At My Graduation, My Dad Told 2,000 People Not to Clap — I Stepped Back to the Mic

the Dean of Hargrove University, was sitting six feet from me in full academic regalia — the deep burgundy hood of her doctoral degree, the gold medallion of her office, the expression of a woman who has managed this institution for sixteen years and has developed, over those sixteen years, the particular quality of calm that belongs to people who continue reading …