President Anthony W. Marx delivered the commencement address, during which he extolled the virtues of an Amherst College education and of working together to create a better society.
View full sizeAmherst College President Anthony W. Marx, left, presents Brooke R. Bennett with her degree during the Amherst College commencement ceremony Sunday.AMHERST – Amherst College conferred 482 degrees at its 190th commencement Sunday, which was also the final ceremony over which President Anthony W. Marx will preside.
Marx delivered the commencement address, during which he extolled the virtues of an Amherst College education and of working together to create a better society.
“Your having attained an Amherst degree ties you to at least one enduring consequence to which the college does aspire for you,” Marx told the graduates. “Whatever life you lead must reflect your understanding that, just as we are each born into this world entirely dependent on others, we remain so until we draw our last breath.”
“When you use your knowledge, understanding and imagination to inform and improve the lives of others, then you create such consequences to which we all aspire,” he said.
Marx will step down as president on June 30 to head the New York Public Library.
Senior class speaker Gregory J. Campeau, who graduated cum laude with a degree in history, light-heartedly mocked the garb and traditions of the ceremony, which he said harkened back to a time “when monk scholars, before the solar system was invented, had to gather around candles for light and warmth.”
But Campeau’s address had its serious notes. He called his classmates “talented” and “remarkable.”
“We live and die together in a community, not as individuals,” he said.
Three seniors received awards at the ceremony.
Sadie Marella Casamenti and Andrea Kyla Nicole Wise were given the Obed Finch Slingerland Memorial Prize, which Marx said honors two students “who have shown by their own determination and accomplishment the greatest appreciation of and desire for a college education.”
Emma Catherine Fink received the Woods-Travis Prize for outstanding dedication to scholarship and culture.
Also conferred were 12 honorary degrees, including to four former students whose educations were cut short when they joined the military during World War II.
Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry for France, and Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, were among the other recipients. Lagarde was not in attendance.
“As John F. Kennedy said here, with privilege comes responsibility. There’s no escaping it,” said Marx. “The words reverberate across this quad, spoken by an eloquent young president weeks before his martyrdom, and echoing still: I hope forever.”
This story will be updated with current photos.