Commencement Address and Charge - Class of 2024

Earlier this week, I spoke at the 5th grade moving up to Middle School ceremony. I shared with them this riddle: What goes up but never comes down? (Your age.) As we age, time seems to speed up. We know it is not actually doing so, but it sure feels like it is. Commencement seemed so far off not long ago, yet here we are.

We gather each year at this time to honor and celebrate the seniors upon their graduation from Upper School and before they head off to colleges and universities across the country. While the symbolism of this day is largely the same from year to year – graduation gowns, diplomas, processional music, and speeches by various members of the community – each June’s commencement is distinctive, because each of you is a unique individual. What binds you are the common ties of being part of a community that is as unique as you are. 

Think back if you will on the first days of your ninth grade year. Class of 2024, you began your Upper School journey in the fall of 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The disruption you experienced during the end of your Middle School years only continued into Upper School, with severe restrictions on just about everything. It was not until the end of sophomore year that things began slowly to return to some semblance of school as it had been known. 

And yet, you made the absolute best of an unprecedented situation, applying your resourcefulness and creativity to forming new online communities and leaning into supporting each other during times of loneliness due to the very real isolation we all experienced. Likewise, your teachers, coaches, advisors, and mentors rallied to support you and were, in turn, inspired by your tenacity, determination, and valiant spirit.

I like to say that the WardlaLAartridge advantage is that it encourages and supports students to shape their futures, and in turn, their world. Indeed, you seniors have done just that. You have taken charge of your education, and thus, your future. You have developed independence, resilience, and a commitment to doing your very best, to being your best self, to shaping your world by seizing opportunities and acting on the realization that you have immense potential to impact the world. This makes us proud. 

I hope also that you recognize and appreciate the immense privilege you have enjoyed as part of this special community. It is a responsibility, actually, to understand our privilege and to pay that gift forward by going out into the world to make it a better place. 

To put it into perspective, consider: 

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, there are about 263 million children out of school in the world. That is 20 million more than the entire populations of Brazil and Canada combined. 

In the United States…16% of all children — 11,600,000 kids total — are living in poverty. That is considerably more than the entire population of Sweden. 

Why do I share these rather alarming, depressing statistics on this glorious day of celebration? I do so to make a few points. One is to reinforce what you already know to be true. It is not a right everywhere on this planet to attend school. Two, a WardlaLAartridge education is a distinct advantage on top of privilege. Three, there are real challenges in the world that need the energy and will of you and your peers to resolve. The coming years will be critical to further preparing you for a world of constant change, challenge, and opportunity. 

At commencement exercises, it is customary for the graduating class to receive a charge from their school – a directive, if you will, to do something special. I would like to introduce my charge to you with a second riddle I posed to this week’s 5th grade graduates. What is easy to break even though you can never touch it? (A promise.) The promises you make matter. My charge to you is a matter of integrity, which is one of our core values.  How will you continue to shape your future and the world around you? That, Class of 2024, is largely up to you. It is a privilege indeed to have such an opportunity to chart your course. It is also an obligation, for we expect you to do things in the world that need doing, to correct wrongs that need correcting, to be pioneering in your pursuits while staying grounded in the foundation you have been provided here. 

Grace Hopper, Hartridge alumna – Class of 1927, rose to the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and is credited with the design and implementation of computer programming languages. A true pioneering thinker. Consider her advice as you move out into the world and chart your course. She said, “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” 

We are so proud of you, Class of 2024, and can’t wait to see what you will do with the ships you have built. YOU are the captain now. Onward!