Posted onJune 5, 2015|Comments Off on FBI Head Highlights GFA Graduation
It had to be the biggest graduation address ever in Westport — and not just because the speaker is 6-8.
FBI director James Comey keynoted Greens Farms Academy’s 90th commencement yesterday — and not just because he lives around the corner.
Comey — whose previous jobs include deputy attorney general, US attorney and general counsel at Bridgewater Associates — is the father of graduating senior (and student council chair) Claire Comey. Two of his 5 other children also attended GFA.
After noting that a drone flying overhead was not the FBI’s, Comey discussed 4 keys to success: high emotional intelligence; effective communication; the courage to ask questions, and care for one’s reputation.
Want to hear more of what an FBI director says to 78 teenagers? Click below.
Comments Off on FBI Head Highlights GFA Graduation
FBI director James Comey lives at one of the most elite addresses in Westport — a very white suburb to begin with.
But speaking yesterday at Georgetown University, he addressed race relations in stark terms.
The Washington Postdescribed Comey as a “Teller of Hard Truths,” who called the nation “at a crossroads.” The Post quoted him:
As a society, we can choose to live our everyday lives, raising our families and going to work, hoping someone, somewhere, will do something to ease the tension — to smooth over the conflict. We can turn up the music on the car radio and drive around these problems. Or we can choose to have an open and honest discussion about what our relationship is today — what it should be, what it could be, and what it needs to be — if we took more time to better understand one another.
The Post added, “Comey laid out a number of hard truths on race — a rare move for such a high-profile white law enforcement official, or even a law-enforcement official, period.”
FBI director — and Westport resident — James Comey.
The New York Times said that the “unusually candid” speech was “well received by law enforcement officials.” The Times continued:
Citing the song “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” from the Broadway show “Avenue Q,” he said police officers of all races viewed black and white men differently. (Comey added) that some officers scrutinize African-Americans more closely using a mental shortcut that “becomes almost irresistible and maybe even rational by some lights” because black men are arrested at much higher rates than white men.
Click here to read Comey’s entire, groundbreaking speech. Or watch it below:
James Comey — the man President Obama is expected to name as the new head of the FBI — has plenty of ties to Westport.
He lives in Green’s Farms.
James Comey
He’s been general counsel to Bridgewater Associates, the huge hedge fund headquartered here.
As US attorney for the Southern District of New York, he helped send then-Westporter Martha Stewart to the Big House.
But — although both the Southern District and FBI were involved — he had nothing to do with the arrest and conviction of Rajat Gupta. That’s the former businessman/philanthropist convicted in June 2012 on insider trading charges. He lives in another big house on Beachside Avenue — around the corner from Comey.
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