Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Commencement 2024

President Mark D. Gearan
Commencement Valedictory Address
May 19, 2024

We have listened to the thoughtful words from Jesse Whelan Small and Samari Brown.

With Jesse – thankfully listening to his mother about his college choice – and urging you never to forget your chosen family or this city that raised you.

And Samari ‘s hopeful words involking Nelson Mandela to use your education as the most powerful weapon to change the world.

We will all take Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn’s engaging counsel to fiercely nourish and seek our connections.   To be bold and to let you light shine and be a cheerleader for those around you.

We have all been inspired by the lives of three graduates – Jessica Knoll, Michael Rawlins and John Norvell – who model the life of an engaged alum and citizen.

And now – with your diplomas firmly in  hand – a brief, final word.

We hope you leave us to honor the mission of Hobart and William Smith Colleges – to lead a life of consequence.

We hope you leave us to honor the inscription over Demarest Hall facing this Quad – to be the hope of the world.

We hope you leave us to honor the words that the late John Lewis spoke on this campus – to find a way to get in the way.

But we also hope you leave us knowing that living a life of consequence, being the hope of the world or finding a way to get in the way – isn’t always about seeing the results in real time.

It isn’t always about recognition like our three graduates on this platform who have received this institution’s highest honor.

And, I acknowledge, that in a world that has a lot of instant gratification – from likes to retweets – that can be hard to accept.

But I would argue that event without the instant gratification, even without really knowing the extent of one’s true impact, even without an honorary degree --- one can live a life of consequence.

I believe we all have the opportunity – perhaps even a responsibility – to make an impact on others even if we don’t realize it in the moment.

Everyday interactions with people in our community – from commuting to work on the bus or train – to the fellow customers waiting in line at Dunkin’ – those every day, seemingly small interactions actually have a big impact.

And if there was one silver lining of the pandemic – there is a body of research that validates this.

Researchers have found that small, fleeting interactions can have a consequential impact on our mental health and social well being.

Studies have found that these informal casual interactions with acquaintances and strangers – so called ‘weak ties’ – can be “just as effective in restoring our sense of well being and belonging as with stronger ties to close friends and family.”

One study from the pandemic with undergraduate students and an older group of community members found “Greater subjective well-being and sense of belonging on days when they had weak-tie interaction.”

When a researcher instructed half of the study participants to smile, interact, make eye contact and engage in brief conversation with a barista at Starbucks – they reported more positive emotion and greater sense of belonging.

For some – these casual interactions can be a morale boost to both parties in conversation.

For others – it can be a welcomed antedote to loneliness, which the US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared an epidemic in our nation.

Across the globe, nations are also confronting the challenges of loneliness with Japan and the UK have established ministers of loneliness. 

In considering all of this I am reminded of the adage:

‘One of the greatest tragedies in life is that you will always be loved more than you ever know.’

Meaning – those interactions, relationships that may seem distant or modest or even forgetful – have an impact. 

In welcoming Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn to our campus – I have been thinking of my own tenure as Peace Corps Director.

And I was reminded of a visit to East Africa to meet with Peace Corps Volunteers.  In a meeting with a Minister of Education he said to me that the first American he ever met and the best teacher he ever had – was his Peace Corps Volunteer teacher.   And he said his name.

I was struck by this – and when I returned to Washington, I checked our files and tracked him down to Falmouth, Massachusetts and called him.

I reported on my trip and the conversation I had with the Minister of Education – that he was first American he had ever met and, notably, his image of the best teacher he ever had was you.  Notable that as he sets educational policy and goals for his nation – his model was that Peace Corps Volunteer.

When I finished my story – there was a long pause on the phone and the returned Peace Corps Volunteer said simply.

Wow.   I don’t remember who that is – there were 62 students in my class.  I will have to check the photograph I still have.

Clearly – the young Peace Corps Volunteer did not calculate the impact he would have on a future Minister of Education.

John Norvell, Michael Rawlins or Jessica Knoll didn’t know that their commitment to public service, mentorship of HWS students or literary accomplishment would have on future students or our broader society.

And – you all have had models on this campus of faculty, coaches, staff and Geneva neighbors who  live lives committed to purpose, meaning and accomplishment.

Indeed – every day at lunch and dinner in Saga – you had models of engagement with Laura and Shirley, welcoming you to a meal, asking about you, your family and how you were doing.

So Class of 2024 – dream big.   Live a life with the inspiration of Nobel Laureate - Ellen Johnson Sirlief - the first elected female head of State in Africa:  “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”

You graduate from a place formed and nurtured by big dreamers.

Bishop Hobart’s dream more than two centuries ago or William Smith’s radical dream for a college to educate women.

Elizabeth Blackwell’s big dream without any precedent in our nation.

Or Alger Adams dream for an education coming from Omaha, Nebraska to Geneva, New York.

We need you out there in this world.

We need your skills, your courage and your heart.

Take the privilege of this college degree – a privilege that only 6% of the world enjoys -  and use it wisely to advance your dreams.

Use it productively to advance the common good.

Use it with care and compassion for those who do not enjoy what you have now attained.

And use it with pride for this special place of Hobart and William Smith.

All of us will be cheering you on each and every step of the way.

Go forth Class of 2024.   Godspeed.