When I’m not writing or editing articles that grace these pages, I’m an audio engineer. In 40-some years in that business — along with the ones I’ve heard as a friend or relative attending a ceremony — I’ve heard well over 100 commencement addresses. Some of them are brilliant and inspiring. Some of them are thought-provoking. Some are hilarious.
But I’ve never heard one where the speaker told about the time they witnessed a suicide.
Such was the case at Central Connecticut State University on Saturday, when 1988 CCSU graduate (and former Kansas City Chiefs general manager) Scott Pioli delivered the commencement address to 2019’s graduating class.