The College held its annual Convocation for the Classes of 2024, 2023.5, and graduate students in their final year on Sept. 9 in Chapin Hall. During the ceremony, President of the College Maud S. Mandel presented Bicentennial Medals to six alums, highlighting their accomplishments in fields such as law, education, and academia.
Chaplain to the College Rev. Valerie Bailey Fischer began Convocation with a reminder to the graduating class. “Convocation is a road sign that something important is about to happen in your soon and not-too-distant future,” she said. “Like all road signs, [it] says this: ‘Pay attention.’”
Mandel then spoke to the value of education beyond the classroom. “Every one of you can contribute to the transnational and transhistorical project of expanding the boundaries of human knowledge,” she said.
Adithya Vaidhyan ’24 and Jesse Cohen-Greenberg ’24 performed a saxophone-piano duet after which Dean of the College Gretchen Long announced the 38 members of the Class of 2024 inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Long then presented the Grosvenor Cup — awarded to the student who has “best demonstrated concern for the College community and beyond through extensive dedicated service and who has served with the utmost integrity and reliability,” as Long explained — to Jules Gaskin-West ’24.
“She has poured energy into our College community to make it an empowering place for all students, especially Black students, faculty, and staff… Williams is a much better place because of her,” Long said.
Senior Class Marshals George Taylor ’24 and Gwyn Chilcoat ’24 then gave a speech to graduating classes. They acknowledged that, due to the pandemic, Convocation is the first time the entire Class of 2024 has ever gathered under one roof and spoke to their classmates’ ability to recognize each other’s accomplishments with genuine joy. Chilcoat also took a moment to honor three members of the Class of 2024 who died after beginning their first years at Williams, noting that the Class of 2024 would never be complete without them.
“I think it’s a testament to our campus culture that — when we are achieving at high levels — we’re able to celebrate each other’s successes,” Taylor said. “I think we should also afford ourselves that same energy when it comes to our own achievements.
After class marshal remarks, six alums received Bicentennial Medals, an award established in 1993 to honor the achievements of the College’s graduates. The 2023 recipients were Philip Geier ’70, the Honorable Anita Earls ’81, Rebecca Haile ’86, Robert Kim ’92, Robbi Behr ’97, and Matthew Swanson ’97.
Mandel commended Geier — the co-founder of both the Davis United World College Scholars program and the Projects for Peace initiative — for his leadership in international education.
Mandel then recognized Haile, the co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Ethiopia Education Initiatives, for her work in education and philanthropy. Haile also founded Haile-Manas Academy, a secondary boarding school for 400 promising Ethiopian students. Mandel then presented an award to Kim, the executive director of the Education Law Center, for his advancements in equity and education.
Lastly, wife and husband Behr and Swanson accepted a joint award that honored their collaborative work in writing and illustrating children’s books, including Sunrise Summer and Everywhere Wonder. During the 2022- 2023 school year, the couple traveled to Title I schools in all 50 states, giving away 25,000 free books.
Earls then gave the Convocation address to the Class of 2024. In her speech, she reflected on her experience as a biracial student at the College, quoting a line from “Ella’s Song”, that particularly stuck with her as a student during a 1980 cross burning outside of a College dormitory: “We who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”
She also reflected on her career as a civil rights attorney, reminding students of the importance of vigilance in the face of civil injustice. “True courage requires standing up for principle even when it’s difficult and when victory is not assured,” Earl said. After Earls’s address, Leah Rosenman ’24 sang the College’s alma mater song, “The Mountains,” written by Washington Gladden Class of 1859, as per College tradition.
To conclude Convocation, Muslim Chaplain Sidra Mahmood gave a benediction describing the students’ resilience. She included the words of Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh in her speech, describing how, like a lotus in the mud, compassion can spring from suffering. “May we all bring our full selves and work together to turn our suffering into something positive, one lotus flower at a time,” she said.
