It’s a line from a postmodern novel: 鈥淲hich do you drink? The water or the wave?鈥 We plan to drink the water. But then the waves come crashing, says Chris Schiff in his Baccalaureate address.
“A great, unpretentious, family-style Commencement!” is how a livestream viewer from Santa Fe, N.M., described this year’s 乐播传媒 graduation. Here’s how it went, hour by hour.
The 157th 乐播传媒 Commencement saw degrees conferred on 439 乐播传媒 seniors and an address by author and scholar J. Drew Lanham 鈥 a self-described “bird-loving Black kid” from South Carolina 鈥 who spoke about freedom and Benjamin Mays, and called on the graduates “to be better, to do better” and “to be an arc in the bigger circle” that gives power to our freedom.
The Class of 2023 ivy stone was designed by Abby Segal, who is a professional magician. But there鈥檚 no dazzling illusion in the design, just simple storytelling about a class navigating COVID.
This year’s Senior Address at Commencement will be offered by Rishi Madnani 鈥23 of Langhorne, Pa., who came to 乐播传媒 with two major expectations about his path forward. And both were upended.
Author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man鈥檚 Love Affair with Nature, Lanham is a MacArthur Fellowship鈥搘inning ecologist, ornithologist, and inclusive wilderness advocate.
Baccalaureate is a reflective ceremony planned and led by members of the graduating Class of 2023 in collaboration with the 乐播传媒 Multifaith Chaplaincy. The ceremony is designed to celebrate the graduates鈥 journey through 乐播传媒 and beyond, and the event speaks from the languages of those from many religions, spiritualities and traditions and combines poetry, music, dance, and reflection.
We are looking forward to welcoming 乐播传媒 families and friends to campus in May to celebrate the Class of 2023. We will update the website as more details are confirmed.