Keynote speaker, Lynda Resnick, announces $1M fund to inspire graduates to do community service
Wearing masks and sitting six feet apart didn’t stop the Fresno State graduates, their families and friends at Bulldog Stadium from celebrating with cheers, waves, signs, decorated caps — and a few tears.
They also were surprised when keynote speaker Lynda Resnick, in a pre-recorded message, unveiled a new $1 million fund she and her husband, Stewart Resnick, of The Wonderful Company have established to inspire graduates to get involved in local community service.
The “Wonderful Butterfly Project” fund provides up to $500 each for the first 2,000 graduates from the Fresno State classes of 2020 and 2021 who complete two days of service with nonprofit organizations in their own communities. In total, the fund will generate 32,000 hours of volunteer work for Central Valley organizations.
The University’s 109th/110th Commencement was an emotional ceremony for the classes of 2020 and 2021, which in the past 14 months have largely been absent from campus and taking classes virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since there was no in-person ceremony this past year, 2020 graduates were invited to join in this year’s festivities.
The first of six ceremonies was held Friday, May 14, for the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. Graduates seated on the football field were surrounded by family and friends who were socially distanced in the stands. The other ceremonies will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Class of 2021 had over 6,200 graduates, joining 6,400 who completed their studies in 2020.
Fresno State Interim President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval congratulated the graduates for persevering through difficult experiences and keeping their eyes on the goal of earning Fresno State degrees.
“You are now the ambassadors of the value that comes with a great education,” he said. “I know that your next steps reflect the thoughtful and creative engagement that will reinvent society in order to better our world.”
The ripple effect of butterfly wings
The name of the Resnicks’ new fund is inspired by the butterfly effect, Lynda Resnick said. It’s a phenomenon that was first discovered as part of the chaos theory by Edward Lorenz, a mathematician who revealed through a computer model that the tiny flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil might start a ripple effect that ultimately caused a tornado in Texas.
“When you serve in the same place that you live, you build momentum, movements and relationships that make an indelible mark on your community,” she said in her pre-recorded commencement address that will be broadcast during all six ceremonies.
“Never underestimate the powerful impact you can have in your own backyard,” she said. “We hope that this million-dollar gift to your classes will inspire you. Flap your wings, kick up dust and bring a tornado of change down on anyone who tells you that it’s impossible to fix the world. You are the ones who will take to the air and inspire us all to fly higher once again.”
Lynda Resnick is vice chairman and co-owner of The Wonderful Company, a privately held, Los Angeles-based global enterprise that produces a diverse range of high-quality, healthy products, including such iconic brands as Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Halos, Seedless Lemons, POM Wonderful, FIJI Water, JUSTIN and Landmark wines, and Teleflora.
Graduates can visit www.wonderfulbutterflyproject.com to match with local nonprofits and apply for funding once they’ve completed their community service hours.
The Resnicks made a $10 million investment in 2019 toward the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union, currently under construction at Fresno State, the largest-ever philanthropic gift made to a student-life initiative at the University.
Jiménez-Sandoval presided over the ceremony and California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro conferred degrees on the graduates. Castro, who served as Fresno State’s president for seven years, moved to Long Beach in January to head the 23-campus CSU system.
In addition to the six University commencement ceremonies, eight campus “affinity” groups will host virtual recognition celebrations. They are Rainbow, Chicano/Latino, American Indian, African American, Asian American Pacific Islander, International students, CAMP and Renaissance Scholars.
