Students’ fury at missing out on surprise $1,000 gift handed to each of her classmates at graduation

Graduating students from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth were surprised when a billionaire commencement speaker presented them with $1,000 at their graduation in May — but not everyone in the graduating class was so lucky.

Emma Yell and her partner James Ristaino were two of the 1,200 graduates who missed the May 16 ceremony and therefore did not receive the money their classmates did. according to the New York Times.

The couple said they wanted to attend the commencement and receive their diplomas after years of juggling their courses with caring for their now eight-year-old daughter Elena.

But the stormy conditions left Elena, who uses a tracheotomy and feeding tubes, exposed to the elements.

In their absence, Rob Hale, a local telecommunications billionaire, handed out two envelopes totaling $1,000 to each graduate who took the stage.

He asked only that the graduates give one of the envelopes containing $500 to “someone in need or to a charity or cause close to them.”

However, the 20 percent of Dartmouth’s graduating class who could not show up on commencement day did not receive a cent.

“You have to show up,” Hale, who is worth about $5.4 billion, says later explained to People Magazine.

Under Hale’s agreement with Dartmouth, the $1,000 was only for students who participated in the May 16 ceremony, said Ryan C. Merrill, a spokesman for the school.

All the money in the unclaimed envelopes went to endowed grants in the names of Hale and his wife.

“That said, the university remains committed to Mr. Hale’s philanthropic distribution, should that ever change,” Merrill said, while those who were unable to graduate argue they could have used the money.

They gave many reasons why they could not attend the rainy ceremony.

For example, one graduate said she missed the ceremony because her postural orthostatic tachycardia flared that day.

Another said he had elderly parents who couldn’t handle the stormy weather, and he didn’t want to leave them home.

Paige Santos also said she has cerebral palsy and uses an electric scooter that wouldn’t have worked well in the rain.

She said if she had gotten your money, she would have donated her $500 to the Special Olympics, where she once competed as a javelin thrower.

And Yell said she and her partner would have given their share to organizations that support children with special needs.

Still, Hale said he always wanted to give back.

He told the Times how an Easter Seals hoop-a-thon in high school fueled his generous spirit, when he raised more than $1,500 in a given time by making layups on a basketball court.

“I felt a kind of inner glow,” Hale said.

When he was in college, he volunteered to be a Big Brother for a boy who would end up being in his wedding party.

And as his start-up, Granite Telecommunications, grew, so did the amount of money he gave to charities.

According to the Times, he and his wife were giving away $1 million every week by 2022.

This year they also donated $26.2 million to various groups as part of Hale’s desire to complete the Boston Marathon.

Still, Hale has continued to defend his refusal to give graduating seniors who couldn’t attend Dartmouth’s rainy ceremony any money.

“Some of life is showing up,” he said. “The message I want to convey to those who don’t volunteer is, ‘Hey, this is a celebration of four years of hard work and you need to show up.’

After hearing of the graduate’s medical problems, Hale appeared to consider arranging “accommodation.”

But apparently he changed his mind ten days later.

“While he certainly feels sorry for the people who couldn’t be there for whatever reason, there were still over a thousand graduates who were with him in the pouring rain for commencement,” Katie Sheridan, his executive assistant, said. to the Times. .

‘He would like to hold on to the original feeling that you had to be there to receive the envelopes.’

For Yell, that announcement led to renewed disappointment.

“I just want people like me – or us – to be seen,” she said.

“I constantly feel isolated in every way and the graduation ceremony was the icing on the cake.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to Dartmouth for comment.