Commissioner Is High-Ranking Academic

By GEOFFREY GRAY, Staff Reporter of the Sun | May 16, 2005

Delivering the commencement speech yesterday at his alma mater, the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, encouraged the graduating class of St. John's University to embrace careers in public service in New York.

"Part of being a commencement speaker is giving sage advice, so here it is," Mr. Kelly said. "Stay in New York... The future is under construction here."

Mr. Kelly, one of the most academically accomplished of public servants, is no stranger to graduation ceremonies: He received a degree from St. John's University Law School after receiving a bachelor's degree at Manhattan College. He went on to receive a master of laws degree from New York University and a master's degree in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In yesterday's 15-minute speech, Mr. Kelly used the attacks of September 11, 2001, as a constant theme. He reminded the students that St. John's was closer than most colleges to the attacks, with the university's Manhattan campus only three blocks from the World Trade Center site, on Murray Street between West and Greenwich streets. More than 120 alumni of St. John's died in the World Trade Center attacks, and more than 120 residences were affected as a result, Mr. Kelly said. He also emphasized that many students had gone on to pursue careers within the rank-and-file of the New York Police Department.

"Resiliency, dedication, respect," Mr. Kelly said, were qualities St. John's students had shown throughout the aftermath of the attacks - qualities that earned them the status of bona-fide "New Yorkers for life."

In closing, Mr. Kelly drew a reference from President Kennedy's historic remark in West Berlin in 1963, five months before his death.

"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was 'civis Romanus sum,' " Kennedy said. "Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'" Drawing a parallel, Mr. Kelly said: "Today, I can say my proudest boast is 'I am a New Yorker.'"

The faculty and administration at St. John's also awarded Mr. Kelly their highest achievement award, a medal of honor, for his leadership in making the city more secure.