I am delighted to welcome and greet you all from the President’s Office, here in Westlands, as we gather virtually from around the globe to celebrate the 93rd Commencement of Sarah Lawrence College!
Before I launch into commencement proper, I want to offer a quick round of “commencement bingo”—that game that students, faculty, and staff sometimes play at commencements, checking off the platitudes and overused phrases. So, do you have your cards ready for COVID-commencement bingo? Here we go: “from around the globe” … “unprecedented” … “resilient” … “adaptable” … “troubling times” … “an abundance of caution” … “return to normalcy” … “health and safety” … “you’re muted!”… “Am I frozen?” ….
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I promise—as requested by some of you seniors—that those words and phrases will not recur in this welcome and send-off.
While my attempt at a humorous take on hosting commencement in the shadow of COVID is one way of acknowledging this moment… this last year… this last 15 months… I want to briefly take a more serious turn before beginning my remarks proper.
Even as we glimpse the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we know that the shadow of loss hangs heavily over us all at this moment, that it does so unevenly, and that it does so in ways that have exposed long-standing racial and economic disparities. And for our Sarah Lawrence community, there is the particular loss and our heavy hearts at the death of a beloved member of the Class of 2021, Maddie Mertsch.
Maddie’s memory will remain fixed in our hearts and minds through her poetry and her music and her fierceness on the soccer field;
she will forever be part of our campus through the tree we planted to honor her;
and as a member of the Class of 2021, she will be awarded a posthumous degree today, by acclamation of the faculty.
So as we begin this joyous day, I would like to ask that we first observe a moment of silence in memory and gratitude for the life of Maddie and for all whom we have loved and lost in this past year.
Thank you.
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When I arrived at Sarah Lawrence, I established a tradition of opening every commencement ceremony by recognizing those who have helped guide our graduates to this moment. And I want to continue that tradition today. So, I would like to ask the members of the graduating class of 2021 to please stand and face, in person or virtually, those who have supported and nurtured you—your parents, friends, and family—and thank them with a hearty and heart-felt round of applause.
And graduates, please continue to stand and take a moment to offer a second round of applause and appreciation for the extraordinary Sarah Lawrence faculty and staff. They have been committed to your pursuit of learning and to your success for these past four years and you will continue to be connected to them long into the future. Many of you have already been expressing that gratitude on social media and I encourage you to continue to do so during this ceremony and beyond with your hashtag: #SLC2021.
(Thank you, graduates. If you actually stood, you may now be seated.)
I want to add my recognition and thanks to the parents and families and friends of our graduating seniors who join us for this celebration today. We are grateful for your commitment to Sarah Lawrence and for your support of our students, especially during these last months. Today we mark a rite of passage not only for our students, but for you, their dedicated families. Please know that we consider you, too, to be a part of the Sarah Lawrence community not only now, but into the future, and we hope that you will stay connected with the College.
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To the members of the Class of 2021: your class has a special place in my heart. We began our Sarah Lawrence journey together in August 2017 and in these four years we’ve shared and learned much and I will always hold you—my “first” class—in special regard.
I moved into the President’s House just a few weeks before you moved into your dorms, and on your arrival, setting what has become an annual tradition, I joined the “Green Team” and walked campus meeting and greeting as many of you as possible as you moved in.
After your families left and we were all gathered together, we began another tradition that I have repeated each year, when under the tent on Westlands lawn I asked you to look around and take in the moment and to take the opportunity to begin to get to know those near you, after which I declared the College open, reminding you that in four short years we would regather to bookend that beginning at Sarah Lawrence with the ending and beginning that this Commencement signifies.
Together, we have continued many traditions that pre-dated us while creating new ones. Your first year we inaugurated Celebrate Sarah Lawrence, a now annual event in which we highlight the work and creativity of our students. That first Celebrate Sarah Lawrence kicked off my inaugural weekend (the first time I put on this special regalia). As part of that inaugural weekend, we also hosted a symposium that launched another new tradition—an annual theme for an academic year series of events. This year, as you know, that theme is “Justice.” Our inaugural symposium set the theme for your first year: “Democracy and Education,” a nod to John Dewey’s 1916 book of the same name. One of my vivid memories of that symposium is how you—then first-year students in just your second month at Sarah Lawrence—were so prepared to be front and center in that conversation. How you arrived, seated together with your First Year Studies groups, eager to engage with the topic and the panelists. And I remember the comments from faculty, staff, trustees, and visitors to the College about how impressed they were by that, by you. You were already well on your way to being Sarah Lawrence students in action: preparing carefully, reading closely, engaging deeply, probing thoughtfully, determined to make a difference… smart, creative, outside-the-box thinkers.
Let’s do a quick look back to a few other moments of your time at the College: we began the spring semester of your first year by starting to dig a very BIG hole for the Barbara Walters Campus Center, the first new building on campus in 15 years. Shortly after that, in March, a huge storm knocked out heat and power for a few days—remember that bonding experience?
And your sophomore year… sports teams advancing to playoffs… and the occupation of Westlands, as you brought forward passionately concerns for our campus and our world …
Many of you began your junior year abroad while those of you studying on campus began your junior year by being among the first students to set foot in the newly opened Barbara Walters Campus Center—“the Barb”. Across the street, in the shadow of Westlands, the extraordinary Remy Theatre had sprung from the ground after being transported and rebuilt brick by brick. You had just started to live in these spaces and define what they would mean for our community when COVID hit, cutting short or, for some of you, ending your time on campus. But not your Sarah Lawrence education, as we all continued together to ensure that you would arrive at this moment.
Throughout your time at Sarah Lawrence, you, Class of 2021, have shared with me passing “hellos” (some of you might say my relentless “hellos”!). You brought joy and surprise to the campus. I never quite knew what I might see as I looked out of my window onto Westlands lawn: a stage combat class, or a dance class, or bubble soccer, or ultimate frisbee, or even … a horse! And along the way, you created new organizations like KindSLC and SunriseSLC, and shared s’mores and pies at the President’s House, and immersed yourself in the life of this College. Thank you for the grace with which you humored my requests for selfies and screenshots, as you taught me to use Instagram to capture and share just a hint of the richness of your work, your performances, your art, your clubs, your writing, your science posters, your sports, your activism … the richness of you, our students. I have seen you engage so deeply on this campus, and I have seen you continue to do so over the course of the last 15 months. I have been and remain so impressed, but not at all surprised, as I vividly remember those first-year students who wowed everyone four years ago at our inaugural symposium and see the arc of your journey at Sarah Lawrence.
Let’s go back to that symposium for a moment.
As we established the theme of Democracy & Education to guide our conversations throughout our first year, we sought to answer many questions as we pondered what Democracy & Education means today. Chief among them—and now I’m quoting from our description of the event series— was this:
How do we ensure broad access to learning that promotes individual and societal well-being in the context of rapid, often unpredictable change?
Rapid and unpredictable change. Ok … you’ve got that one.
As I reflect on your time at Sarah Lawrence, and all that has transpired in these last four years, I am confident that your College has given you a firm foundation to contend with—indeed thrive in—a world that will neither slow down nor cease to change.
Your Sarah Lawrence education allowed you to connect your passions as you created your path; not only did the College allow it, but we required it as you navigated your way toward the degree we confer today. Sarah Lawrence challenged you to invent yourself during your time here, and you did so in partnership and collaboration … with your don, but also and importantly with other supportive faculty members, with internship sponsors and community partners, with librarians, and coaches, and deans, and with so many others who came alongside and mentored you and supported you and believed in you and challenged you.
Your ability to make a path, to collaborate with others to connect your passions to create your future—and to be nimble enough to recreate it—is an extraordinary opportunity, experience, and accomplishment that very few college students are privileged to have. Here’s what I hope you will hold on to from that: inventing yourself with the assistance of your don and others has given you the foundation and the ability to continue to adapt and reinvent yourself in the face of rapid, often unpredictable change.
That’s not just what Sarah Lawrence has prepared you to do; I can assure you: that’s what Sarah Lawrence graduates do: adapt and reinvent themselves in the face of rapid, often unpredictable change. And the world is better for it.
And so, Class of 2021, this is my hope, my challenge, and my charge to you:
Live into the promise of your Sarah Lawrence education: continue to embrace intellectual and creative risks, to cross disciplinary boundaries with curiosity, nimbleness, and confidence, but also with humility, with humanity, with concern and compassion for others.
Use your Sarah Lawrence education as global citizens not only for yourself, but to lead the way so that all can thrive in this complex and rapidly evolving world; you are uniquely prepared to contribute to society’s well-being.
And while you’re at it... stay connected. To each other, and to your College. Very (very!) shortly, you will officially be alumni of Sarah Lawrence College. And we can’t wait to see what you are going to do next and to welcome you back to campus as the newest members of the Sarah Lawrence alumni community.
To bring us back to where we began together four years ago one last time, I will leave you with this well-known quote from John Dewey:
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
May this philosophy guide you as you go forward.
Congratulations, Sarah Lawrence College Class of 2021!
Remarks as prepared for delivery