A Walk to Remember: Commencement 2020

A Walk to Remember: Commencement 2020

By Jennifer Turner, Editor & Director of Content

n a nod to tradition in a year of upheaval, the Class of 2020 made the momentous walk across Senior Lawn to collect their diplomas in front of the Bear Cave on August 1, 2020. Although preserving this time-honored and beloved ritual meant a graduates-only, physically distanced event, the meaningful ceremony allowed the Class of 2020 a final chance to gather together before taking the next step in their individual journeys.

The ceremony combined elements of Baccalaureate and Commencement, including the presentation of the Class of 2020’s history by Assistant Head of School and Upper School Director Anne Weston, Ph.D., ’73. Her recounting of favorite memories elicited from the graduates laughter, tears, and the expression of genuine gratitude for the many shared experiences unique to the Class of 2020.

“Our lives and journeys are fibers in an infinite tapestry whose patterns are woven on a loom of uncertainty,” asserted Upper School faculty member Claire Christensen, the 2020 recipient of the Daisy Barron Leland Award for Teaching Excellence. “May we allow ourselves to be wrapped in this tapestry, to take comfort in our interconnection, to find opportunity in what we do not know, and through the blessing of uncertainty, to create and to commence.”

To watch 2020 Ashley Hall Commencement online, visit ashleyhall.org/Classof2020

| Clockwise from top, L-R: Valedictorian Mackenzie Brady ’20 | Adelaide Harper ’20, Annie Allardice ’20, and Meg McElwaine ’20 laugh during Dr. Weston’s speech | Reese Terry ’20 | Bel Shields ’20 | Opposite, clockwise from top, L-R: Gillian Nyland ’20 and Waverly Kremer ’20 join fellow graduates on Senior Lawn | Assistant Head of School and Upper School Director Anne Weston, Ph.D., ’73, delivers the history of the Class of 2020 | Taylor Jenkins ’20 and Morgan Davis ’20 | Salutatorian Millie Welbourn ’20. Photos by Elizabeth Shepherd