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Images from convocation 2019

In her Convocation remarks to the Class of 2023, President Biddy Martin offered not a defense but a celebration of the liberal arts, and the kind of education and community provided at Amherst College.

“You will have professors who see promise in you and who encourage you to do things that you have not thought possible or maybe even ever imagined,” she said, sharing anecdotes of her own trajectory from rural Virginia to Amherst.

Pondering the College’s motto, Terras Irradient (“Let them give light to the world”), she remarked, “We could say that it's not a matter of spreading or bringing light, but having students, graduates and faculty be one of its sources and people who can see the light in others.”

“I think the question for us at Amherst at this moment,” she said, “is whether we can be an example of a community … characterized by openness and respect, freedom with responsibility.”

Convocation 2019: Celebrating the Liberal Arts

September 5, 2019

On Monday, September 2, 2019, President Biddy Martin welcomed the Amherst class of 2023. Convocation is the first formal gathering of the first-year students. The traditional ceremony involves a formal procession, musicians and the college Choral Society.

Transcript of Convocation