commencement Archives

News

President Valerie Smith Announces Sabbatical for Spring 2024

On Sept. 13, 2023, President Valerie Smith announced in a campus-wide email plans to take a sabbatical during the upcoming spring semester. During Smith’s leave from Feb. 9, 2024 to Aug. 9, 2024, Provost Tomoko Sakomura and Vice President for Finance and

September 21, 2023

Highlights·News

College Moves Commencement to Parrish Lawn Amid Geothermal Drilling

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, President Valerie Smith announced in an email to students, faculty, and staff members that Commencement will take place on Parrish Lawn in front of Clothier Memorial Hall and Parrish Hall. While Commencement has historically taken place in the

February 23, 2023

Highlights·News

The End of Yet Another Swarthmore Tradition? Commencement 2022: Reflections from Students, Alumni

President Valerie Smith shared an email on Tuesday, Nov. 2 providing an official announcement regarding the location of Commencement for the Class of 2022. The message conveyed the decision that the ceremony will be held on Mertz Field, as it was for

November 18, 2021

Opinion

Swarthmore Concedes Institutional Integrity for a Mertz Field Graduation

Over Garnet weekend, President Valerie Smith and Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Terhune made public for the first time the College’s decision to hold the Swarthmore 2022 commencement ceremony on Mertz Field. This decision represents a stark departure from the long-standing

November 11, 2021

Highlights·News

Class of 2021 To Have In-Person and Virtual Commencement

Last year, for the first time in Swarthmore’s history, commencement was held virtually due to an emergency campus evacuation because of rapidly rising U.S. COVID-19 cases; this year, however the Class of 2021 will have two commencements. After a period of uncertainty,

April 9, 2021

Around Campus·News

Calendar changes shorten honors exam period

Last week, Provost Tom Stephenson emailed students and faculty the official academic calendar schedule for the spring of 2017. The new calendar shortens the time between the end of classes and Commencement. The email expresses a specific interest in meeting the needs

November 5, 2015

Around Campus·News

Musician, judge, and plant geneticist to receive honorary degrees

At this spring’s Commencement ceremony, Interim President Constance Hungerford will bestow honorary degrees on an esteemed musician and educator, a Delaware Supreme Court Justice and a renowned plant geneticist. John Alston, the founding director of the Chester Children’s Chorus, will receive one

January 29, 2015

Opinion

Are commencement addresses where ‘free speech’ ends?

Another year, another college commencement controversy. This time, however, it’s not at Swarthmore. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a women’s rights advocate and critic of Islam’s treatment of women, was disinvited from speaking and receiving an honorary degree at Brandeis’ commencement this spring. You

April 17, 2014

President Rebecca Chopp addresses the audience at Swarthmore's Commencement ceremony in 2010. Vice President for College and Community Relations Maurice Eldridge '61 is pictured onstage to the right of Chopp, in the front row. Photo by Ellen Sanchez-Huerta '13

News

Honorary Degree Committee Aimed at Ideological Neutrality, Individual Merits

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG. When Robert

April 10, 2013

Around Campus·News

Choice of Zoellick as Commencement Speaker Sparks Debate

When Swarthmore announced that alumnus and former President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick ’75 would be the 2013 commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary degree, students responded in a multitude of ways. While many students, especially seniors, questioned why someone

April 4, 2013

commencement

President Valerie Smith Announces Sabbatical for Spring 2024

College Moves Commencement to Parrish Lawn Amid Geothermal Drilling

The End of Yet Another Swarthmore Tradition? Commencement 2022: Reflections from Students, Alumni

Swarthmore Concedes Institutional Integrity for a Mertz Field Graduation

Class of 2021 To Have In-Person and Virtual Commencement

Calendar changes shorten honors exam period

Musician, judge, and plant geneticist to receive honorary degrees

Are commencement addresses where ‘free speech’ ends?

Honorary Degree Committee Aimed at Ideological Neutrality, Individual Merits

Choice of Zoellick as Commencement Speaker Sparks Debate

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