
I picked this book up in an airport somewhere about two years ago, and have kept it by my desk at RISD ever since. It comes to mind particularly as I watch the graduates packing up their rooms and lives getting ready for their next destination in life, and I wonder to myself what is the one thing that I hope they leave RISD with as they enter this vastly changing world? There are the little things that we’re giving them as they step out the door like our new artrepreneur kit. And there are the big, big, big things they’ve mastered through their phenomenal education by our faculty to become critical thinkers and critical makers. But if there’s one more thing to reinforce in their already full minds, bodies, and souls, it would be the simple message in this book of the power of kindness and compassion — something I’ve seen abound here in the RISD culture. These times need people that can create with passion (the RISD Way) and compassion (the RISD Way also). I am hopeful for the future of this year’s graduates as they enter our new world, and that they will remember the strengths they honed at RISD as they take on all their dreams and challenges in this new century. -JM