Many hands make light work. Many hands also helped write the final chapter of the most unusual Commencement in college history.

On June 10, a dozen or so �ֲ���ý staff members formed an assembly line in the College Store. Their job: pack several hundred boxes with diplomas and other markers of the college’s virtual Commencement on May 31 for mailing to this year’s 463 graduates.

The process was mostly quiet — punctuated with an occasional shriek of packing tape being dispensed and an occasional question: “How are we doing on bubble wrap?” “How many boxes is this crinkle paper supposed to fill?”

“There’s a long story in each one.”

At the front end of the assembly line were all the diplomas, filling traditional wooden racks that in other years would cradle the sheepskins on the Coram Library Terrace for President Spencer to give the grads.

That’s where Kerry O’Brien, assistant dean of the faculty, was stationed. “My job was bubble-packing the diplomas and nestling them into the boxes,” she said. “As I wrapped each diploma, I thought about all the energy and imagination and sheer effort that earned it. There’s a long story in each one.”

At the other of the line was Claire Schmoll, executive assistant to President Clayton Spencer. Schmoll stacked the completed boxes on waiting “U-boat” carts that, once filled, were wheeled around the corner to Post & Print, where Bobby Bosse affixed a �ֲ���ý decal and mailing label to each finished box.

“As I saw a familiar name, I hugged the box,” Schmoll said. “It was my way of saying, ‘Congratulations, we care for you, we miss you, and we hope to see you back on campus soon.’ I wish I could have hugged all the boxes!”

Each mailing box contained:

• �ֲ���ý diploma
• Letters announcing recipients’ academic awards
• Bound thesis (complimentary, if the graduate requested)
• Congratulations from the �ֲ���ý Alumni Association
• �ֲ���ý car window sticker
• Congratulations from President Spencer and Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill

“It felt exciting and sad” to prep the boxes, said Christine Schwartz, whose office — Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events — oversees almost all Commencement planning and execution, so different this year.

“It was exciting to imagine our graduates opening the box, and finding the diploma — like a Cracker Jack prize at the bottom! — and opening it and feeling happy. But it was sad that we couldn’t share that moment with them.”

The contributors to the “boxing day” effort were:

• Bobby Bosse, Post & Print
• Donna Duval, College Advancement
• Dan Girling, Post & Print 
• Cheryl Lacey, Dining Services
• Michelle Lewis, Conferences and Campus Events
• Kerry O’Brien, Office of the Dean of Faculty
• Judith Otim, College Store
• Brenda Pelletier, Conferences and Campus Events
• Gail St. Pierre, College Store
• Christine Schwartz, Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events
• Claire Schmoll, President’s Office
• Heather Taylor, Finance and Administration
• Michelle Zuehlke, Dining Services

In lieu of a traditional recessional, this celebratory slideshow of 260 images of seniors and the faculty who taught and mentored them over the last four years was the finale of

And that steel pan music in the video? Performed the Atlantic Clarion Steel Band, it’s been a staple of �ֲ���ý Commencement recessionals since 2014, and was also part of the recessionals of the inaugurations of presidents Elaine Hansen, in 2002, and Clayton Spencer, in 2012.

Seen by more than 10,000 viewers around the world, the �ֲ���ý College Class of 2020 emerged from the tumult of their abbreviated senior year to graduate Sunday on a triumphant note, as the college conferred bachelor’s degrees on 463 seniors in a ceremony delivered via livestream.

“The Class of 2020 will hold a special place in the college’s history,” said President Clayton Spencer in her welcome, recorded on the Historic Quad earlier in May.

The graduates have endured a singular experience — the global COVID-19 pandemic — that, she said, “I hope and expect has brought moments of joy amidst the frustrations, and an arc of learning and growth amidst the ceaseless uncertainty of these times.”

Commencement Day scenes: May 31, 2020

Lexie Jamieson '20 of Scarborough, Maine, poses outside her home with her dad, Neil Jamieson ‘82.

Kathleen Smith '20 of Piedmont, Calif., with dog Hibby at Donner Lake.

Anna Glass '20 of Wilton, Maine, celebrates at home with her parents, Marc '88 and Wendy Glass.

Cousins Patrick Crowley '20 of Lexington, Mass., and Callie Abouzeid '20 of Belmont, Mass., toss their graduation caps.

Erin O'Farrell '20 of West Burke, Vt., poses with her mother, Des Hertz, and stepfather, Chris Manges '91.

The 463-member class comes from 37 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, and from 52 countries, including 38 from Maine.

+Class of 2020 By the Numbers

Mirroring many of the elements of the traditional on-campus ceremony, the 154th �ֲ���ý Commencement comprised video segments recorded over the last three weeks, including a social-distanced processional to the Historic Quad featuring Spencer, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill, and Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf.

Since its first in 1867, �ֲ���ý has never cancelled or postponed a Commencement.

Wearing a face mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics, carries the mace on May 11 during the taping of portions of the 154th �ֲ���ý Commencement. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Spencer’s welcome also expressed hope that the seniors will go into the world with an advanced understanding of the vexing complexity of the world’s problems.

“I hope that as a result of having your world turned upside down this spring, you will understand certain things sooner and better than the typical senior graduating from college,” she continued.

Welcome | A. Clayton Spencer, President | Commencement 2020 | �ֲ���ý College

“I hope that you will realize that hard problems do not admit of glib or easy answers; that sound decisions are based on the conscious integration of evidence, values, and empathetic imagination; that unequal access to resources and opportunities magnifies the suffering of some groups over others.

“Wherever you may be, whatever you may be wearing, I send you, from the entire �ֲ���ý community, our most sincere and joyous congratulations.”

“Most fundamental, I hope that you will never assume that the world can be a stable or fair place unless you get up every day and fight for truth, justice, and our shared humanity.”

The Historic Quad may be empty, but “I imagine you out there in your homes, surrounded by loved ones — some of you, I hope, turned out in caps and gowns,” Spencer concluded. “Wherever you may be, whatever you may be wearing, I send you, from the entire �ֲ���ý community, our most sincere and joyous congratulations.”

Described by Spencer as “a force on the �ֲ���ý campus for the past four years,” Senior Speaker Alexandria Onuoha ’20 titled her prerecorded Commencement address “Stay Strong, and Walk Like You Got Some Sense” —  advice from her mother, Vinette Gayle, to whom the address was dedicated.

Senior Address | Alexandria C. Onuoha | Commencement 2020 | �ֲ���ý College

Onuoha credited Gayle with instilling “in me the values of consistency, activism, initiative, and warmth.” A double major in psychology and dance from Malden, Mass., Onuoha used facets from her �ֲ���ý career to illustrate how those qualities had powered her own success — exercising activism and initiative, for example, to lead student organizations in advancing social justice on campus.

“Our story as a class is not perfect, but it’s real,” Onuoha said. “For students who have been waiting for this moment to be celebrated — especially for students of color, for first-generation students, for international students — it’s more than a walk, it’s a moment of victory.

“We may not have been able to walk across the stage and then hug our families, but we do get to walk with a �ֲ���ý degree and a holistic perspective on academics and on life. We get to walk towards the next chapter of our lives as writers of our own story.”

Though recorded weeks ago, Commencement Greetings delivered by artist Vanessa German, an exhibitor at the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art in 2019–20, delivered a message very much in the current national moment.

“The future belongs to human beings who can hold justice at the center of their truth. And you all — you graduates of now — are rare, promising human beings,” she said.

“You are the bridge generation. You are bridging a past of fastness and desperate injustice to a future that is so eager for your open heart, your brilliance, your capacity to be emotionally available, courageous, vulnerable, and a rocket ship of perseverance.”

Commencement Greeting | Vanessa German | Commencement 2020

German encouraged the graduates go forth with courage and authenticity. “Bet on yourself,” she said.  “Even if you need to take a leap of faith and it makes your leg shake, it is better to go forth quaking in your own name than it is to claim someone else’s hand of playing it safe.”

She described her faith in the seniors, telling them to rely on their self-knowledge gained at �ֲ���ý. “You know your places of strength and you know your small places too. You know of the power that resides within you — when you are in the click and the groove of the thing that is your thing. You know what right feels like, when you are right inside of it.

“So from this point forward, offer to no one the lie of your smallness. You get to rise to the occasion of who you are and you are whole. Move towards the future that is calling your own name with the sound of your own voice.

“You are a rare human being and you must decide who you will be and how you will go forth for the world. We are waiting for your dreams and your ideas for the restless, energetic spirit that is rising up within you. We are waiting for you.”

The conferral of degrees featured slides of each of the 463 graduates, each with a photo of the senior’s choosing plus their major and academic honors. Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill read each name.

And though the virtual ceremony didn’t allow the usual in-person hugs and congratulations that mark any sort of graduation, more than 100 �ֲ���ý faculty and staff recorded personal greetings for the class.

More than 100 �ֲ���ý faculty and staff recorded video messages of congratulations and support to the Class of 2020.

In her closing benediction, Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf asked the Class of 2020 to view moments from their time at �ֲ���ý as “not mundane but sacred. They are the fibers that weave together who you are and who you will continue to become.”

“You are spread across the world now, a beautiful Bobcat diaspora, but this place now lives in your bones just as your essence still rustles the leaves of stalwart maples and oaks lining each sidewalk you trod,” she said.

“Envision the face of each family member, faculty, staff, and fellow student who journeyed with you through your �ֲ���ý days and nights. As your locus changes, feel our collective blessing.”

Full Program | �ֲ���ý Commencement 2020

For �ֲ���ý mason Ron Tardif, installing the class ivy stone each May is a labor of respect for the graduating class.

“On behalf of the whole Facility Services crew, I wish the Class of 2020 the best of luck. Congratulations!” he said while expertly placing this year’s stone into brickwork near the Pettengill Hall entrance.

�ֲ���ý mason Ron Tardif installs the Class of 2020 ivy stone near the front entrance of Pettengill Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Paying close attention to detail, Tardif chiseled, adjusted, and spread mortar on the four sides of the stone, before cleaning away the excess and inserting the stone into the side of the building.

Showing the Hathorn bell tower, the favored design is by Hazel Simpson ’20 of Katonah, N.Y. She did the work before the pandemic put a premature end to the Class of 2020’s campus experience. Collette Monuments of Lewiston engraved the design into the stone.

The Hathorn Hall bell tower is the focus of the Class of 2020 ivy stone, shown being inset on a front wall of Pettengill Hall by Facility Services mason Ron Tardif. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“In a way, the stone I designed no longer seems fitting,” she says at first. “It doesn’t reveal anything about the Class of 2020’s unique and challenging graduation and senior year.”

But after reflecting a bit more, Simpson changes her mind. While the pandemic has cast a long shadow over their senior year and graduation, the class still has a precious trove of positive �ֲ���ý memories.

The focus on Hathorn reflects some of her experience. “I have great memories of Hathorn: classes I attended there, walking up the steps in the snow, and taking photos outside in the fall. My friends and I took a photo on the steps on our last day at �ֲ���ý.”

Installing the ivy stone is a labor of respect for Facility Services. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“I spent three and half years at �ֲ���ý before COVID-19,” Simpson says. “The pandemic does not define my college experience. I want our class to be remembered as the Class of 2020, not as the COVID class.”

Installation of a class ivy stone is a �ֲ���ý tradition dating to the 1870s.

Offering the Senior Address at �ֲ���ý’ 2020 Commencement is Alexandria Onuoha, a double major in psychology and dance from Malden, Mass.

Well-known on campus for her work in social justice and her leadership, she’s been an essential part of many campus organizations, including Women of Color (serving as co-president this year) and Amandla! Black Student Union, and the Caribbean Student Association.

She has served as a Senior Fellow in the Admission Office and the Center for Purposeful Work and as a student manager of the Academic Resource Commons.

In January, she offered the student Welcome at the college’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, encouraging the �ֲ���ý community to continue the difficult work toward greater equity and inclusion “from the ground up. Speak out against injustice even when it might be uncomfortable. We cannot be silent. ”

In the fall she starts a doctorate in applied developmental psychology at Suffolk University.

Your Commencement speech, “Stay Strong & Walk Like You Got Some Sense,” was inspired by something your mother, Vinette Gayle, says to you. It was filmed earlier this month to be part of the virtual ceremony on May 31. Where did you film it?

About 10 miles from my house, at Powder House Park in Somerville. It’s not �ֲ���ý, but it resembles �ֲ���ý because of the greenery. My mom was able to be in a little cameo.

Why did you want to give the Senior Address?

Part of it is representation — it does matter when you see a woman of color, specifically a Black woman, having this honor — but the other part is that I felt I had a great �ֲ���ý experience in that I was able to build relationships across differences.

I felt it would be doing a disservice if my speech did not mention COVID-19, the elephant in the room. But I wanted to make sure that I am also speaking life and motivation into the Class of 2020. I did not want to use COVID-19 as a sad story. It is just one of the many things that has happened for the class.

How did you choose �ֲ���ý, four years ago?

I remember this vividly. It was between �ֲ���ý and another liberal arts college, both of them fit what I needed in terms of a financial aid package. But when I visited �ֲ���ý, that was the best college tour I had been on.

The environment was really amazing. The students looked like they loved being there. The other institutions I went to didn’t feel like that. Dean [James] Reese gave me a hug! I don’t even know what to call it, there was a family vibe. After the Admitted Students Reception, my mom was like, “Your face. You want to be there.”

And also, I wanted to go to a school where I was going to challenge myself, personally. I applied to some of the historically black colleges and universities, but I wanted to make myself uncomfortable, a little bit. The thing about �ֲ���ý is, no institution gets it right all the time, but at �ֲ���ý, they will keep trying and trying until they get it right. �ֲ���ý exceeded all my expectations. �ֲ���ý is a part of the woman I am today.

You’ve been a campus voice around issues of equity and inclusion. How do you approach that work?

I was co-president of Women of Color this year, along with Kati Cabral ’20. We meet new students of color and say, “We want you to feel safe on this campus. �ֲ���ý wants you to feel safe on this campus.”

Our goal for Women of Color is to create an inclusive environment, where all women of color are celebrated. In the past it seems it has been mostly for Black women. It needs to be inclusive of other women as well. I think we did a great job of that this year.

We did tabling in Commons, we gave out little stickers, we had the Center for Purposeful Work collaborate with us on bringing in Dr. Monique Brown ’07. She is from the Caribbean and she is an epidemiologist. We had Michelle Pham ’15, who is Asian and works at Google — she is just dominating tech. We had a great conversation with her.

Amandla! Black Student Union is there to have the conversation and create a fun learning environment. We meet regularly and talk about our experiences, from the uplifting to our difficult experiences on campus, and about mistreatment of Black individuals at �ֲ���ý and all around the world, and healthy ways of dealing with that.

“It is difficult to talk about race especially if you don’t know all the right words and you don’t want to offend anybody. I would just try to show them that it is OK to make mistakes.”

If we have a concern, we need to find a healthy way that is safe for us emotionally, and not silencing our voices, to make sure that our voices are being heard. We also have white students who come and listen. We tell them, “You need to be prepared. You may be uncomfortable. These are real experiences that happen.”

We want to make sure that �ֲ���ý has students who love all people. We want the liberation of everybody. We want people to feel OK with being a woman, being a person of color, being queer.

�ֲ���ý is one of those institutions that is striving to be more inclusive — and it has done an incredible job — but at the same time, there is a lot of work to be done.

Your work extends to other areas, like Admissions, where you started training to give tours during freshman year and ended as a Senior Fellow. What is your role there?

Helping �ֲ���ý reach students of color. Engaging with students and parents who come through the door. There have been a lot of people visiting �ֲ���ý. Our applications have gone through the roof.

As a Senior Fellow I do interviews with prospective students and write up reports. An interview does not make or break an application, but does help give a face to this awesome application. To me that makes a difference. What we want at �ֲ���ý are individuals who are passionate and curious.

You’ve also worked at the Center for Purposeful Work this year and at the Academic Resource Commons all four years, except when you were studying abroad in Denmark during junior year. How did you get involved in the work of peer tutoring and support?

As a freshman, I took the First-Year Seminar “Race, Justice, and American Policy in the 21st Century,” with [Associate Professor of Politics] Leslie Hill. She is a gem.

As a sophomore, I was attached to that class as a tutor. I would attend every class to prompt their thinking if there was a long silence. I was never the first person to raise my hand but I’d just try to keep that conversation going. To let people know this is a safe space, that this is a hard topic.

It is difficult to talk about race especially if you don’t know all the right words and you don’t want to offend anybody. I would just try to show them that it is OK to make mistakes. And not to be defensive.

At ARC we have more than 70 tutors for different content areas. The purpose is to serve students with tutoring and writing and speaking sessions. I also did learning strategies, basically meeting students to help them figure out ways to get better study habits.

I always encourage students to use ARC. When I was a freshman, I was sort of hesitant. We want to make sure that you finish and you succeed. I tell people, if you work hard and use ARC and go to professors’ office hours, you will not fail.

At the Center for Purposeful Work, I help create events that will help students find their career path and their interests. I also look over resumes and cover letters and offer feedback to students during drop-in hours. I get to engage with students across all years.

What excites you about your graduate program at Suffolk University?

The focus on activism and social justice. It’s one thing to conduct research in the comfort of a lab, but when you physically get to engage with communities and learn for yourself in person, it creates something magical. Suffolk will allow me to continue my community partnerships that I have developed over the years.

Suffolk is crafting leaders, just like �ֲ���ý. The flexibility of the degree captivated me when I was exploring Suffolk in depth. It is an applied psychology doctorate, which means the expertise I will be engaging in is useful in every context; policy, government, education, and nonprofits.

My advisor is Dr. Mimi Arbeit, who . Her research interests are in adolescent sexuality development, the ways in which white supremacist ideologies impact marginalized communities, and exploring right-wing extremism perpetuating rape culture. She is also a brilliant, kind, and committed community organizer, which I also aspire to be.

“Every time I perform, people come up to me, people that I’ve never met, saying, ‘I went out feeling uplifted after that.’”

I am not sure what specific career this degree will lead me to, but I know that it will lead me to a position where I can help change policies, create supportive communities, education and healthcare systems, and educate future students on race and sexuality. There is a system here that has only been working for a certain demographic. It needs to work for everyone.

How did your dance major contribute to your thinking?

I have been dancing since I was younger but I never had any formal training. My mother is Jamaican and I learned from her family about Jamaican dance. I’m also half-Nigerian, but I don’t have that same relationship with my father, so I had to learn those dances from my peers.

Every time I perform, people come up to me, people that I’ve never met, saying, “I went out feeling uplifted after that.” I use art as a form of activism, celebrating women and their bodies, letting people know about being OK with whatever size you are.

But my dance major encompassed much more than a physical practice. Creating a work of art and then having to explain in the words of the theories you were digesting and the influences you were taking in is a complex and intellectual exercise.

“I am going to watch it with my mom. It is my day, but it truly is her day too. She came from Jamaica and created a great life for me.”

There is also beauty in focusing on different disciplines — sometimes you have to be extremely factual and on point, and sometimes you can be intentionally uncertain. In dance you consider yourself, what is going on in the world, race, class, sexuality. I might cast all Black women, and I don’t owe anyone an explanation for why.

I couldn’t turn in a paper to my psychology advisor, Professor Amy Douglass, and say, “Take this for what it is.” We would both laugh! My work is for my people and it is what it is. There is power in that.

What was a major highlight of your �ֲ���ý experience?

Being on the committee to choose the honorands. That is one experience at �ֲ���ý I will always remember. I’m a sophomore in the room with all these people with Ph.D.s and medical degrees who are not only asking for my opinion but receiving it. Like, “Alex, why do you think this person is deserving of this?” It was a really nice, positive exchange. I don’t think I ever felt uncomfortable in that room.

Who are you going to watch Commencement with?

I am going to watch it with my mom. It is my day, but it truly is her day too. She came from Jamaica and created a great life for me. I am very taken care of and I thank her. According to her, even at the age where I get married and have children, I will still be her baby!

I might put the cap and gown on. We might order something to eat after. We will celebrate the best way we can. Knowing that this too shall pass.

Vanessa German, a dynamic and versatile artist and speaker whose work celebrates human connection and the transformative power of art, will offer greetings to the �ֲ���ý College Class of 2020 during the college’s 154th Commencement, which will be conducted remotely and livestreamed beginning at noon on Sunday, May 31.

Widely considered among the brightest rising stars of the art world, German is known for her “power figure” sculptures: often female and often repurposing doll parts, embellished with seemingly random objects that at closer inspection reveal themselves to be rich with allusion and symbolism.

Vanessa German will offer greetings to the Class of 2020 during the college’s 154th Commencement.

“In a world of division, Vanessa German is a uniter. In a world of heartbreak, she is all heart — passion and joy, vibrancy and vitality,” said President Clayton Spencer, who will offer the formal Welcome to open the Commencement ceremony. Also speaking on May 31 will be Alexandria Onuoha ’20, a dance and psychology double major from Malden, Mass., who will give the Senior Address.

A self-described citizen artist, German invokes the power of art and love to transform communities. Her work is deeply rooted in Homewood, her neighborhood in Pittsburgh, a place that inspires her and that she seeks to uplift. She is the founder of ARThouse, a community arts initiative for the children of Homewood.

Vanessa German’s exhibition Miracles and Glory Abound was shown in the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art in 2019–20. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“[T]he big human lie [is] that we are not all connected,” German has said. “For me it’s a matter of life and death if I do not do violence to the lie. It’s the reason that I have lungs.”

has been shown and collected by institutions including Figge Art Museum, Flint Institute of Arts, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, as well as �ֲ���ý, which hosted her 2019–20 exhibition Miracles and Glory Abound.

Interacting with her audience, Vanessa German does a few dance steps with Nicholas Florio ’22 during her talk in Olin Arts Center on Oct. 25, 2019, celebrating the opening of Miracles and Glory Abound in the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art. (Photograph by Vanessa Paolella ’21)

German is also a poet and spoken-word performance artist who has given several TEDx talks and addresses at festivals, schools, museums, and youth organizations. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s All Things Considered, and in The Huffington Post, O Magazine, and Essence Magazine.

She received the 2015 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, the 2017 Jacob Lawrence Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, and the 2018 Don Tyson Prize, honoring exceptional achievement in American art, from the Crystal Bridges museum.

The power of love is the theme of a TEDx talk by Vanessa German in 2015.