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Dear Members of the Sarah Lawrence Community,
It is one of my greatest pleasures as president to announce the guest speaker for Commencement each year. I’m thrilled to let you know that U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA will deliver the address at Sarah Lawrence College’s 96th Commencement on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Serving as the 21st and previously 19th Surgeon General of the United States, the nation’s top doctor, Dr. Murthy works to advance the health and well-being of all Americans with a focus on the most pressing public health issues of our time. He has launched a number of campaigns and issued Surgeon General Advisories on a number of key priorities, many of which have particular relevance to college students and young people in general, especially in his work on mental health and social connection.
In his first year of his current appointment, Dr. Murthy issued a Surgeon General’s Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health that addresses the rise in mental health challenges among young people and the exacerbating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Murthy is a staunch advocate of mental health as a crucial component of overall health and the core belief that people experiencing mental health challenges deserve support, compassion, and care, not stigma and shame.
Most recently, Dr. Murthy issued a Surgeon General’s Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation and the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, in which he proposes a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection, which calls for action at the individual, community, and institutional levels. As part of that call, Dr. Murthy issued the “5-for-5 Connection Challenge”, a way for individuals to build and strengthen relationships and make connection a part of their daily lives.
Dr. Murthy oversees more than 6,000 dedicated public health officers serving vulnerable andunderserved populations. Embracing new media and methods of reaching Americans on critical issues, he is the first Surgeon General to host a podcast, House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy, where he invites guests and listeners to explore how we can all build more connected and meaningful lives.
As Sarah Lawrence works to enhance the experience of our students and the communities they create and foster while here—most recently in our work to renovate and reimagine the Siegel Center as a hub of connection and belonging on campus—I am particularly delighted to have Dr. Murthy with us at this year’s Commencement and am eager for our community to hear and learn from him directly.
Commencement will take place on Friday, May 10, at 10 a.m. under a tent on Westlands Lawn. The ceremony will also be streamed live for all to watch, and I hope you will join us on this special occasion. A graduate hooding ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m., and will also be streamed live. For full details on Commencement and the Graduate Hooding, visit the commencement site.
I look forward to sharing more with you about additional events that will highlight the end of this academic year in the run-up to Commencement. In the meantime, I wish all our students, faculty, and staff a restful and restorative break next week.
Yours,
Cristle Collins Judd
President
president@sarahlawrence.edu
Instagram: @slcprez