Families and friends attending Commencement 2023 had a full schedule of events to choose from, from the Baccalaureate celebration, to talks by honorary degree recipients, to celebrations for Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi inductees, to a reception at the President's house, and more. Here are photo highlights of some of these events. (See more photos: Sunday Highlights.)
Baccalaureate, held on Saturday, May 27, 2003, is an Interfaith celebration of the class of 2023. Top left: Roshi John Bailes, Buddhist adviser; top right: Stephanie Zovich ’23 and Victoria Foley ’23; bottom left: Rev. Shannon Farrand-Bernardin, Christian chaplain and interfaith coordinator; bottom right: Ryan Kyle ’23.
The Zumbyes, one of the a cappella singing groups on campus, performs during Baccalaureate.
Honorary degree recipient Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, gave a talk titled “How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going: What Is Your Story?”
Honorary degree recipient Paul Polman, business leader, campaigner and co-author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take presented a talk on May 27, 2023 titled “Net Positive and Why the World Needs Courageous Leadership.”
P. Gabrielle Foreman ’86, professor of English, African American studies and history and Paterno Family Chair of Liberal Arts at Penn State University, presented a talk titled “His Page Was Clay: How an Enslaved Potter and Poet Became a Museum Superstar.”
Honorary degree recipient Elizabeth Kolbert, a staff writer at The New Yorker, spoke on May 27, 2023. Her talk was titled “Man in the Anthropocene.”
Honorary degree recipient Tracy K. Smith, the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and a professor of English and of African and African American studies in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, gave a talk titled “Where Are We Going? Who is Traveling With Us?”
Honorary degree recipient Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian human rights lawyer and head of Ukraine’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties, presented a talk titled “No Peace Without Justice”
Honorary degree recipient Stephen Hoge ’98, president and head of research and development for Moderna, gave a talk titled “No False Hope.”
Left to right: Amherst Board Chair Andrew J. Nussbaum ’85; honorary degree recipients Stephen Hoge ’98, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, P. Gabrielle Foreman ’86, Elizabeth Kolbert P’16, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Paul Polman and Tracy K. Smith; and President Michael A. Elliott '92.
In keeping with tradition, President Michael Elliott hosted a reception for seniors, families, faculty and staff.
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