Mohammed Shwani鈥檚 parents grew up in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein. As ethnic Kurds, they were persecuted, forced to live amid war and the threat of chemical attacks, with no hope for their own schooling. 

Mahdi and Hozan Shwani wanted more for their son. A week ago they were on campus for the realization of one of their dreams for him: the completion of a college degree.

Believed to be the first 乐播传媒 graduate from Iraq, Mohammed Shwani earned his politics degree summa cum laude with the Class of 2024 on May 26. He called his graduation 鈥渁 celebration of resilience, family, and dreams realized against all odds.鈥�

鈥淥ur journey has been one of resilience and survival,鈥� Mahdi and Hozan Shwani said. 鈥淟iving within the confines of a war, we couldn鈥檛 dream of a world beyond our immediate struggles. Witnessing our child鈥檚 graduation from 乐播传媒 College fills us with indescribable pride and a touch of awe.鈥�

Mohammed Shawani had a chance to show his abundant gratitude to his parents, and to 乐播传媒, in a public way, as the featured speaker at the reception and dinner hosted by the Office of Intercultural Education Commencement two days before Commencement.

Here are his remarks:

It鈥檚 a surprise, honestly, that 乐播传媒 saw fit to have me stand before you today, given that my English journey kicked off at 14 years old with nothing but an old Oxford dictionary and lengthy chats with my reflection in the mirror. Somehow, I managed to persuade 乐播传媒 to allow me to bring that very dictionary to the podium. So, if you catch me glancing down today, you’ll know I’m just visiting an old friend for a bit of inspiration.

As an aspiring lawyer, my mission today is to convince you to boldly go where not everyone goes鈥� away from the mainstream. By the time I conclude my argument, if I’ve swayed you, then it’s clear I’m lawyer material. However, if I fail, then it’s likely Professor [Stephen] Engel made a grave mistake passing me in constitutional law, and I probably have no business graduating this weekend. Let’s hope for my sake, I make a compelling case!

Here are the facts: You are born into a world torn apart by war. You are learning in schools that seem to be falling apart just as fast as Iraqi cities around you. School turns into just memorizing facts among the ruins. But everyone tells you it鈥檚 your only hope for a better tomorrow. So faced with that reality, what would you do?

I did something not many people would 鈥� I left school.

If you are a parent, your heart probably just skipped a beat. That鈥檚 exactly how my parents felt when I went from a straight-A student to barely passing classes and not going to school all together. And I don鈥檛 blame them.

You see, my parents were born poor and had endured the Saddam Hussein regime. At 9, my dad was stashed into a bus鈥檚 engine as they were fleeing Saddam Hussein鈥檚 chemical attacks and persecution of the Kurds. My grandfather many years before had escaped getting hanged at least a few times. My parents’ brushes with conflict had left them fearful, never having finished school, and clinging to the belief that traditional education and good grades were the surest way to secure my future. 

But a part of me 鈥� call it naivet茅 or intuition 鈥� could not accept this mindset. For much of my life, my mom would construct scenarios of my death she imagined whenever I left the house. I often ignored her warnings. But when ISIS bombed my school, her stories neared reality. My mother鈥檚 words consumed me as I carried the bodies of the injured.

These adversities made me doubt the safety of following the crowd. I understood that to make it through, I needed to carve out my own journey, to seek personal growth on my terms. Like obsessing over this dictionary instead of going to school. Without it, I wouldn鈥檛 be here. Frankly, I don鈥檛 even know if I would be alive.

“Every person has faced their own battles. Some of us have faced wars in our countries, others have fought personal battles that no one else can see. The message I want to impart is not about the adversities themselves, but about how we respond to them.”

Mohammed Shwani

Look, you don鈥檛 need to have experienced war to take away the essence of what I’m sharing with you today. Every person in this room, every student, faculty member, and guest, has faced their own battles. Some of us have faced wars in our countries, others have fought personal battles that no one else can see. The message I want to impart is not about the adversities themselves, but about how we respond to them.

You don’t need to have survived a war to understand that life’s true education often happens outside the traditional classroom. It happens when we’re pushed to our limits, when we’re forced to reconsider what we thought was the only path forward. My journey taught me that the mainstream path isn’t the only one to success. In fact, sometimes, it’s the detours, the roads less traveled, that lead us to our true destinies.

But ironically, somehow, I forgot about all this when I came to 乐播传媒. It was here that I found safety. For the first time in my life, I had the opportunity to ask what do I want to do? instead of just surviving. 乐播传媒 gave me the answer.

Coming from a place where the norm was chaos and lawlessness, I found myself here at 乐播传媒, drawn to the law, believing it was my calling. 乐播传媒 opened my eyes to the power of law, to the beauty of arguing a case, to the thrill of engaging with complex issues. But somewhere down the line, I got a bit lost. I started chasing grades, eyeing that prestigious law firm job, thinking, “This is it. This is success. Safety. This will finally prove that I am…smart, worthy, enough.鈥� 

But you know what? It felt a bit off. Like wearing a shirt that鈥檚 too tight 鈥� looks good, but man, does it feel constraining. I realized I was marching down a path that was more about ticking boxes than truly living. 乐播传媒 taught me to think, to argue, to write 鈥� some say even better than ChatGPT. But it also taught me something more crucial through the close relationship I enjoyed with you all, professors, staff, and friends: to stay true to myself.

Where else do you get this opportunity?

There I was, thinking I had to follow this straight path to be successful, to make my mark. But the real lesson professors kept reminding me of? It’s not just about law, or any one path. It’s about finding what makes you leap out of bed in the morning. For me, it started with ditching school for a dictionary and ended up here, at 乐播传媒, where I could debate Supreme Court cases, hike Katahdin with the outing club, and discover a love for running I never knew I had.

To the parents out there, I get it. I know how terrifying it must be to watch your kid choose a path you wouldn’t have chosen for them. But here鈥檚 the thing鈥斃植ゴ� reminded me that sometimes, that鈥檚 exactly where you need to go. It’s not just about safety or risk; it’s about finding your own rhythm, your own path to happiness and fulfillment.

“I remember begging my dad at 14 to take me to the U.S. Embassy to ask about getting a visa to study in the U.S. He dismissed it as a daydream, saying, ‘People like us will never be able to get a visa, let alone to the U.S.’ But here I am, having turned that so-called fantasy into my reality.”

Mohammed Shwani ’24

To the students, I say: Don’t be afraid to follow your intuition, even when it leads you away from the conventional path. I ask you not just to consider the path less traveled but to embrace it with open arms. Whether it’s through pursuing unconventional careers, seeking education beyond the walls of institutions, or simply living in a way that feels true to you. Don鈥檛 worry if your journey doesn鈥檛 look like everyone else鈥檚.

Let鈥檚 take that leap, not into the unknown, but into what we truly love. Let鈥檚 make our mark, not by following the path laid out for us, but by blazing our own, fueled by the passions 乐播传媒 helped us discover and the resilience we鈥檝e built along the way. And if my words today have inspired you to even consider that there might be more out there for you, then I believe I’ve made my case.

As I stand here, I remember begging my dad at 14 to take me to the U.S. Embassy to ask about getting a visa to study in the U.S. He dismissed it as a daydream, saying, “People like us will never be able to get a visa, let alone to the U.S.”

But here I am, having turned that so-called fantasy into my reality. And beyond just making it here myself, the fact that we’ve managed to bring my parents over for graduation feels nothing short of miraculous. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the friends and the support from 乐播传媒 that made this seemingly impossible feat possible. 

Welcome to 乐播传媒, Mom and Dad. Dreams do come true you know. But my new dream is not just about becoming a lawyer, it is to discover, accept and connect with my true authentic self. Whatever path that might be. 

I rest my case. 

Amelia Hawkins 鈥�24 of Sun Valley, Idaho, wants her 乐播传媒 classmates to graduate with a sense of hope, especially since many of their high school graduations four years ago were drive-by events (if that), and their first year at 乐播传媒 was under COVID protocols that made spending time together tough.

So Hawkins, a 乐播传媒 studio arts major, created a design for their traditional ivy stone that everyone can rally around: the ducks at Lake Andrews. 

Hawkins also added ducklings, to symbolize hope and promise. Then she finished off her sketch with the class year 鈥� 2024 鈥� fashioned into ripples floating away from the duck鈥檚 paddling webbed feet, as if sending reverberations of her positive message into the future. 

鈥淚 have always been in love with the ivy stones around campus and the different designs and how they鈥檝e changed over time,鈥� said Hawkins. 鈥淪ome have buildings, and those are cool, but I wanted to do something new that I hadn鈥檛 seen 鈥� yet also something everyone sees. I immediately thought of the ducks at the Puddle.鈥� 

Around 7:30 on Wednesday morning, Ron Tardif, a 乐播传媒 mason with Facility Services, began his work installing the stone, first by drilling a square hole in the brick. Soon, Hawkins arrived. Despite having been up very late the night before with her friends 鈥� it being Senior Week and all 鈥� she wanted to see the installation.

Tardif appreciated the senior’s pluck and gumption. 鈥淪he鈥檚 definitely mason material!鈥� he boomed.

A mason of 35 years, Tardif not only loves the art of masonry, but also teaching others his craft. So Tardif encouraged Hawkins to help out. At first reluctant, she soon crouched down and helped plaster the interior sides of the empty hole with mortar. 

鈥淧eople will see me doing something and come over and start asking questions. The best way to answer is: 鈥楬ere, try it,鈥欌�� Tardif said.

The ivy stone tradition at 乐播传媒 dates to 1878, when the juniors of the Class of 1879 installed their class stone on Hathorn Hall and planted a sprig of ivy below it. (Back then, ivy stones were installed in the junior year. And now, ivy is no longer planted.)聽

Not surprising, ivy motifs as well as depictions of Hathorn Hall and its bell tower have been popular subjects through the years. Occasionally, students have brought the outside world into their stone design. 

The Class of 1946鈥檚 stone, installed in spring 1945, pays homage to the U.S. Navy, which had sailors stationed at 乐播传媒 during World War II. The Class of 2021 stone features a raised fist as a symbol of Black Lives Matter, and a mask to suggest the pandemic.

Until now, no stone depicts any kind of pastoral or natural scene. And that鈥檚 right in Hawkins鈥� wheelhouse. 

鈥淚 always tend to focus on nature. I鈥檓 drawn to nature,鈥� says Hawkins, who will head to San Francisco to work as a designer at Pottery Barn Kids after graduation. 鈥淚 did my whole senior thesis on the forest fires in Idaho,鈥� capturing the cycle of fire and regrowth in her oil paintings. 鈥淚t is an amazing cycle that captivates me every year.鈥� 

Ducks begetting ducklings is another kind of cycle, and another way to feel hopeful, she says 鈥� 鈥渉ope for our class, because our class has gone through a lot.鈥� 

And with so much going on in the world right now, 鈥淚 thought this was something everyone could relate to and enjoy in some way. I鈥檝e always wanted to design the ivy stone and I鈥檓 thrilled that I get to have my artwork up here forever.鈥�

Mary Louise Kelly, a journalist and co-host of NPR鈥檚 All Things Considered and author of It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs, will deliver the 乐播传媒 College Commencement address on Sunday, May 26, 2024.

A journalist who has never wavered in her chosen duty to inform the public about the forces at work in our society and their impact on our lives, Kelly will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree and be joined by two other honorary degree recipients:

• Richard Blanco, an award-winning author and poet who explores ideas of identity, love, and home, will receive a Doctor of Letters degree.
• Clayton Spencer, a transformative leader in U.S. higher education who oversaw far-reaching strategic improvements at 乐播传媒 as the college’s eighth president, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

The 158th 乐播传媒 Commencement will be the first for President Garry W. Jenkins, who took office as the college’s ninth president on July 1, 2023.

“I am proud and honored to welcome individuals who are so incredibly deserving of the college’s highest recognition,” said Jenkins. “From the strength of 乐播传媒 today to how we interpret, comprehend, and understand ourselves and our world, they have made significant and wide-ranging contributions to our lives and society.”

Beginning at 10 a.m. and concluding shortly after noon, Commencement takes place on the Coram Library Terrace on the Historic Quad. The event will be streamed live on the and pages as well as on the 乐播传媒 website.

Richard Blanco

An award-winning author and poet whose close attention to the ordinary illuminates extraordinary truths, Richard Blanco explores ideas of identity, love, and home. In 2013, he was selected as the fifth inaugural poet by President Obama, the youngest as well as the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role.

Born in Madrid, Spain, to Cuban-exile parents and raised in Miami in a working-class family, Blanco, who has called Maine his home in recent years, uses his poetry to negotiate universal themes of identity, place and belonging. His most recent collection of new and selected works, Homeland of My Body, evokes 鈥渉ome鈥� as not just a specific, tangible place but also internal, within one鈥檚 entire being.

After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in civil engineering from Florida International University in 1991 and working as an engineer, Blanco turned his insights and expression toward poetry, returning to his alma mater and earning a master鈥檚 in creative writing from FIU in 1997. He has also authored the memoirs For All of Us; One Today: An Inaugural Poet鈥檚 Journey; and The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood.

Blanco鈥檚 numerous awards and honorary degrees include the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize, the PEN American Beyond Margins Award, the Patterson Prize, and a Lambda Literary Award for memoir. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow who is now an associate professor at FIU, Blanco was The Academy of American Poets鈥� first education ambassador and the first poet laureate for Miami-Dade County. The citation for his National Humanities Medal, awarded in 2023, noted, 鈥淧ersonal experience anchors the poetry and prose of Richard Blanco, but he also somehow includes us all.鈥�

Mary Louise Kelly

As a journalist, Mary Louise Kelly has sought authenticity over artifice, conducting incisive interviews, sharing deeply researched reports, and never wavering in her chosen duty to inform the public about the forces at work in our society and their impact on our lives.聽Well-known as a host of NPR鈥檚 All Things Considered since 2018, she has long moved fluidly between the worlds of broadcast and print journalism, providing the highest degree of service to both readers and listeners in her more than three decades as a journalist.

Early in her career, she reported for the BBC World Service and was a CNN producer. She joined NPR in 2001 as a senior editor and, in 2004, became its first intelligence reporter. Her truth seeking has taken her to North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Israel, Iran, and beyond, and her byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek, and she is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She led the NPR team that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2021 for reporting from Iran.

Kelly is also the author of two novels, Anonymous Sources and The Bullet, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Her memoir of parenting amidst her older son鈥檚 last year at home before college, It. Goes. So. Fast., was an instant New York Times bestseller. Kelly earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree from Harvard University in government and French language and literature, and a master鈥檚 in European studies at the University of Cambridge in England. She created and taught a graduate course on national security and journalism at Georgetown University.

Clayton Spencer

A transformative leader in U.S. higher education for more than three decades and a powerful voice in service of the liberal arts, Clayton Spencer served as president of 乐播传媒 from 2012 to 2023. As president, she oversaw far-reaching strategic improvements that elevated the college鈥檚 strength and reputation.

Centering equity and inclusion as animating 乐播传媒 values, the college made significant advances under her leadership in its academic program, the student experience, and fundraising. 乐播传媒 created a Program in Digital and Computational Studies; built a state-of-the-art STEM facility; expanded the faculty; launched major transformations in curriculum and teaching; and completed its largest fundraising campaign ever, while doubling the college鈥檚 endowment. Spencer also spearheaded the creation of 乐播传媒鈥� nationally recognized Purposeful Work program, which mobilizes core strengths of the liberal arts to prepare students for lives of meaning and purpose.

Before 乐播传媒, she served on Harvard University鈥檚 senior leadership team for 15 years, overseeing strategic initiatives on behalf of four successive presidents. In the early 1990s, she worked for the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy as chief education counsel, directing the Senate’s legislative agenda in education. As 乐播传媒 president, she served on the boards of the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, among others. Spencer currently serves on the boards of the Davis Educational Foundation and the Portland Museum of Art, and previously served as a Trustee of Williams College and Phillips Exeter Academy. She earned a B.A. from Williams College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa; a J.D. from Yale Law School; and master鈥檚 degrees from Oxford and Harvard universities.