From a Brockton kid to Stonehill's commencement speaker: John Della Volpe returns home
BROCKTON - When John Della Volpe was a teenager living with his family in Brockton, he and his friend would ride their bikes down the dirt path that led to Stonehill College’s campus. They’d play basketball in the college’s old gym, or ice skate on campus during the winter.
Della Volpe, now the director of polling at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, returned to Stonehill on May 22 – not on a bike to play basketball, but to speak in front of over 500 students as the graduation commencement speaker.
“It was a particular honor to be asked to give a commencement anywhere, but specifically Stonehill which I kind of grew up in the shadow of,” he said.
He only took a few summer classes at Stonehill (he attended University of San Diego), but graduated from Cardinal Spelman in the mid 1980’s.
“I really do think that growing up in Brockton has made me better at what I do,” he said. "You can carry Brockton with you wherever you are."
Since then, Dell Volpe campaigned with Michael Dukakis and Joe Biden, presented inside the White House’s Oval Office and built a political career that led him to Harvard in 2000, where he researches and polls voters across the country.
Not to mention, he wrote a book titled “Fight” about the incoming generation of young voters. The title is a subtle reference to Brockton's Rocky Marciano.
"[That was] based on my interest in boxing and kind of the attitude of Brockton that I can see in the eyes of young people today," he said.
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How he got his start in Brockton
Della Volpe's maternal grandfather immigrated to Brockton from Ireland and worked in a shoe factory. His Italian grandfather on his dad's side worked in manufacturing, making uniforms for the military and professional athletes. His parents, two Brockton High alums, met in a drug store that used to be on Main Street.
"I got my first start in politics in Brockton, you know," Della Volpe said.
City councilors and former Mayors - like late Mayor Carl Pitaro and councilor Louis Angelo in the 1980's - toured Brockton City Hall with Della Volpe as a high school and college student.
"They certainly also were a key contributor to fuel my interest in politics," Della Volpe said.
He said he grew up watching Ronald Reagan on pay-per-view on his family's television, and was there when then-president Reagan visited Brockton.
But even before high school, his sixth-grade teacher Patricia Lawton, who "came from a very active political family in Brockton," Della Volpe said, first sparked his love for politics with her "experimental classroom" in Hancock Elementary School.
"Having that proximity to politics is really important in someone's life," he said.
Brockton 'is a microcosm' of America
Since Della Volpe's parents moved from Brockton to Cape Cod - where his family spent many summers growing up - he's brought his kids to the same places he went when he was young.
"In some cases, the literal exact same people are there from when I was there 40 years ago," he said.
When he came back to Stonehill for his commencement address, he realized how much the college had grown since his days riding his bike to campus.
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"Although a lot of the faces and names have changed, Brockton is still supporting those people who come there who want to work hard and create a better life for themselves and their family," Della Volpe said.
"Brockton really is a microcosm of America. The good, the bad and everything in between."
Brockton has a large immigration population from Cape Verde and Haiti, with roughly 22% of Brockton High's student body born in Cape Verde.
"I still think Brockton does that today," Della Volpe said. "The ancestors, though, aren't Irish and Italian, they're Cape Verdean, Haitian, etc."
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton native Della Volpe returns to talk to Stonehill's graduates
