Commence congratulating

May 16, 2015

Skidmore has sent another ___total #____ creative and critical college graduates out into the world. Reflecting Saturday’s sunny rays of promise, __#___ fresh grads earned the bachelor of arts, __#___ the bachelor of science, and __#__ the master of arts in liberal studies at Commencement 2015, held at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  

Festivities the day before included a Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony, presentations by Periclean Honor Society scholars, and the Senior Family Project’s addition of patio bricks inscribed with seniors’ names. Several students also shared then-and-now reflections from interviews as freshmen and as seniors. [“Senior Family Project” link: URL of Sue’s senior-brick story]

[“then-and-now reflections” link: URL of Daniella’s fresh-faces story]

The Class of 2015 heard remarks from longtime civil-rights activist and author Julian Bond and from pioneering ocean scientist and author Penny Chisholm ’69, who were both awarded honorary degrees at the ceremony, as well as a faculty farewell from Skidmore economics professor Mehmet Odekon and words of wisdom from President Philip A. Glotzbach, trustees chair Linda Toohey, alumni board chair Sibyl Waterman Haley ’71, and senior-class president Soraya Attia ’15. Highlights from the speeches.

[“Highlights from the speeches” link: URL of Dan’s what-they-said story]

Chisholm is a biological oceanographer who holds the Martin Professor of Environmental Studies chair at MIT. Her lab has pioneered the study and genetic analysis of Prochlorococcus, a very small, very significant blue-green alga that serves as the base of the ocean food web and also takes up large amounts of carbon dioxide while generating as much as 20% of the planet’s atmospheric oxygen. Chisholm was awarded a National Medal of Science in 2013. She is also co-author of an acclaimed series of children’s books, the first of which, Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life, won a top award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Julian Bond helped found the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights, which directed nonviolent protests that desegregated Atlanta theaters, restaurants, and parks. In 1960 he helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and became its communications director. Bond went on to serve four terms in Georgia’s House and six in its Senate. President of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP for 11 years, he chaired the national board from 1998 to 2010. He was also the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He hosted America’s Black Forum on TV and narrated such documentaries as PBS’s Eyes on the Prize. A prolific essayist, he is the author of A Time to Speak, a Time to Heal. He won a National Freedom Award and a Library of Congress “Living Legend” citation.

After the speechmaking, the handing-out of degrees, and the camera flashes, the brand-new grads marched out of the amphitheater between rows of applauding professors and into the arms of proud family members. Photo gallery. Video highlights.

[“photo gallery” link: URL of photos]

[“video highlights” link: URL of video]