Commencement 2014
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The purple class of 2014 leaves the College in style. Photos by Richard HowardMore
On May 29, the yellow class of 2015 stood and waved copies of We Should All Be Feminists by award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, their commencement speaker, as she took to the podium to deliver her address.
Photo by Richard Howard
On May 29, the yellow class of 2015 stood and waved copies of We Should All Be Feminists by award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, their commencement speaker, as she took to the podium to deliver her address. After admonishing the students for nearly making her cry, she spoke movingly and personally about her family, her decision to drop out of medical school to become a writer, and, of course, feminism.
“I had begun to ask myself what it really means to wear this ‘feminist’ label so publicly. … I thought it was a very good thing that the word ‘feminist’ would be introduced to a new generation,” Adichie said. “And I was startled by how many people saw something troubling, even menacing, in this. It was as though feminism was supposed to be an elite little cult, with esoteric rites of membership. It shouldn’t be. Feminism should be an inclusive party. And so, class of 2015, please make feminism a big, raucous, inclusive party.”
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