Commencement speaker Lamb offered 14 points of advice in all before college President Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., awarded diplomas to 399 graduates on May 22. Because of inclement weather, the ceremony was held for the first time at the college's new Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
"One of the lessons that I believe you learned over and over again during your years here is that people make a difference," Fr. Jonathan said. "As I hope you learned here, there is no reason and no excuse for mediocrity. To become less than you are you meant to be, is to dishonor not only yourselves, but the God who created you for greatness."
Fr. Jonathan also announced the new Saint Anselm College Award for Service and Citizenship, which will be granted if there is a senior student "who has demonstrated to an extraordinary degree two hallmarks of a Saint Anselm education: service to one's community and engagement as a virtuous citizen."
Criminal justice major Elizabeth Condron, who was assistant director of the Meelia Center for Community Service, is the award's first recipient.
Lamb, whose 25-year-old network provides 24-hour coverage of the U.S. government and political process, "has made democracy a spectator experience," according to the citation for the honorary degree he received from the college.
Nonetheless, he apologized to his audience for not being a famous commencement speaker. "You had Fox News all over the place for the primary and they're really important and really famous," he said.
He went on to quote from letters and newspaper notices he received, such as "Brian Lamb is not a stiff. He just plays one on TV." And "Brian Lamb has all the charisma of a test pattern and none of the color."
Calling himself the "poster child for the American C student," he offered graduates his 14-point program of advice. "Some of them, by the way, will never be spoken at any other graduation today in the whole United States," he said. "The most famous person you could invite here will never give you this advice."
He closed his list with, "Do what you want, not what others do."
Besides Lamb, the following individuals were honorary degree recipients.
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¨ Fr. Mark A. Cooper, O.S.B. is in his 25th year as treasurer and chief financial officer of Saint Anselm College, holding overall responsibility for financial matters at the college. A 1971 graduate of Saint Anselm, he earned his MSA in business administration from the University of Notre Dame. His has served as a member of visiting teams for the New England Association for Schools and Colleges, is on the board of directors of First Signature Bank, in Portsmouth, N.H., and a member of the Visitation Team for American Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Abbeys
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Lucille Davison, a college trustee since 1999, is a leading philanthropist in the greater Manchester, N.H., area and a benefactor of Saint Anselm. A fourth generation resident of Manchester, she belonged to the Gray Lady Service of the Red Cross, volunteered for years at the Elliot Hospital, and has been longtime a contributor to the Currier Museum of Art. With her late husband Robert C., a 1981 honorary doctorate recipient, she established the Fr. Bernard Holmes, O.S.B., Scholarship and an endowment for faculty development at Saint Anselm. Davison Hall is named in honor of the couple.
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Neal Finnegan is chairman of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts. He has led several financial institutions in his distinguished banking career, holding positions including president and CEO of Worcester Bancorp, a vice chairman for Shawmut Bank, and CEO of UST Corp. and US Trust. He is chairman of the Northeastern University Board of Trustees, trustee emeritus of Catholic Charities, and a trustee and executive committee member at WGBH Boston's Public Television Company. He earned his undergraduate finance degree from Northeastern University and MBA from Babson College.