May 19, 2022 marked the commencement activities for the Class of 2022 and, returning after nearly two years, the Class of 2020. In his keynote remarks, Leonard Barrack LAW ‘68, chair of the law school’s Board of Visitors and member of the university’s Board of Trustees, congratulated the graduates and their families and shared some words of wisdom.
I greet you all here today with a special kind of joy and pride. I greet you as a first generation American whose own father came to this country in 1923 from Ukraine with $25 in his pocket. He had so many dreams.
Yes, as Emma Lazarus said, he was among those “huddled masses yearning to be free.” Had he not had those dreams – and yes, that courage – I would surely not be standing here before you today. But he did and here I am.
Had he not, he would almost certainly have been shot and buried in a mass grave as his own mother and sisters were for the ‘crime’ of being Jewish.
So yes, I am deeply grateful. And I’d like to take a moment, in fact, and recognize the families who have had so much to do with where you are today. Please stand and give your parents and other loved ones a big round of applause – the kind you give to a winning team. Because, believe me, they were your team yesterday and are your team today and will be for all your tomorrows. So let’s think about today – and you – the graduates. You are the stars of this show and we all know it.
You did it! You walked into the law school at Temple University and everything in your life was different. You may not have realized it in your first year or even your second year, when maybe you thought that you had this thing called ‘law school’ all figured out. But it may have taken the second half of your experience to recognize what was happening to you. And it all led up to this – this amazing day, where there are neon lights flashing “Milestone!”
All the work, the worry, the papers you struggled to write – and to get them in on time – and the all-nighters, the parties, and oh my yes, the people. At Temple they come from all walks of life, from different lives, religions, histories, and it’s that diversity, graduates, that is part of Temple’s gift to you. I hope you cherish it now, and forever, that gift of a wondrous melting pot. It will serve you well.
I’d also like to tell you my story briefly. You may think that I am some kind of silver spoon guy up here, but believe me, that is definitely not the case.
I was a first semester freshman, going to another college in another part of the country, when my own life was turned upside down. My father was the man who so wanted his four children to get the one thing in life he had missed in his own life – a fine education. And when I was 17 years old, my father and my older brother, Jack, who had worked so hard starting a children’s shoe business, were both killed in a commercial plane crash.
In one instant, everything changed for me and my family. I returned home to Philadelphia to help out, and enrolled in Temple’s night school. Even thought I was devastated and lost, I found another kind of home at this University. Unbeknownst to me then – but looking back at my life now – something very important happened to me the day I enrolled in Temple’s night school. I became a Temple Owl.
I was no longer the kid who could hang out and party. I was the kid who had other priorities, like how to help my family get through tough times. I had many part-time jobs to help make ends meet. I waited on tables, sold insurance, and prepared tax returns. So I look around today and feel such awe and gratitude that, in some ways, Temple became a kind of family to me, and brought me back some hope and dreams that I thought had gone down with the plane that had taken away my father and brother.
Temple saw to it that I could go on to Temple’s great law school, where I found my destiny as a lawyer. I am forever grateful for that. I tell you this because I so hope you graduates know that this school is a very special place. It is your launching pad, recognized, respected, and loved by its alumni. It is not an ivory tower place. Temple is vibrant and real – just like life itself.
And there is plenty of room in our vast tent for you, the Class of 2022. Always remember that even when you leave us, you are still a part of us, and always will be.
Temple taught me to persist, to stay in the race, to keep moving on toward the University’s outstanding law school and I found myself in another challenging melting pot where what counted was staying the course. I should hope you graduates look at the common-sensical things of life, the practical, and also the passionate and fine things that make you proud.
And let’s do some time travel while we are at it: Let’s imagine that this is the year 2047 – 25 years from now – and that you are going to your 25th class reunion at Temple Law. So you went on your diet, of course. You bought a dress or a suit that shouts “success.” Maybe you borrowed a snazzy car from a friend to impress even more – but who will you really be? Not on the surface, but the real you?
So let me share ten words – not Ten Commandments – because they are already taken in the most sacred way, but words matter if they mean something – even the simplest words.
Consider these, Class of 2022:
1) PERSIST
2) PREPARE AND PLAN
3) DON’T UNDERESTIMATE INSTINCT
4) DO ALLOW FOR HOPE
5) LOVE, SO IMPORTANT, THAT ONE
6) HELP
7) BELIEVE IN SOMETHING
8) PUT FAMILY AHEAD OF WORK
9) DON’T SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY. IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
10) BE PATIENT
Aww patient – why even bother with that? Why not rush ahead and get things done? Let me tell you a little story about that last life comment. And it has to do with marshmallows. Yes, marshmallows. Bear with me – back in the 1960’s a group of psychologists were studying four-year-old children. The little ones were brought into a room and each one was seated at a table with one marshmallow in front of them.
The kids were told that they could eat the marshmallow right then, but if they waited for a few more minutes, they could have two marshmallows. Now those kids really wanted those two marshmallows, but most of them just couldn’t wait and they ate the marshmallow in front of them right away. A few of the kids did wait. The researchers periodically checked in on that group of kids when they were in high school and here’s what they found. The ones who had held out – who demonstrated patience even at age four – were to become leaders, less prone to have addiction issues, and they even scored higher on their SATs.
Patience pays off big time and the marshmallow experience works in life too.
Life – a huge word! I want to leave you with some thoughts about it. Okay – you may not be the man or woman who finds the cure for cancer, or the secret of world peace, or even how to work your tech toys perfectly. But the world seems to be in quite a mess and I won’t be the first person to tell you that life is not just about material things. You may find out that buying that Porsche at last may not be nearly as much a thrill as getting that very first Honda.
OK – no more advice from this old guy! Just one simple quote that I want to share with you. In such a complicated world, we sometimes have to get a message that isn’t all complicated and fancy. Consider these plain, smart words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“What are you doing for others?”
So simple – so profound. So get out there, Class of 2022, and keep asking yourselves what you are doing for others! Oh, and don’t forget this amazing University. Come back sometimes – in fact, come back often. Visit the professor who may have given you the gift of his or her knowledge. Tell that man or woman that it mattered. Please don’t dare forget us.
Remember you are part of a large and supportive family here and always remember that you are a Temple Owl!
Leonard Barrack FOX ‘65, LAW ‘68, HON ‘19 is the senior and founding partner of Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, a firm which litigates securities and antitrust class actions and complex commercial litigation. He attended Temple University for his undergraduate degree as well as the James E. Beasley School of Law, and has been giving back to the university ever since. In 2019, Barrack was awarded an honorary degree of humane letters in recognition of his many contributions to the university.
Since the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in late 1995, Barrack has been appointed lead or co-lead counsel in dozens of securities cases throughout the U.S., including three of the largest case settlements in securities class action history. These were In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Southern District of New York; In re Cendant Corporation Litigation in New Jersey; and In re McKesson HBOC, Inc. Securities Litigation in the northern District of California.
Barrack was also the first person to represent an institutional investor, the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, as lead plaintiff in two major securities class actions initiated in early 1996.
A leader in Philadelphia’s civic and political circles, Barrack was appointed by President William Clinton as the national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and is the past president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
His philanthropic efforts have included major gifts to Temple Law such as support for a significant expansion of the law school in 2002, in which the historic College Hall on North Broad Street was renovated and renamed the Morris and Sylvia Barrack Hall. Len Barrack and his wife, Lynne, also gave the law school the gifts of the Kohn and Weiner chairs, which are pivotal to attracting world-class legal scholars to the law school.
He also created the Barrack Public Interest Fellowship Program in 1991, which has benefited nearly 200 students. The aim of this fellowship was to remove some of the financial obstacles that so often discourage beginning lawyers from entering public interest jobs after graduation.
Today, Barrack is a member of the board of trustees of Temple University, and for many years he chaired the board’s academic affairs committee. Barrack serves as the current chair of the board’s alumni relations and development committee, and has served as chair of the Beasley School of Law Board of Visitors since 2008.
Barrack’s commitment to the university was recognized at the 2010 University Founder’s Day, where he received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award. Also in 2010, the Student Public Interest Network honored Barrack with the Robert J. Reinstein Public Interest Award.
