Philosopher Martha Craven Nussbaum, graduates gathered in the Richard Glenn Gettell Amphitheater on campus heard from Margaret Marshall, a recently retired justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court, Nancy A. Mellor, a Mount Holyoke graduate from the class of 1959 who educates the children of farm workers in California and Gordon Sato, a biologist working to alleviate hunger and want in part through the farming of mangroves.
South Hadley - Mount Holyoke College's 174th Commencement.at the Richard Glenn Gettell Amphitheater.SOUTH HADLEY – Philosopher Martha Craven Nussbaum told Mount Holyoke College graduates Sunday morning that the liberal arts education they have just received is in jeopardy.
“The humanities and the arts, the core of our idea of a liberal arts education, are being downsized and downgraded. Seen as useless frills at a time when nations must cut away all useless things in order to stay competitive,” said Nussbaum, who received an honorary doctorate. “But the future does not have to unfold this way. It is in our hands and , especially, in the hands of you.”
Mount Holyoke Collage graduated 564 women with bachelor of arts degrees during its 147th commencement. It also graduated four women with master of arts degrees, three with postbaccalaurate certificates and 20 with international student certificates .
Camille M. Halfman, a psychology major from the Finger Lakes Region of New York, said graduation is hitting her harder emotionally than she thought it would.
“I cried during Laurel Parade,” she said, referring to an annual event where the graduating class carries laurel branches to the grave of college founder Mary Lyon. “All the alumnae
Halfman has a job interview soon that could lead to paramedic training. Her hope is to start medical school in the fall of 2012.
Besides Nussbaum, graduates gathered in the Richard Glenn Gettell Amphitheater on campus heard from Margaret Marshall, a recently retired justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court, Nancy A. Mellor, a Mount Holyoke graduate from the class of 1959 who educates the children of farm workers in California and Gordon Sato, a biologist working to alleviate hunger and want in part through the farming of mangroves.
“As graduates, expectations of what you will do will be very high,” Sato said. “I want to press you to exceed even those high expectations.”
College President Lynn Pasquerella, who was inaugurated in September, started the ceremony with a broad smile and a giddy laugh.
“You’re my first graduating class!,” she said. “I’ll never forget you.”