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Commencement 2024

This graduating class was mightily tested, and they persevered and triumphed

By Bates College

May 31^st, 2024

Tested and Persevered

“The Bates Class of 2024 has been tested, and they have persevered,” said President Garry W. Jenkins in his welcome remarks at the college’s 158th Commencement on May 26, 2024. “They have taken on everything that has come their way and found joy and strength in one another—in connections, in relationships.”

Held on the Historic Quad, this year’s graduation saw 437 members of the Class of 2024 take the iconic walk across the Coram Library stage to accept congratulations and diplomas from President Jenkins in his first Commencement.

Commencement speaker Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR’s evening news program All Things Considered, spoke of the power of friendship, which became a rallying cry for a class that emerged strong and resilient from their early days at Bates during the pandemic.

Friendships made at Bates, she said, will “enrich your life for all the years ahead. Cherish them. Fight for them.”

She received an honorary degree along with poet Richard Blanco, who received a Doctor of Letters degree, and President Emerita Clayton Spencer, who received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Ed Zuis '24 of Monmouth, Maine, who with his classmates spent the night and watched the sun rise atop Mount David walks to his final Commons breakfast. It is 7:50 a.m. He will be the last graduate to receive his diploma.

‘FOREVER A PART OF YOU’

“You have enriched this college and the broader community through your creativity, your engagement, and your intrepid spirits. You made connections that will last a lifetime, and you are forever a part of Bates, and Bates is forever a part of you.”

— President Garry W. Jenkins

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‘THE WORLD NEEDS YOU’

“The world needs you. And I am so proud of all the ways I know you will meet those needs. All of us — your Bates family — we are so very proud of you.”

— President Garry W. Jenkins

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‘STAY ENGAGED, STAY CURIOUS, STAY CONNECTED’

“I greatly encourage you to stay engaged, stay curious, stay connected. Seek the joy in this place, the people, and ideas that it has introduced you to. Actively seek out other alumni when possible and connect with those that reach out to you. Your path after Bates may not be linear, but everywhere you turn, you will find a Batesie holding the door for you and supporting you on your journey.”

— Kevin Moore ’93, president of the Bates College Alumni Association, in his welcome to the new alumni

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‘IT’S AN EASY JOB!’

“Bates has a very special place in my heart because when I first moved here, to Bethel, I was invited to give a reading at the Muskie Archives. So I was delighted to be back here again. Bates and so many of our great schools in Maine are really doing so much work with the community, and that means a lot to me. So I like to support Bates in whatever wonderful work they’re doing — and by just being lauded! It’s an easy job.”

— Author and poet Richard Blanco, who received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree, about the poetry reading at Bates he gave in 2012, before he gained wide public notice by serving as the inaugural poet at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration

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‘’WE GREW A REALLY STRONG COMMUNITY’

“In our first year during COVID, we made a lot of relationships that maybe we wouldn’t have, really focusing on your neighbor, who was around you, who you found eating on Garcelon Field! Maybe it wasn’t always the most awesome, and maybe we didn’t make as broad a set of relationships, but we got to know better the people in our dorm and our campus communities, and just kind of leaning on that for support. And I think we grew a really strong community.”

— Oli Seline ’24, a biological chemistry major from Delaware, Ohio

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‘’LEAN INTO THIS GRIT’

“Lean into this grit, this resolve and resiliency you’ve developed. Practice and further cultivate your ability and stamina to take on challenges as you encounter them, to adjust to changed circumstances, to make the best of less-than-ideal situations, to regroup when you are knocked off your planned course.”

— President Garry W. Jenkins

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‘I JUST LEARNED TO LOVE EVERYONE’

“Someone who really supported me this whole time was Ornella Nibasumba, a Commons worker who I met when I started working there my sophomore year. Every single day, she checked in on me, made sure I was getting fed, made sure I was showing up for meals, and just checking up on me all through time at Bates. I’m really going to miss her so much. I wasn’t really expecting to love working there so much, but I just learned to love everyone and loved to see where all the food was made.”

— Jane Gordon ’24, a double major in sociology and French and francophone studies from Key Biscayne, Fla.

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‘AMBASSADORS OF THE BATES SPIRIT’

“We’ve learned that building communities isn’t about diminishing differences but about embracing them, weaving together the varied strands of human experience into a stronger, more inclusive fabric. We step out not just as graduates but as ambassadors of the Bates spirit, ready to infuse the world with the values of collaboration, diversity, and community engagement, to be change-makers in every sense.”

— Yun Zhang ’24 of an economics major from Anhui, China, in her Senior Address

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‘A JOB THAT CAN HELP RIGHT INJUSTICE’

“Not every day, but on the best ones, I have the privilege of doing a job, journalism, that can help right injustice, expose wrongdoing, and hold people in positions of power to account. And so I stand with all of those who in our great, messy, chaotic, great democracy choose to raise their voices on behalf of those who cannot.”

— Journalist Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR’s All Things Considered, honorary degree recipient and Commencement speaker

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‘A GENUINE CLASS’

“I’m most proud of the relationships I made at Bates. We went through tough times initially, which brought us closer together. We’re a genuine class, and it shows. I think we’re one of the closest classes to walk through Bates’ halls.”

— Cole De Magistris, a double major in economics and rhetoric, film, and screen studies from Emerson, N.J.

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‘STILL GOING STRONG’

“Right now, I’m a little nervous. I have some jitters. But also I feel very accomplished. I’m happy to have completed my four years and still going strong and still having that strength to go forward.”

— Ulysses Hernandez ’24, a double major in politics and Chinese from from Portland, Ore.

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‘SO MUCH LIGHT AND PASSION’

“I was so inspired by my academic advisor, Professor Emily Kane. She inspired me during COVID, a time where people could not connect very well, because of masking, distancing, and Zoom. She still was able to bring so much light and passion to a subject matter that is so important. That is why I decided to major in sociology. And I still know that I’ll be in communication with her when I'm an alumna.”

— Molly Furman ’24, an honors sociology major from Hastins-on-Hudson, N.Y., whose honors thesis was titled, “Embracing Diversity: Exploring the Multifaceted Experiences of Asian American students at Predominantly White Institutions”

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‘I’M SO READY’

“Freshman year, I didn’t even want to walk to the bathroom by myself. That’s how nervous and scared I was. Now, I’m happy and eager and not afraid. If you put a challenge in front of me freshman year, I probably would’ve been like, ‘Probably not.’ But now, I’m so ready.”

— Alijiah Henry ’24, a politics major from Mooresville, N.C.

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‘I WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT THEM’

“I think my biggest achievement is graduating as a first-generation college student and just being able to fly out my parents here, my little brother here. It is such a huge privilege for me, and I’m just so excited and stoked to see them here. The first thing I'll be thinking of are my loved ones, my family and my friends, the most important people in my lives, and I wouldn’t be here without them.”

— Criselda Mele ’24, a psychology major from Los Angeles

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‘A PIVOTAL POINT AT BATES’

“Originally I just wanted to be an economics major, but I took the First-Year Seminar ‘The Communication Equation’ with Andee Alford, and it was about how we communicate math and looking at math from a different perspective. That was a pivotal point at Bates. That’s ultimately what helped me decide to major in math, her support and everything. I still keep in contact with her, and she has supported me throughout my major.”

— Carlos Gonzalez ’24, a double major in mathematics and economics from San Salvador, El Salvador

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‘REALLY LUCKY TO HAVE EACH OTHER’

“Honestly, maybe I didn’t really realize how lucky we are to have such a small community until this morning when the entire class was up on Mount David together. My brother went to a really large university, and he was like, ‘Whoa, we never had anything like that.’ That’s been an awesome part of Bates. We’re really lucky to have each other.”

— Oli Seline ’24, a biological chemistry major from Delaware, Ohio

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COMMENCEMENT 2024: THE VIDEO

On Commencement morning, we asked graduating students lining up along Alumni Walk, “What Bates moments stood out to you the most?”

From forging community with each other in spite of COVID restrictions during their arrival in the fall of 2020, to finding and developing their confidence in the classroom and in themselves, were just a few of the answers.

Watch to hear more of what our seniors had to say.

Theophil Syslo/Bates College

Footnotes

Produced by the Bates Communications and Marketing Office, with photography by Phyllis Graber Jensen, video by Theophil Syslo, and text by Jay Burns

FootNotes

Produced by the Bates Communications and Marketing Office, with photography by Phyllis Graber Jensen, video by Theophil Syslo, and text by Jay Burns

© 2026 Bates College

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