{"id":163282,"date":"2024-05-26T14:32:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T18:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=163282"},"modified":"2025-03-10T13:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T17:54:08","slug":"try-not-to-let-the-success-treadmill-obscure-the-actual-living-of-life-bates-seniors-told-at-158th-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2024\/05\/26\/try-not-to-let-the-success-treadmill-obscure-the-actual-living-of-life-bates-seniors-told-at-158th-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Try not to let the success treadmill \u2018obscure the actual living of life,\u2019 Bates seniors told at 158th Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Bates Class of 2024, whose college experience reflected great tests and greater perseverance, heard three pieces of life advice from one of the nation\u2019s foremost journalists at Commencement this morning: Be wary of when success becomes a non-stop treadmill, remember much of life depends on what we choose to see, and hold tight to those lifelong friendships forged at Bates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe friendships you have made at Bates \u2014 the real ones \u2014 will matter to you,&#8221; said Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR\u2019s evening news program<em> All Things Considered<\/em>, in her Commencement address. &#8220;They will enrich your life for all the years ahead. Cherish them. Fight for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Complete 2024 Bates Commencement Video<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Welcome by President Garry W. Jenkins: <strong>52:30<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Senior Address by Yun Zhang: <strong>1:09<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Presentation of Honorands: <strong>1:19<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commencement Address by Mary Louise Kelly: <strong>1:31<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conferral of Baccalaureate Degrees: <strong>1:48:30<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bates Commencement 2024\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0yILDLEz3Yg?start=2327&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At today\u2019s 158th Bates Commencement on the Historic Quad, 437 members of the Class of 2024 took the iconic walk across the Coram Library stage to accept congratulations and diplomas from President Garry W. Jenkins in his first Commencement since taking the helm on July 1, 2023.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly received an honorary degree along with two other honorands. Poet Richard Blanco, who served as the presidential poet at President Barack Obama\u2019s second inauguration, received a Doctor of Letters degree along with Kelly, and President Emerita Clayton Spencer received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5071-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caroline Cassell, a triple major in sociology, theater, and gender and sexuality studies from Woodstock, Vt., hugs one of their professors, Professor of Sociology Emily Kane, during the recessional at Commencement on May 26, 2024. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Class of 2024 represented 36 states and the District of Columbia and 19 countries, including 51 students who were the first in their family to graduate from college. As many as 48 percent of the graduating class studied abroad and 43 percent participated in varsity sports \u2014 big numbers that were proudly shared by Jenkins as he welcomed the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe Bates Class of 2024 has been tested, and they have persevered. And in so doing, they have found joy and strength in one another, in connections, in relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>President Garry W. Jenkins<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll of this you have achieved while giving back, especially here in Lewiston, giving thousands of hours to community-engaged learning and research, volunteering, community work-study, and other forms of informed civic action,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The newly inaugurated president greeted the graduating class by noting how their time at Bates was bookended by the COVID-19 pandemic during their first year and the horrific Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston \u2014 yet the challenges in these unsettling events made them stronger.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Bates Class of 2024 has been tested, and they have persevered,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThey have taken on everything that has come their way and they also have thought deeply about their personal relationships to local, national, and global events. And in so doing, they have found joy and strength in one another, in connections, in relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8387-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cThe Bates Class of 2024 has been tested, and they have persevered,\u201d said President Garry W. Jenkins in his welcome remarks at the start of the 158th Commencement on May 26, 2024. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jenkins praised the seniors in how they \u201cturned outward, not inward,\u201d and demonstrated grit. And Jenkins added: \u201cI love grit.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He called it a \u201csecret, powerful weapon,\u201d and, in fact, a critical piece to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo discover the undiscovered or produce something of beauty, you have to have grit. It takes grit to remove stubborn institutional and structural barriers that undermine equality and belonging,\u201d Jenkins said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want professionals with a relentless push for improvement and excellence and the ability to find the means to transcend the inevitable roadblocks that one encounters in life and inside organizations. All of that takes grit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cStay committed to a lifetime of learning, stay healthy, and tend to your well-being. Stay engaged in the issues that matter to you most.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>President Garry W. Jenkins<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Jenkins suggested the Class of 2024 lean into their steely grit and think of it as a muscle, something that can be strengthened. Use it, he advised, to get back up after getting knocked down, to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation \u2014 to persevere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then he reminded them: \u201cYou are forever a part of the Bates community, and Bates is forever a part of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163324\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7070-1536x1024.webp 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At his first Commencement as Bates president, Garry W. Jenkins was generous with his time with each graduate. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEach of you has the capacity to contribute to organizations, communities, disciplines, and industries. And to do that, stay on your path \u2014 the one that\u2019s right for you, not someone else,\u201d Jenkins advised. \u201cStay committed to a lifetime of learning, stay healthy, and tend to your well-being. Stay engaged in the issues that matter to you most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly was described in her Doctor of Letters degree citation as having &#8220;provided the highest degree of service as an award-winning journalist: seeking authenticity over artifice, sharing well-researched facts, and informing the public about the forces at work in our society and their impact on our lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As she took the lectern for her address, Kelly enthusiastically said she now considers herself \u201ca Bates alum from here on out.\u201d She also spoke about responsibility, how in a democracy that protects free speech and a free press and offers rights and freedoms, citizens are obligated to educate themselves on history, geography, literature, and art, and to stay informed about world and national events.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5586-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Site of Commencement since 1971, Coram Library was designed in 1902 by Henry B. Herts and Hugh Tallant, best known for Manhattan theater architecture. Perhaps fittingly, students sometime offer their own happy theatrics as they cross the stage to receive their diploma, as Ron Do of<br>Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, did on Commencement on May 26, 2024. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Only from shared facts can productive discussion flow, she said. &#8220;I believe we are capable of celebrating strong and honest differences of <em>opinion <\/em>even as we respect a common set of <em>facts<\/em>.&nbsp; And I congratulate you here at Bates for finding ways to do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In doing so, she said, that knowledge equips us with the ability to celebrate \u201cstrong and honest differences of opinion even as we respect a common set of facts.\u201d With that, Kelly pivoted to the advice she brought Sunday for the graduates, and shared it through three personal stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first was about the college-visit trip she took with her oldest son, James, to the University of Chicago, where her son noted how the acceptance rate of the students applying to the nation\u2019s top 15 law schools is a whopping 83 to 93 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1896\" height=\"1517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1.webp 1896w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1-375x300.webp 375w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1-900x720.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1-785x628.jpg 785w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1-1536x1229.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A9691-copy-1-200x160.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1896px) 100vw, 1896px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">NPR host Mary Louise Kelly offered three pieces of advice to the Class of 2024 at Commencement on May 26, 2024: Be wary of when success becomes a non-stop treadmill, remember much of life depends on what we choose to see, and hold tight to those lifelong friendships forged at Bates. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly said that made her think about the rat wheel of success her son already saw himself on: good college, then good grad school, and so on. She said that she wanted to whisper to her son: \u201cJust enjoy this moment. This one. Stop thinking about the next step and the one after that.\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kelly advised the graduates to consider, instead, the perspective offered by author George Saunders, who wrote: \u201cSuccess is like a mountain that keeps growing ahead of you as you hike it. There is the very real danger that succeeding will take up your whole life while the big questions go untended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSuccess can be like a treadmill,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt can obscure the actual living of life. Try not to let it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her second piece of advice also came from her experience as a parent, from the time she took an extended leave from NPR to help her other son, Alexander, when he had speech delay in early childhood. But when Kelly ran into a fellow journalist one day on the way to the park, the encounter made her question her choice. The successful colleague also had just had a child, but chose, instead, to return to work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_5251-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bates celebrated Commencement for the Class of 2024 on May 26, 2024. The Hathorn Hall steps are popular for post-graduation photography. Hoi Ning Ngai (center), a staff member in the Center for Purposeful Work, takes a selfie with Sabeeh Khan &#8217;24 (left) of Islamabad, Pakistan, and&nbsp;Mohammed Shwani &#8217;24 of Kirkuk, Iraq.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, years later, the woman told Kelly that on that day, she regretted <em>her <\/em>choice of returning to work, and saw Kelly as a radiant, happy mom who made the right choice to be at home with her son. It made Kelly realize: Too often we see only our shortcomings. We beat ourselves up.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, Kelly told her audience, we should choose to see something else about ourselves. \u201cSo much of life depends on what we choose to see,\u201d Kelly said, and then shared with the Class of 2024 her last bit of wisdom: Guard the friendships that are dear to them. \u201cHold on to the friendships you have made these last four years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She shared how her own college friends are part of a tight group of loyal, supportive girlfriends dubbed \u201cthe Forces of Nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToday we live all over the country. But we gather, in person, all of us, at least once a year,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThese women\u2019s faces, their voices are as familiar to me as my own. We were the maids of honor at each other\u2019s weddings. We are godmothers to each other\u2019s children. These women would drop everything and get on a plane to help me if I needed them to. And I know this \u2014 because they have done it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7635-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mace bearer David Cummisky, professor of philosophy, brandishes the historic mace during the Commencement recessional on May 26, 2024. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For senior speaker Yun Zhang of Anhui, China, it was a good Samaritan at the Walmart in Auburn who provided a great example of the reverberating power of kindness, community, and generosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cAs Lewiston embraced me with its unexpected warmth, I realized that these moments of kindness are the true essence of community, transforming an unfamiliar place into a haven of belonging.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<cite> Senior Speaker Yun Zhang of Anhui, China<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Zhang shared the story of how last Thanksgiving, which she spent alone as an international student 7,500 miles from her hometown, she decided to find strength in making a feast for one. But when her credit card momentarily wouldn&#8217;t work at Walmart and a woman stepped to the register and \u201coffered to cover the gap,\u201d Zhang realized from this simple act of kindness that she was not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs Lewiston embraced me with its unexpected warmth, I realized that these moments of kindness are the true essence of community, transforming an unfamiliar place into a haven of belonging,\u201d Zhang said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/0S8A8802-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Yun Zhang &#8217;24 of Anhui, China, delivers the Senior Address at the 158th Bates Commencement on May 26, 2024. Zhang explained how a good Samaritan at the Walmart in Auburn provided a great example of the reverberating power of kindness, community, and generosity. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As did Jenkins, Zhang referenced the dark nights following the Oct. 25 shootings \u2014 and echoed the president\u2019s assertion that Bates came through the fear and uncertainty of those subsequent dark days ever closer. The experience, Zhang said, proved they were \u201ca community undeterred, united in the conviction that together, we could weather any storm and stay \u2014 Lewiston Strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To which the audience stretched across the Historic Quad erupted in a rousing round of applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That horrific tragedy, Zhang continued, lent a larger, lasting lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBates taught us that caring for the community means engaging with the world at large, with communities rooted in differences yet bound by the shared human experience,\u201d Zhang said. \u201cOur journey from the gates of Bates into the vast expanse of the world is a transition from one form of community to another, with the mission to spread the ethos of understanding, support, and unity that Bates has so deeply ingrained in us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The honorary degree citations for Kelly, Richard Blanco, and Clayton Spencer were offered by Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blanco, whose poetry has won a number of prestigious awards, including the 2021 National Humanities Medal, emerged from his undergraduate experience initially as an engineer. He was introduced by Hill as an expansive example of possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_1109-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Seniors help each other look the part prior to the beginning of the Commencement processional on May 26, 2024. Devin Harris &#8217;24 (right) of Bear, Del., adjusts the cap for Aaron Ramos &#8217;24 of Englewood, N.J. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor all those in the audience who graduate as dance majors planning to go to medical school, or religion and physics double majors \u2014 for anyone who has embraced the myriad ways of knowing the world that the liberal arts present \u2014 we offer you our first honorand: the poet engineer,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blanco read the poem \u201cOne Today\u201d at President Barack Obama\u2019s second inauguration, becoming the youngest and the first gay and Latino poet to read his work at a U.S. presidential inauguration. \u201cHis poem celebrated unity amid discord and commonality amid difference,\u201d said Hill, who noted that Blanco\u2019s \u201ccentral theme is the idea of home. Sometimes, he says, the poem \u2014 the art itself \u2014 is the home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spencer, who served as president of Bates from 2012 to 2023, is perhaps \u201cbest remembered for her frequent exhortation, borrowed from the poet E.E. Cummings, to have the \u2018courage to grow up and become who you really are,'&#8221; said Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That advice became the nationally recognized initiative of Purposeful Work that reflected the obligation of Bates to \u201cprepare our students for [lives] of purposeful work,\u201d to encourage students to \u201cwrestle actively and joyously with the world as we encounter it,\u201d and to \u201cmodel this mindset for our students as they work to construct their own lives.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848.webp 1919w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/05\/240526_Commencement_7848-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reflecting Bates tradition, graduates walk past the Bates faculty during the recessional, accepting the professors&#8217; congratulations along the way, as they do here during Commencement on May 26, 2024. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, this philosophy was nurtured and refined, becoming the driving force behind the Center for Purposeful Work, an initiative that engaged 98 percent of students and has been honored and imitated nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the conferral of degrees, Kevin Moore \u201893 of Hanover, Mass., president of the Bates College Alumni Association, welcomed the graduating class into the association. \u201cYou are joining a community of 24,000 engaged, dynamic, and accomplished Bobcats who are embodying our motto of \u2018ardor and devotion\u2019 around the world,\u201d Moore said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<em>You are strong navigators.<\/em> <em>You know how to appreciate challenges and wonder at wonder.<\/em> <em>You have everything you need when you lean on each other.&nbsp;<\/em> <em>You hold onto hope with every step.&nbsp;<\/em> <em>Blessings for the next trail that awaits you.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>The Rev. Brittany Longsdorf<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In a new element to the graduation, Jenkins returned to the lectern to offer his charge to the graduates.&nbsp; \u201cI leave you with this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a short phrase that is both my charge to you as your president and also my wish for you as someone who has grown very fond of this class: Please go out into the world and \u2018do well and do good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ceremony ended with longstanding tradition, the benediction from the Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, multifaith chaplain, who used the metaphor of a determined mountain climber to describe the path the Class of 2024 took through Bates to the summit of graduation, closing with these words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>You have found yourself, almost suddenly,<\/em><br><em>at the same summit reached by thousands of Batesies before you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Though your trail has been markedly different,&nbsp;<\/em><em>you, dear graduates, with resilience have blazed something new and wondrous.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>May we breathe in the expansive beauty of this moment \u2014 looking ahead to the majestic horizon before us, where something new awaits, and looking back at the trail magic of good faculty, caring staff, loving families who sustained you along the way.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>You are strong navigators.<\/em> <em>You know how to appreciate challenges and wonder at wonder.<\/em> <em>You have everything you need when you lean on each other.&nbsp;<\/em> <em>You hold onto hope with every step.&nbsp;<\/em><br><br><em>Blessings for the next trail that awaits you.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the nation\u2019s foremost journalists, NPR&#8217;s Mary Louise Kelly, offered three pieces of life advice to the Class of 2024: Be wary of when success becomes a non-stop treadmill, remember much of life depends on what we choose to see, and hold tight to those lifelong friendships forged at Bates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1705,"featured_media":163313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,243,11009],"tags":[10831,12334],"class_list":["post-163282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-annual-events","category-the-college","tag-commencement","tag-garry-w-jenkins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1705"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163282"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167918,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163282\/revisions\/167918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}