Ladouceur Addresses SMC Graduate & Professional Commencement
Legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur MA '89 addressed the Saint Mary's College graduate and professional studies commencement on Sunday, May 27, telling the audience that education is a path, not a goal, and that uncertainty is a sign that you're on the right path toward discovering the truth.
At the ceremony, the College conferred 467 degrees, including 219 master’s degrees from the School of Economics and Business Administration; 5 doctorates and 139 master’s from the Kalmanovitz School of Education; and 76 master’s from the School of Liberal Arts, plus 19 bachelor’s degrees in leadership and organizational studies and 9 in the performing arts.
Ladouceur, the former head football coach for De La Salle High School in Concord for 34 years, has set the standard for success in coaching high school football with a record of 399 wins and 25 losses, including a 151-game winning streak that holds a national record. He is also a full-time instructor in religious studies at the school.
But Ladouceur didn't speak about football at the commencement; instead, he spoke about the value of learning.
“Saint Mary’s is the place where I learned how to learn; the discipline of learning,” he told the audience.
After asking the graduate students “What do your newfound knowledge, skills, and degree from Saint Mary’s mean to you?” he said, “For me, after 38 years of being associated with the Lasallian schools, it always was, and always will be, education with a higher purpose.”
Rahul Chachara, who received his master's degree from the Trans-Global Executive MBA Program, is already putting that approach into practice. He is working on a plan to create a supply chain that will provide jobs for farmers in Africa and a sustainable food source for the ever-growing population of India.
Chachara, who works in high tech, said it will be a big shift for him, and one he looks forward to eagerly. "I chose Saint Mary's because I wanted to add that social aspect to my education and do some good," he said.