Graduates at the University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth got more than a diploma this May.
Billionaire Robert Hale gave the commencement speech. He also gave each graduate $1,000. Security guards brought the cash on stage in duffle bags. Students cheered!
But there was one catch. Mr. Hale told each graduate to give away half the money.
Despite being rich, Mr. Hale says having money isn’t his greatest joy. He and his wife get greater joy from giving.
“We want to give you two gifts. The first is our gift to you,” Mr. Hale told the students. “The second is the gift of giving. . . . Our community needs you, and your generosity, more than ever.”
Mr. Hale is the founder of Granite Telecommunications. He experienced some big failures before finding success. One venture made him lose a billion dollars.
“I may be the biggest loser you ever met,” he joked to the students. “And you have to sit in the rain and listen to me.”
He and his wife have done three other graduation giveaways. But the students at Dartmouth had no idea he was coming.
“I was very surprised,” says graduate Joshua Bernadin. He hasn’t decided what to do with the cash. He might put his half toward paying student loans. But what about the half to give away? He might donate it to the school’s theater group and gospel choir.
Mr. Hale is a philanthropist. Philanthropists give money to causes they believe are good for people. This big word comes from two Greek words. Philia means “love.” Anthropos means “human.” Can you see how those words join together to mean “somebody who gives away money”?
How does Mr. Hale know the graduates will give away $500? He doesn’t. “But I believe that the vast majority do the right thing and then are joyful because of it,” he says.
God gives us everything we have. When we give, we’re giving out of His good gifts. Even tithes and offerings are really His money!
But He gives us more than money. God gives us salvation through Jesus Christ. We get to share that gift with others. When we give that gift, it doesn’t get cut in half. It doubles.
For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. — 1 Chronicles 29:14
