FiresideND, Part 12: Adm. Christopher Grady '84 Commencement Address 2025

Notre Dame celebrated its 180th Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 18, at Notre Dame Stadium. Adm. Christopher Grady ’84, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the principal speaker and received an honorary degree. Upon announcing him as a commencement speaker, Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. said of Adm. Grady, “A true American hero, Admiral Grady has demonstrated tremendous courage, visionary leadership and outstanding dedication to public service over his distinguished career, which spans more than 40 years. It is a privilege to have him address our graduates who will, no doubt, be inspired both by his words and by his example.”

Thanks for listening! The ThinkND Podcast is brought to you by ThinkND, the University of Notre Dame's online learning community. We connect you with videos, podcasts, articles, courses, and other resources to inspire minds and spark conversations on topics that matter to you — everything from faith and politics, to science, technology, and your career.

• Learn more about ThinkND and register for upcoming live events at think.nd.edu.
• Join our LinkedIn community for updates, episode clips, and more.

Transcript

Paul Blaschko 0:06

Welcome to Fireside ND, the podcast from Think ND that brings the experience and expertise of Notre Dame to you whenever, wherever. From STEM to art, from religion to health. Listen and learn with Notre Dame on the go.

President 0:21

It's my honor to welcome back to Notre Dame Admiral Christopher Grady, proud member of the class of 1984, and now also a member of this class 2025. Admiral Grady serves as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff. The nation's second highest ranking military officer, a native of Newport, Rhode Island. Admiral Grady has received his military commission through Notre Dame's Navy, ROTC, and rose through the ranks over his 40 year Navy career to command just about every fleet you can imagine. Commander of the US Navy's six fleet, where he was responsible for maritime operations. Spanning from Europe to Africa and support of our nation's interests. I've had the great privilege of knowing Admiral Grady for several years, and I could tell you that he carries the enormous responsibilities of ensuring our country's defense in a world where the threats are many with tremendous grace and courage. What is most striking to me about Admiral Grady is his humanity. His genuine concern and compassion for others, especially those in most need and his deep desire for a world where justice and peace prevail. Admiral Grady, you have given your life to something larger than yourself, and you continue to demonstrate how to serve the public good while navigating the complexity and transcending the partisanship of our world today. I. You are a true American hero and we could not be more proud to claim you as part of the Notre Dame family and for all the titles and positions you've held. Perhaps the one that is most telling today is that you are the Navy's old salt. It's a special distinction that recognizes your extensive knowledge and expertise as a professional Mariner. And your position as the longest serving active duty surface warfare officer in the United States Navy class of 2025. Please welcome Admiral Christopher Grady.

Grady 3:15

Thank you Father Dow, and good morning everyone. Good morning, class of 2025. It is an honor and a privilege to be here today, but first I want to thank the father Dow, the board of trustees, the faculty, the staff, as we recognize this very special class. And before I do anything else, I want to take a moment to recognize the hard work and the dedication of the team that put this entire amazing event together. How about a round of applause for everyone who made this possible. And of course, I also want to extend a very special thanks to the parents and to the families and to the friends here today. Celebrating with their graduates. Long before you're stepping foot on this beautiful campus here at South Bend, you poured into these incredible young men and women and built values that are based upon intellectual curiosity, excellence, and humility. Your unwavering support saw these graduates through many challenges and triumphs. Throughout their academic careers, and that support is so very essential as they continue to embody the spirit of God country and Notre Dame As the Vice Chairman, I always say that family readiness contributes to operational readiness that a strong family means. A strong fleet means a strong force, and the same rings true here. A strong family means strong fighting Irish, and a strong force for good. So to the graduates, how about another round of applause for the parents and the families and their friends, and the entire Notre Dame community. Truly, I am delighted. I am humbled to celebrate this day with you. And I am humbled because I do believe that I am one of you. Now, just to be sure, and this is the audience participation part. I have a few questions, not a test, but a few questions. Let's start off with an easy one. I. If you think that South Dining Hall has the best food, please clap. All right. North Dining Hall. Okay. South Dining Hall it is. Okay. If you ever spent any time on the second floor of the library clap. And clap. If you ever actually studied on the second floor of the library, you're not supposed to lie at Notre Dame. So I'm just, uh, tell you, okay, this is a little harder and I've polled many of you, uh, in the weekend, during the weekend. This is a question about who is our number one rival? And this is, uh, this is a con, is a, a complicated question. Um, clap if you think it's, uh, Ohio State. Okay. Uh, uh, let's say Clemson. All right, good. Number one rival. Now, how about Michigan and Southern Cal? Well done, father. It had to either be Southern Cal or Michigan. So, good answer. All right, one last question. This is the, this is the, the, the diciest of all. Where are my alumni dogs out there? Clap. Okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. So, uh, father doubted, I have agreed that we will ship your diplomas. After we send those to Dylan, first go Big red. All right. Okay. You all passed. Well done. Now as father DOD Dowd said in, uh, in my introduction, I am the Navy's old salt, the longest serving surface warfare officer on active duty. And what that really means is that I have seen a lot of moving water under the keel. Uh, and though I graduated here 41 years ago, I really am one of you not just because of the questions asked in the, in the, and the award, uh, and the honorary degree. Uh, but I really am one of you. Now, you might just say, uh, okay, boomer. Um, maybe not, maybe not so much. Um. But I truly feel that today, and I thank you for that. In those 41 years in the Navy, I have been forged by the sea, but it really started right here. I believe that I was forged here at Notre Dame first. Since then, I have had the opportunity to do some amazing things and this old salt. Wants to share some, see stories with you, see stories that anchor some important lessons that I would like to pass on. Lessons on trust and truth, on agility, on continuous improvement, and perhaps most importantly on moral courage. But first, let me describe the dynamic world that you are about to enter because it underscores just why we need you so much. Our world is increasingly congested, contested, and complex, and the world that you are about to enter is a world where geography and networks and space and populations are increasingly contest to congested driving the pace of change to accelerate exponentially. It is a world. Where Rival powers contest one another from the seabed to space online and in real life blurring the lines between friend and foe and constantly shifting the rules of the game. It is a complex tapestry of interconnected systems where the actions of one can have far reaching consequences for others. And unlike the world here at Notre Dame, the perfect world here at Notre Dame where every blade of grass is perfectly cut, don't walk on it by the way, where the architecture is beautifully sculpted and all of your classes have been thoughtfully curated. The world that we are giving you is not perfect. It is a world marked by persistent conflicts, unresolved crises, and unmet needs. It is a world that needs Notre Dame graduates to be a force for good, and it is a world that needs your principled leadership forged right here at Notre Dame. So success in this congested, contested complex and imperfect world. Demands commitment. Commitment to trust and truth, to agility, to continuous improvement and commitment to moral courage. As a young officer, I learned that building and maintaining trust is essential to effective leadership, and that trust is built on a commitment to truth. When I took command for the first time, I quickly learned that trust is a precious commodity. First time captains, as with any leader, have to learn to trust those around them because no one person can do it all, especially on a war shift with over 300 people and first time captains especially have to get over themselves as the only answer. And for me. That came from trusting my command master chief, the ship's senior enlisted sailor, who pulled me aside one day and said, look, captain, you're pretty good, but we can be great as a team if you trust the crew. We will speak truth to power if you let us. Now we can debate whether trust is earned or given, but I can tell you that trust is difficult to maintain, easy to lose, and once lost, nearly impossible to get back. And trust is built through the ruthless commitment to a pursuit of truth. We as a Notre Dame community ask, what would you fight for? And I answer truth. Truth is worth fighting for. Notre Dame has forged you the value of pursuing and sharing truth for its own sake. And this is the foundation Trust is built on. You must peer through the noise of emotion and misinformation and disinformation. You must be discerning consumers of truth, and you must be courageous speakers of truth to power. Trust will follow now while truth is immutable, I believe that a commitment to agility requires you to be flexible and adaptable. Because this world is not static. It is very dynamic. You must be willing to adjust your strategies to changing circumstances and unforeseen challenges. As the legendary coach Lou Holtz once said, and you always have to have a Lou Holtz quote, when you do, when you're here at Notre Dame Stadium, life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. In my line of work, that means that no plan survives contact with the enemy. My best days in command were not when everything went right. But when things went wrong and the crew, the team responded like on a beautiful day in the Arabian Gulf off the coast of uh, Bahrain, when a routine underway at sea was interrupted by a catastrophic failure, and the crew responded expertly, swiftly, and safely. Or when I was a strike group commander, or we had to adjust to en enemy tactics, and we sent the air wing over the beach during the fight against isis. The enemy was a learning adversary, but we learned and adapted faster. You must do the same. Do not let the challenges of this world paralyze you, remain agile, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Don't be a victim. Have a bias for action, adapt, and make in-game adjustments. Only then can you play like a champion today. And champions embrace a commitment to continuous improvement, particularly in this dynamic world. When I was a young officer on the cruiser, Princeton, my captain was in his fourth command. His fourth command, three times before he had successfully commanded a ship and sea, but he was still learning. I remember one day in the South China Sea, the captain was addressing the crew for what seemed like the 10th time that day. And when he finished and he was sitting in his chair on the bridge, I asked him why he addressed the crew so often. First he said they need to know. And then he said, also, I can be better at communicating and the only way to get better is to practice. That was very wise, and I have never forgotten it. Leaders forged here at Notre Dame seek out opportunities to learn, to improve and to grow, and I think that means you. Have a commitment to the virtuous cycle of continuous self-improvement and have the courage to be humble enough to admit that you are not perfect and that you can always improve in a world that is all about me, me, me. You dare to ask yourselves in your forum events this year, what do we owe each other? If nothing else? We owe each other our best. Always indeed being forged here at Notre Dame, the world needs your best. And in this ever-changing world, your best today may not be enough for tomorrow. Now all of you should feel proud and happy and accomplished, but never, ever be satisfied. Always keep learning, always keep striving for better, and always remember what we owe each other. Finally, a commitment to moral courage may be the toughest, and I think that more than anything else. As Notre Dame graduates, our commitment to demonstrating moral courage is forged within us. Moral courage is about standing up for what is right. Oral courage is about choosing the harder right over the easier wrong, and standing in the fiery furnace for what you believe in. Moral courage is about making tough calls in difficult situations. And let me tell you, no one is perfect. So here is one last see story about a time that I failed to make the tough call. It's one that turned out okay, but could have been much worse. I was bringing my ship into the Port of Rome for Christmas. We had been at sea for over a hundred days, and the crew really needed a break. Families were flying in. It was Christmas after all, and many were going to mass with the Pope. As we maneuvered into port, it was blowing a gale, 60 knots of wind, rain, terrible weather, and I thought about waiting till the weather cleared, but I did not want to disappoint the crew. That was the wrong answer though. We made it in successfully. It was, shall we say, very sporty. Um, it was not my best landing. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the ship was okay, but it could have gone very, very wrong, and I should have had the moral courage to do what was right and not what was popular. So when the pressure is building and when temptation captures your attention when everyone else seems to be going along, remember you were forged here at Notre Dame. You are part of a force for good. And they do not call us. The fighting Irish for nothing. Yes, the world that you are about to enter is indeed challenging and perhaps masked behind some of your excitement. Today. Well-deserved excitement. You may be harboring some trepidation. But I am here to tell you, you are prepared because you have been forged here at Notre Dame. From this humble yet proud university beside two lakes, you'll bravely navigate our congested world and pursuit of what is right and true to build communities of trust. You will continue to be tempered when your efforts are contested through your determination to improve every day because that is what we owe to each other. You'll remain agile and able to react in the midst of unforeseen and complex situations, and you will confront this imperfect world with unflinching moral courage and conviction to face adversity. In the name of God, country and Notre Dame. So as you go forth, remember that you are not alone. You are part of a global community of graduates, also forged here at Notre Dame, who are committed to being a force for good in the world. You are part of a legacy that is committed to trust and truth, to agility, to continuous improvement, and to moral courage, and you are part of a tradition that champions life. Sweetness and hope. So go forth with confidence, go forth with courage, go forth with the knowledge that you have been forged here at Notre Dame and you are prepared to make a difference in the world. Congratulations. Class of 2025 and go Irish.

Paul Blaschko 21:27

I want to thank our listeners for joining us this month on FiresideND. I hope you enjoy the episode and will visit think.nd.edu to learn more Until next time, inspire your mind and spark conversations.