Yogurt mogul delivers send-off to 2009 grads "You don't have to choose between doing good and doing well," Hirshberg says

Author: Tess Russell

On May 24, when President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm Gary Hirshberg announced during his speech at Middlebury's Commencement that he planned to "get the bad part over first," he could just have easily been talking about Sunday morning's weather, which forced the Class of 2009 to sport blue ponchos under the requisite uniform of robe, sunglasses and bed-head. Fortunately for spectators and seniors alike, early showers gave way to clear blue skies just as Hirshberg's initial warning - "The future is scary as heck" - unfolded into a largely encouraging talk focusing on the outgoing graduates' ability to make "huge and positive strides" in the face of "deeply and profoundly [economic and] ecologic" challenges.

"I recognize that you are beginning your journeys exactly as I began my business: broke, clueless about the future and in debt," said Hirshberg, who started his organic dairy product company in 1983. "And since you are graduating into the worst economy and jobs picture since the Great Depression, I think it is reasonable, as you leave the security of your dorms and apartments and your relatively predictable schedules, for you to be completely terrified