A downpour couldn’t dampen the spirits of the class of 2022, or those from the previous two graduating classes, but it did send them inside Stevenson Athletic Center to line up for the procession.
“ We need more people in leadership positions across the board who understand the struggles that people face. We need leaders who understand persistence and know what it means to be fierce in the face of adversity. It’s why representation matters. It’s why I’m so impressed by the work Bard does to ensure the doors of opportunity are open to a broad group of students who bring their whole selves to this institution—their experiences, perspectives, and struggles.”
—Deb Haaland, US Secretary of the Interior
James Chambers ’81, Chair, Bard College Board of Trustees (left), and Leon Botstein, President, Bard College (center)
I could not come up here and not articulate these powerful, unnecessary, brutal, neverending traumas. Just to get on solid ground in order to speak, I had to say their names: Sandra Bland. Breonna Taylor. Trayvon Martin. Mariupol. Karkiev. Kiev. I had to stop and breathe and compose myself to compose, acknowledging that others could not breathe. Like a meditation, I had to let these realities come forcefully. Like a meditation, I had to let the preciousness of breath come. I had to breathe in the preciousness of this moment today: your graduation. I had to breathe in the visceral memories of why we are here: to celebrate all y’all’s collective achievement.
—James Chambers ’81, Chair, Bard College Board of Trustees
Only by fostering a shared level of excellence in education can we reclaim our sacred humanity, our individual autonomy, freedom from fear, mutual suspicion and vulnerability to unseen conspiracies that elude proof and then proceed to defeat the brute use of force, exercised either through the dictates of arbitrary laws or the barrel of a gun. Your alma mater is dedicated to the expansion of knowledge and search for truth and we invite you as alumni to join us in embracing that mission as you join the fight for freedom, justice, and democracy.
—Leon Botstein, President, Bard College
HONORARY DEGREES
US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary; Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany, author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction; Eric L. Motley, deputy director of the National Gallery of Art; and Hannah Arendt scholar Jerome Kohn received honorary doctor of humane letters degrees. Computer scientist Jennifer Tour Chayes, whose recent work focuses on applications of machine learning in cancer immunotherapy, ethical decision making, and climate change, earned an honorary doctor of science degree. An honorary doctor of divinity degree was awarded to Joseph M. McShane, president of Fordham University in New York City. Zeena Parkins ’79 (see page 26), an electroacoustic composer and improviser, and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music at Bard College Marcus Roberts, a jazz pianist, composer, and educator, accepted honorary doctor of fine arts degrees.
