Washington College will host the 238th Commencement Exercises on the Campus Green beginning at 10:30 AM on Saturday, May 22. This in-person event is open only to the 306 graduates and their registered guests. For all others, the event will be live-streamed here, beginning at 10:25 AM on graduation day.
Katie Hood, the chief executive officer of the One Love Foundation, will deliver the keynote address during the ceremony. Under her leadership since 2014, this high-profile organization created in honor of Yeardley Love has become the nation’s leading educator of young people on the topic of relationship abuse. Hood will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.
Paris Young ‘21 was selected as the senior class speaker and will offer her remarks immediately following Interim President Wayne Powell’s welcome. Young is a Political Science major who also has a double minor in Black studies and justice, law and society. Young worked for the Starr Center for the past three years and interned at the National Museum for African American History in her hometown of Washington, D.C. She is currently a team leader for the Chesapeake Heartland’s oral history program.
The highlight of the ceremony is the public conferral of degrees on over 300 Washington College graduates. Wayne B. Powell, Interim President, will officially confer the degrees earned and Interim Provost and Dean Michael Harvey will individually present each graduate. A small number of graduates elected to participate virtually via a prepared slide that will be presented on the large video screens.
Harvey will also present the College’s faculty and student awards, as well as the senior honors and prizes. These include the Alumni Association’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Jane Huston Goodfellow Memorial Prize, the Sophie Kerr Prize and the George Washington Medal and Award, among others.
This week there are also numerous events and celebrations leading up to Commencement, to include various Departmental Receptions hosted by faculty, the Senior Awards Ceremony (May 20 from 10 AM – 11:30 AM) which can be viewed here, and the announcement of the Sophie Kerr Prize (May 21 at 7:30 PM), which can be viewed here. The six finalists for this prestigious prize were just announced – see full release.
Over the past few weeks, the College has been sharing the voices of members of the Class of 2021 through a series of Senior Spotlights. These stories can be viewed here.
Graduates and their guests are required to abide by the College’s COVID protocols, which includes producing a negative COVID test result. Masks are required. Each graduate could invite two guests. For more information about the schedule of events or general information about commencement, visit the Commencement webpage.
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.
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