Well-known for his philanthropic ways, billionaire Robert T. Hale Jr. gifted students $500 and asked them to donate the other $500.
Despite the dark and dismal weather, the University of Massachusetts graduation ceremony was bright and sparkly.
Thanks to the commencement speaker Robert T Hale Jr. who is the CEO and Founder of Granite Telecommunications, who showered Class 2024 students with his generosity.
The UMass Dartmouth awarded Hale with the Chancellor’s Medal for his charitable works towards the community.
SIMILAR: One woman donated $1 Billion to Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC.
And as Hale began his speech he spoke about his career and how he suffered once a massive loss of $1 billion overnight.
However, he advised students not to let their failures define them, giving his own life experience of perseverance and determination.
And before the graduates received their degrees, Hale explained that he had more than just advice to provide.
That’s when security carried two enormous duffel bags onto the stage, each stuffed with envelopes containing cash, according to the Good News Network.
And then, in Hale’s typical giving style, he revealed a gift for each graduate student who walked on stage that day: cash worth $1,000.
But there was also a catch, the envelopes were customized with one labeled as ‘Gift’ worth $500 and the other labeled as ‘Give’ also worth $500 for every student.
He then urged the students to keep the envelopes mentioned ‘Gift’ for themselves while the other envelope ‘Give’ was for them to donate to a charity or any other cause, close to their hearts.
Shocked students gave a jaw-dropping reaction as nobody expected such a wonderful gift at their graduation ceremony.
He added that for him and his wife Karen, “the greatest joys we’ve had in our life have been the gift of giving.”
He went on to say, “These trying times have heightened the need for sharing, caring, and giving.”
He then ended his speech by saying, “Our community and our world need our help now more than ever.”
