A planned protest of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s commencement address at Syracuse University fizzled out yesterday.
Only a dozen of the 5,000 graduates removed their caps and gowns in protest of the banker’s speech, and by the end, Dimon — who urged them to speak the truth “even when it’s unpopular” — seemed to have won over the crowd.
He told students to “do the right thing, not the easy thing” and not to become someone else’s “lapdog or sycophant.”
Graduate Roshni Bhambhwani said she was initially critical of Dimon’s selection “not because of what he stands for, but because I thought the university was using our ceremony to strengthen its ties to JPMorgan, which recently funded a $30 million technology center.”
She said she didn’t remove her robe out of respect to Dimon and was surprised that she liked what he said.
“He did have a good message,” Bhambhwani said.