Class of 2015 told to embrace spontaneity and ‘defy expectations’

Award-winning journalist, producer and playwright Eric Schlosser had a simple message for the 447 members of Connecticut College’s Class of 2015: Sometimes, the best things in life make no sense.

Speaking at the College’s 97th Commencement May 17, Schlosser, who is known for investigative journalism that exposes issues ignored by mainstream media — from the fast food industry to the plight of migrant workers to the possibilities of nuclear disaster — told the graduates that they are part of a generation that was programmed to succeed from an early age, in a world in which corporations have never been bigger; mass media has never been “more centralized, more docile or more toothless;” and the government has never had a greater ability to track and predict our every movement.

But all those systems of control are fallible, and the cracks lead to great opportunity, the author of “Fast Food Nation” and “Reefer Madness” told the graduates.

Schlosser then told a story, about how a young woman made a split-second decision on her way home from an interview at Connecticut College in 1947 to pick up a hitchhiker, who turned out to be a young man who had applied to Yale Law School. A year later, the two agreed to a date and each brought a friend — the young man brought Schlosser’s father; the young woman, his mother. “That’s how my parents met, on a blind date, on this campus, almost 67 years ago,” Schlosser said, crediting randomness and spontaneity for his very existence.

“Class of 2015, I hope every single one of you can break free of the programming, defy expectations, resist the urge to control other people, show compassion to those less fortunate than yourself, find something you love doing and find someone you can love for 67 years,” he said.