On a sunny 75-degree day in May, students, faculty, and families celebrated graduation day for the College of Arts & Sciences Class of 2024 at Franklin Field. As Steven J. Fluharty, Dean and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, welcomed the more than 1,300 degree recipients, he evoked their unique college start—just a few months into the pandemic in 2020—with online classes, regular COVID testing, and screening passes required to enter buildings.
“No doubt, you will be sharing stories about this experience for the rest of your life,” Fluharty said. “All of our graduating classes are special, but the Class of 2024 is a special kind of special.”
Allison Rose, Vice Dean and Chief of Staff of the School of Arts and Sciences, led the procession of deans, faculty, and speakers onto Franklin Field, carrying the University mace. Directly behind her are Steven J. Fluharty, Dean and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience (left) and Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. (Image: Lisa J. Godfrey)
Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, built on that message. “You are members of a generation that has seen more disruption in the world than any other for several decades,” he said. “While I’m confident that you will achieve all manner of worldly success, my greatest hope is that you will continue to nurture within yourselves and each other the inquiring, humane, and good-natured qualities that will keep you young, active, and truly free in the world.”
Top row (from L to R): Student speaker Katie Volpert, C’24, Dean Fluharty, and Graduation speaker James “Jim” Johnson, C’74, L,’77, before the ceremony; Communication majors Crystal Marshall, C’24, Rene Chen, C’24, and Oscar Vasquez, C’24. Bottom row: Students celebrate the day as they process onto Franklin Field; Melissa Wilde, Professor of Sociology, and Simon Richter, Class of 1965 Term Professor of German (center), stand as they’re honored. (Images: Lisa J. Godfrey)
Up next, student speaker Katie Volpert, C’24, recounted the challenges she and her classmates overcame these past four years, and talked about the importance of finding a strong support system. Finally, James “Jim” Johnson, C’74, L’77, took the stage.
Johnson, a member of the School of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors, inaugural chair of the College External Advisory Board, and former General Counsel of investment banking firm Loop Capital Markets, LLC, turned first to the words of, in his description, the “great American philosopher and poet” Eminem, quoting lyrics from the rapper’s song “Lose Yourself.” Johnson went on to offer three pieces of advice in his address: “Please consider acts of kindness and service. Fight for your authenticity. Think about those listening skills,” he said. “I wish for nothing but the best for each and every one of you.”
Graduate Division student speakers included (top left) Caroline Hodge, GR’24, Marielle Ong, GR’24, and Daniel Morales-Armstrong, GR’24, pictured with Dean Fluharty and Beth Wenger, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. After Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology (bottom center), gave the address, graduate chairs and faculty representatives from more than two dozen Arts & Sciences departments announced degree recipients, including Irene Elias (bottom left).
On Friday morning, May 17, the ceremony for the Graduate Division took place in Irvine Auditorium. Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology, addressed the nearly 400 graduates and their family and friends, as did Beth Wenger, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and the Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History, and three graduating students, Marielle Ong, GR’24 (Math), Caroline Hodge, GR’24 (Anthropology), and Daniel Morales-Armstrong, GR’24 (History and Africana Studies).
At the end of the Graduate Division graduation ceremony on Friday, May 17, graduates turned to face their family and friends, as the faculty and deans who just conferred the degrees applauded from the stage. (Image: Lisa J. Godfrey)
This year’s College of Liberal & Professional Studies graduation took place at the Kimmel Center in downtown Philadelphia. Graduates represented three bachelor’s programs and 11 master’s programs. (Image: Edward Savaria)
On Saturday, some 500 students in 14 degree programs—including three bachelor’s programs and 11 master’s programs—graduated from the College of Liberal & Professional Studies (LPS). The ceremony, which took place at the Kimmel Center in Center City Philadelphia, included remarks from Fluharty, LPS Vice Dean Nora E. Lewis, and Michael Weisberg, Bess W. Heyman President’s Distinguished Professor and Chair of Philosophy.
Michael Weisberg (top left), Bess W. Heyman President’s Distinguished Professor, gave the graduation address, before more than 500 students—including Warren Ndlovu, LPS’23, WG’24 (top right), pictured with Nora E. Lewis, Vice Dean for Professional and Liberal Education—received their degrees. (Images: Edward Savaria)
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