Arts and Humanities Commons^™

2019 Commencement Address: Jane Dammen Mcauliffe, Jane Dammen Mcauliffe

Commencement Addresses

Prominent American educator Jane McAuliffe, a world-renowned scholar of Islam and one of the senior leaders at the Library of Congress, will address this year’s graduates during the College of the Holy Cross Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 24, at 10:30 a.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Jane McAuliffe is senior advisor to the librarian of Congress and formerly the inaugural director of national and international outreach. Her work at the Library has involved a broad range of its programs, including the National Book Festival, the Kluge research center for scholars, the Library’s exhibits, publishing office, visitors’ services, and …

President Bergeron's 101st Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

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101st Connecticut College Commencement Address, Martin Chalfie

Commencement Addresses

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Senior Class Speaker 101st Commencement Address, Issraa Faiz

Commencement Addresses

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101st Connecticut College Commencement Address, Tulle Hazelrigg

Commencement Addresses

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2019 Baccalaureate Address, Elizabeth Lerner Maclay

Commencement Addresses

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2018 Commencement Address: Michele Norris, Michele Norris

Commencement Addresses

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Michele Norris, longtime NPR host, founder of The Race Card Project and executive director of The Bridge, will address this year’s graduates during the College of the Holy Cross Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 25, at 10:30 a.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester. Norris is one of the nation's most recognized voices in radio, having served as NPR’s first African-American female host of its flagship program “All Things Considered.” From 2002 to 2015, she interviewed world leaders, American presidents, Nobel laureates, leading thinkers, groundbreaking artists, even astronauts traveling in outer space. While working at …

President Bergeron's 100th Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

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100th Connecticut College Commencement Address, Jazmine Hughes

Commencement Addresses

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Senior Class Speaker 100th Commencement Address, Nayla Tohme

Commencement Addresses

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2018 Baccalaureate Address, Alex Hybel

Commencement Addresses

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2017 Commencement Address: Dr. James J. O'Connell, James J. O'Connell M.D.

Commencement Addresses

Dr. James J. O’Connell, president and founding physician of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, will receive an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and address this year’s graduates during the College’s Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 26, at 10:30 a.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester. Dr. O’Connell has dedicated his medical career to caring for Boston’s homeless. His leadership has contributed to the growth of the BHCHP since its founding in 1985 to become the country’s largest and most comprehensive program of its …

President Bergeron's 99th Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

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Senior Class Speaker 99th Commencement Address, Ramzi Kaiss

Commencement Addresses

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2016 Commencement Address: The Honorable Harry K. Thomas, Jr. '78, Harry K. Thomas Jr.

Commencement Addresses

The Honorable Harry K. Thomas, Jr. ’78, the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe and recipient of many honors from the State Department during his 32-year diplomatic career, will receive an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and address this year’s graduates during the College’s Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 27 at 10:30 a.m. at the DCU Center in downtown Worcester. A witness to and participant in some of the most important global events of the past three decades, Thomas served as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines (2010-2013) and to Bangladesh (2003-05) before his appointment …

Senior Class Speaker 98th Commencement Address, Mia Haas-Goldberg

Commencement Addresses

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President Bergeron's 98th Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

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2015 Commencement Address: Bryan A. Stevenson, Bryan A. Stevenson

Commencement Addresses

Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama, will receive an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and address this year’s graduates during the College’s Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 22 at 10:30 a.m. ET on the campus. Stevenson is the widely acclaimed public interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and …

Senior Class Speaker 97th Commencement Address, Caroline Lazar

Commencement Addresses

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President Bergeron's 97th Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

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97th Connecticut College Commencement Address, Eric Schlosser

Commencement Addresses

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2014 Commencement Address: Jon Favreau '03, Jonathan Edward Favreau

Commencement Addresses

Jon Favreau '03, former director of speechwriting for President Barack Obama and co-founder of Fenway Strategies, will receive an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and address this year's graduates during the College's Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 23 at 10:30 a.m. on the campus. Favreau will return to the Holy Cross Commencement stage, where he delivered the Valedictory Address for his class in 2003. The North Reading, Mass., native was director of speechwriting for President Obama from the beginning of his term as a United States Senator through early 2013. Prior to that, Favreau served as …

Senior Class Speaker 96th Commencement Address, Kolton Harris

Commencement Addresses

Senior class speaker Kolton Harris '14 tells his classmates and those assembled that "we are not graduating from Connecticut College to be ordinary. Now, it is our responsibility to figure out exactly what our genius is, how it looks and what its purpose is. It is now in our hands to nurture that genius.”

President Bergeron's 96th Commencement Address, Katherine Bergeron

Commencement Addresses

In her first Commencement address at the College, President Bergeron tells the Class of 2014 that she wants to call out three qualities she has witnessed that make up what she would call the Connecticut College "difference."

96th Connecticut College Commencement Address, Noah Feldman

Commencement Addresses

Noah Feldman, the Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School, speaks to the Class of 2014 of transitions.

Senior Class Speaker 95th Commencement Address, Amy Cheetham '13

Commencement Addresses

“Our most powerful tool is our liberal arts education,” said Cheetham, the daughter of 1974 and 1975 Connecticut College graduates Thomas and Joan Cheetham. “We’ve been taught to think critically about the very foundations of modern society: to question our actions and our ideas, and the thoughts and deeds of those who came before us. When we leave here today, our most immediate challenges may be renting that first apartment and getting that first job. But our biggest challenge is one we’ll face for the rest of our lives: to use our educations to chase our passions and cling to …

President Higdon's 95th Commencement Address, Leo I. Higdon, Jr.

Commencement Addresses

President Lee Higdon said the Class of 2013 has met the challenges he outlined for them when they arrived during a torrential downpour in the late summer of 2009.

"You have become leaders on this campus – relied upon by students, faculty and staff for your opinions, your expertise and your involvement,” he told the graduates.

President Higdon added that the Class of 2013 had the honor of attending Connecticut College during an important time in its history. The Class celebrated the College’s Centennial; witnessed the ribbon cuttings for the new fitness center and the new science center; was …

95th Connecticut College Commencement Address, Howard Gordon

Commencement Addresses

Emmy-winning television writer and producer Howard Gordon told the Class of 2013," The fictional characters I create live in the same crazy, complicated world as the rest of us. How they navigate through the world is what makes them compelling. How you navigate your way through the world is what will make your story compelling.”

The best way to do it, he told the Class of 2013, is to heed the sage words of advice printed on the poster in his office: “Work hard and be nice to people.”

He apologized for "what may sound like fortune-cookie philosophy," but said …

94th Connecticut College Commencement Address, Louis B. Susman

Commencement Addresses

HE Ambassador Louis B. Susman told the graduates "This not a country where individuals are born with title, rank or royalty. Instead, we emerge into life carrying only our personal dreams and desires. And we allow ourselves to claim pursuit of those dreams as a cherished and fundamental right. Your challenge is to begin building a future that is worthy of your dreams, a future worthy of your parents and this college, a future worthy of the values of America."

President Higdon's 94th Commencement Address, Leo I. Higdon, Jr.

Commencement Addresses

President Higdon urges the graduates, "Continue to embrace learning in all its forms. Continue to cross boundaries and to make connections that others don’t see. Continue to live the values of the Honor Code and to respect and value equity and inclusiveness as part of your life-long learning."