First, a longstanding complaint and futile request: consider that a graduate has paid (with help from multiple sources to be sure) his or her college bills for multiple years, adding up to many thousands of dollars. Agree that most now describe higher education as a business. In a normal business, a longstanding customer gets a reward—a bottle of scotch or a box of candy or a discount on the latest invoice. Graduates should not have to pay for their cap and gown!

Moving right along, as everyone knows, most of what happens at a college graduation revolves around waiting, somewhat offset by the on-going fashion show. For a good seat, one must arrive early and be willing to endure the glares of others when you inform them that you are saving those six empty chairs. Then, at last, the opening procession, which typically seems interminable (could they not import a Disney staffer for the simple process of getting people to quickly fill the seats, and later, walking up front for the diploma, and still later, recessing), as do the majority of speeches–including the awarding of honorary degrees, where every single word of legalese adds to the time required–and, finally, the anxious wait for the reading of your student’s name.

Similar to football, where 60 minutes of game time is about 22 minutes of true action, a two-hour graduation ceremony incorporates a small number of minutes of direct interest to the attendee. And the messages from the guest speakers are unchanging. “Make a difference, live your hopes– not your fears (Mandela), be the change (Ghandi), seek justice, challenge yourself, give back, volunteer, carpe diem.”

So sitting there for the full two hours, there is time for some observations:

From the smallest to the largest school of higher education, the evidence is clear: the country is increasingly comprised of multiple minorities. And unsurprisingly, the composition of the student body in this regard typically leads that of the staff, with diversity within the ranks of leadership and administration considerably behind.

Which raises the question of how and when the distribution of power in this country will be significantly changed, as seemingly it must to more closely resemble the student body as it enters the workplace and becomes represented in organizational and governmental life. Will this shift in power happen gracefully or with great rancor.

Thinking of seismic shifts reflective of demographic change and the acquisition of higher education credentials, presumably bringing about economic mobility, will the children of landscapers, of fruit and vegetable vendors, of small clothing store proprietors eventually be hiring white men to perform the necessary chores of a new class of homeowners? Will the racial ratios of those employed in serving others in restaurants and parking lots be flipped?

In the classroom, will Gabriel Marquez –and numerous others—take a greater share of reading time as that of William Shakespeare declines. Will doctors who are more culturally sensitive take market share from those who will undoubtedly argue they are more technically skilled.

Socially, will the growth in campus collaborations lead to even more mixed marriages and ultimately push the Census Bureau to give up its archaic approach to ethnic classification.

How does one square the traditional anti-corporate attitude of many collegians with the existence of large company brand names everywhere on college campuses: Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Qdoba, etc., etc. Has the animus been usurped by the allure of the Facebook social media world, whose users are either ignorant of the underlying business models or simply choose to ignore them. Or is it a type of collateral damage — a victim of overblown expectations by Obama acolytes who missed the history class which was supposed to teach them that there are three branches of our government (which, among other attributes, makes it resistant to dictatorial ambitions, however attractive specific policy initiatives might appear).  Or perhaps the focus on unreported sexual assaults on campuses, bullying everywhere, and gay and transgender rights has taken some of the protesting energies in different directions.

Not to worry, graduation day is one of unrestrained joy, particularly if the student happens to be the first one in his/her family to get a college diploma. John Jay College’s President was especially exuberant, leading graduates in a mass selfie, to be on Instagram before anybody sat down probably. Hey, it was the school’s 50^th anniversary, as was noted by the multiple speakers, whose message was live-streamed internationally, reflecting the graduate diversity metric of 80+ countries.

Yes, there is time for pondering heavy topics and yes, there are some nits worthy of criticism, but –to slightly modify a favorite expression–on this special day, they are the dust on the piano bench…the graduation of your student is the vibrant music!http://bobhowittbooks.com/?page_id=22