something for many. We named the
school after my father, who taught me that education is the most
powerful weapon we have.
It was that experience that taught me the real meaning of success.
2
UNICEF statistics, Burkina Faso, secondary school participation, net attendance ratio (%), 2005-
2010, male: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/burkinafaso_statistics.html

6. In 280 BC, the Roman consul Appius Claudius Caecus said: Faber
est suae quisque fortunae… Everyone is the artisan of his… or her…
own fortune.
Do I have that right, Mrs. Pearson?
Gentlemen, you are the architects of your life’s work.
You define your success.
And by “success,” I am no longer talking about my generation’s
definition of it.
You see, the idea of success is changing. It is moving beyond money
and status. Its true value is far greater than any paycheck. And far
more meaningful than any status you can achieve.
You are setting out into the world at a time when keen and
compassionate thinkers and doers are needed more than ever before
in our lifetime.
Our modern challenges are complex.

7. As you began your freshman year at Trinity-Pawling four years ago,
the global financial crisis began to take hold and hasn’t loosened its
grip.
People are losing their jobs and businesses, and families their
homes, while 900 million people3
continue to live in poverty around
the world.
In the United States alone, 46.2 million Americans are living below
the poverty line, with over 16 million children living in dire need.4
Now, we cannot lose sight that we are fortunate to live in peaceful,
democratic societies that give us the freedom to chart the course of
our own lives. But for us to do this, we also need strong government
to help cultivate a just environment in which we can thrive.
We look to our political leaders to put politics aside and to bring about
meaningful change through public policies that tackle the critical
issues of our time.
But where is this change?
3
Brookings Institution, Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to
2015: http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/01_global_poverty_chandy.aspx
4
New York Times, Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/14census.html?pagewanted=all

8. Why are our leaders failing us at a time when we need them to lead?
Why are those who need help the most not getting it?
We are not just experiencing an economic boiling point stemming
from social and political crises.
I believe we are experiencing a deepening crisis in our values.
In manic pursuit of needing more, bigger, better, we are losing sight
of what is important.
We are losing touch with our responsibilities to one another and to
our shared existence as human beings on this earth.
In these times, I firmly believe that education will see us through. Our
world today needs more educated and compassionate thinkers and
doers… to filter out the noise, to drill down to the heart of our
challenges and to influence responsible change.
Gentlemen, our world needs thinkers and doers like you.
As you leave these 150 acres that you have called home, you are
leaving with a blue-chip education that sets you apart.

9. Some of you came to Trinity-Pawling from families where a good
education was expected. Some of you have families who had to
overcome steep obstacles to get you here.
But as of today you are all fortunate. With an education from this
school, you have so much opportunity in front of you.
There is no doubt that all of you want to succeed. But if you do not
do good, as well… if you do not live a compassionate life… then your
material success will never be enough.
So, as a husband, as a father and as a man, here is what I want to
tell you today:
Live by the motto of your soon-to-be alma mater. Hold on to your
commitment to character and you will not go wrong…
Hold on to your sense of self, your curiosity, your love of learning,
your unfettered imagination of what can be…
Hold on to your values and always, always treat others as you would
want to be treated…

10. Live an authentic life.
Live a compassionate life.
And live a life imbued with goodness and guts.
Make all of these things happen, gentlemen. And I promise you,
success… true success… will surely follow.
Buona fortuna, Class of 2012. Congratulations.