Malvern parent and trustee will speak at his last Malvern graduation as a parent.
Even before Mr. John McGlinn finalized his speech for the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2018, he had a gist of what he wanted to say.
“It’s still coming together, and I don’t plan to relate to many platitudes,” he said. “[I’ll say] what I wish someone would’ve told me when I was that age and graduating from high school.”
McGlinn grew up in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, which is near Reading, about an hour from Malvern. He went to high school at Holy Name School and the Hill School, eventually going to the University of Notre Dame for college and the University of North Carolina for graduate school.
He came back to the area and sent his sons to Malvern Prep. His sons Dan ’14 and Tait ’16 have continued on to Notre Dame, his third son John ’18 will attend Cornell University in the fall, and his daughter Kelly will attend the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur as a freshman next year.
McGlinn served as Vice Chairman of the Malvern Prep Board of Trustees in 2017-2018, and will serve as Chairman of the Board beginning in 2018-2019. He currently works as an investor at Archbrook Capital Manager where he is a founding partner. He also serves on the Board of Alexin LLC, TrayPak Corporation, and Argus Event Staffing LLC.
He said he first began talks with Malvern about being the graduation speaker earlier this year.
“Fr. Reilly and I started talking about it in February when it was becoming clear that I may be the next Chair of the Board of Trustees, and we agreed that it was probably a good idea,” McGlinn said.
However, it wasn’t until a little later that he became the official speaker. According to McGlinn, he felt nervous.
“Like any person, I was immediately stressed out. It was intimidating, but I was also very honored,” he said. “It’s a neat thing to think about, I had a lot of fun thinking about what I’m going to say, and how I’ll present things.”
Malvern selected him for a few reasons, he said.
“When Fr. Reilly and I first talked about it, we thought it we be a good idea to introduce me as the Chair of the Board,” he said. “But, also I have a son graduating, I know a lot of boys in that class, some very well, and I’ve known several since they were young.”
In addition to his personal connections to many of the seniors and his new role, his love for Malvern also played a role in his selection.
“Frankly I love Malvern, I love its mission,” he said.
Overall, McGlinn is excited for the opportunity to speak, especially because of his love for Malvern.
“I come from a Notre Dame family, and from the first time we pulled on this campus eleven years ago… [I thought] the similarities between Malvern and Notre Dame are really strong,” he said. “[They have] strong academics, strong athletics, and strong spirituality. And that’s had a huge impact on our family. I’m honored to be able to give back to this place.”
UPDATE: COMMENCEMENT SPEECH, JUNE 7 • via Malvern TV Studio Livestream
