May 19, 2024: Commencement Address

Remarks by President Sarah Bolton at the Whitman College Commencement ceremony held on Sunday, May 19, 2024:

Class of 2024, we are here to celebrate you. We celebrate today because of who you are, and the great work you have done here at Whitman. And we celebrate you because of who you will be and the impact you will make in the world.

Fifty years ago, George Ball was the baccalaureate speaker for the class of 1974. In that time of great challenge—in the midst of the Vietnam war—Dr. Ball called on the graduates to think deeply about the well-being of others, and posed hard questions about what actions we each take to bring about a more just, kind and sustainable world. The class of 1974, many of whom are with us today, carried those questions out from their commencement, and answered them in hundreds of ways, through their lives and work. Now they stand ready to support your futures as you answer those questions for your own time.

Class of 2024, we celebrate your amazing individual talents and accomplishments, but also who you are as a community. You started college at a time of tremendous isolation—a time when no one, not even the adults who loved you most, could offer guidance on when, or if, the world would become “normal” again. Despite all that uncertainty, you took the courageous step to start college anyway—from around the corner or across the world. Together, you rebuilt the life of this college as the world gradually reopened. But you did much more than just bring it “back to normal”. Together, you made a new, stronger, Whitman—one that has new student organizations, new ways of building community, new landscapes, new ways serving communities in Walla Walla and around the world. Together, you found new ways to teach and learn about the greatest challenges of this time, and new ways to work for a better future. You have built this new Whitman, and now you give it to the students who follow you. What an extraordinary gift and legacy.

Class of 2024, you are now poised to commence in the finest way, with knowledge, courage and wisdom—with deep care for the world and the ability to understand it from a wide range of viewpoints. Just as you have built so much that is lasting here, you will make a difference in the world, and your futures are incredibly bright.