Guskiewicz Tells Seniors to Make Sacrifices

Posted on May 1, 2024

Former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz encouraged students April 29 to be self-advocates, to make sacrifices now for their future and to surround themselves with good people, during an event that was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Guskiewicz, now president of Michigan State University after resigning as chancellor in January, was on campus to deliver the Last Lecture outside Morehead Planetarium. Sponsored by Carolina Alumni, the Last Lecture invites faculty members or coaches who have been selected by seniors to share reflections and advice from their life’s journey as if it was their last chance to impart wisdom. The event is named after Randy Pausch, a former Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor who conceived the idea in 2007 after learning his pancreatic cancer was terminal.

Guskiewicz spoke for nearly 25 minutes to about 100 students gathered on the lawn on the west side of Morehead Planetarium after being introduced by senior class president Lauryn Lovett. Guskiewicz said he was thrilled when Lovett, a journalism and political science major from Alpharetta, Georgia, contacted him in February about addressing the graduating seniors. He began by telling the students that although most people want to forget fall 2020, their first semester in college when COVID-19 closed campus, he wanted them to remember it because it taught them how to adapt and persevere, and he was confident it would give them the confidence to know they can achieve their goals.

Guskiewicz said he had three main pieces of advice to offer students and began by telling them they should advocate for themselves. The former chancellor mentioned Nehemiah Stewart ’21, a Black alumnus from Washington, D.C., who as a first-year student lacked transportation to get home for Thanksgiving, which led him to create a ride-sharing app. Stewart founded a nonprofit company in 2020 called Leveling the Playing Field, which recruits minority undergraduates and places them into influential internships with corporations, according to its website.

Stewart is in UNC’s MD-PhD program and works at the Song Lab in UNC Pharmacology. “Nehemiah is a perfect example of advocating for yourself, and I know that there are many more Nehemiahs among you,” Guskiewicz said.

Guskiewicz, who is from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb, shared a personal story to help students understand his second point, which was sometimes waiting is important. As he was finishing his master’s degree, he said, a faculty mentor told him it would never be easier to complete a doctorate degree than now.

“When he told me that, I had been a student my entire life, but yet it was incredible advice,” Guskiewicz said. “I was weighing three job offers already, one of which was to actually stay on the medical staff with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and what an incredible opportunity that could have been to remain back home in western Pennsylvania. But in the end, I made the tougher decision to go to the University of Virginia, a decision that I realize every day was probably the best career decision of my life.”

Guskiewicz earned a PhD in sports medicine from UVA, which he said launched his career as a faculty member, an athletic trainer, a concussion researcher and, ultimately, an academic leader. Guskiewicz is a nationally recognized expert on sport-related concussions and has worked with the NFL. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as the Genius Award, and he was the founding director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center and the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes — both at UNC.

For his final point, Guskiewicz told the students it’s important to associate with people whose values match theirs, those with whom they can experience mutual trust and people who may see things through a different lens than they. “Take the time to get to know people before you sign onto anything that will take your time, energy and finances,” Guskiewicz said.

Merging self-advocacy, deferred gratification and your networks with integrity is key to success, Guskiewicz told the students. “When you walk out of Kenan Stadium in about two weeks from now with your Carolina degree in hand, you are entering a world that is counting on you and counting on your integrity,” he said. “And I want you to think about that word — integrity. I hope that you’ll reflect on that. There’s nothing more important to me than integrity, and sadly, there aren’t enough people checking that at the door these days.”

After finishing his speech at the podium, Guskiewicz took a microphone and walked to the lawn where students sat, to take some questions. Within minutes, he was interrupted by a couple of dozen pro-Palestinian protesters, who had been demonstrating on Polk Place in front of South Building.  Guskiewicz told the crowd he would not be able to continue and remained to talk with students. But when protestors started heckling him by name, he and his wife left the event.

Senior applied math major Naomi Novick from Raleigh said she was angered by the protestors’ interruption but was glad they didn’t arrive until after Guskiewicz spoke. She said she appreciated the former chancellor discussing deferred gratification, and she plans to pursue a doctorate.

John Fredett, a junior from Stamford, Connecticut, said he wanted to attend the last Lecture because he respects Guskiewicz. “I think Kevin G’s a wonderful public speaker,” he said.

Lovett, senior class president, said she was glad Guskiewicz accepted the speaking invitation. “When we first came here, that was right when he was starting as chancellor … and we all thought that he was going to be here to send us off on our last day here at Commencement,” she said. “Given that he left to go to Michigan State, we definitely wanted him to come back and speak. His speech was super encouraging.”

— Laurie D. Willis ’86