Jordan Andrews ’21 speaks to the class.
Officially, the procession route for this year’s graduation ceremony snaked through Alumni Gymnasium. But for three friends—Armando Brito ’21, Andrea Webb ’21 and Kalley Wasson ’21—it really began an hour earlier and a half mile away, when they set out together from Hitchcock Dorm, side by side as always.
They arrived in the gym to a sea of classmates in Bicentennial stoles and medallions, everyone awaiting the call to line up by seat number. They greeted people they hadn’t seen in a year—friends who’d been off campus during the pandemic. Webb summed up the mood: “It’s like a family reunion.”
They said they’d miss the small pleasures of a difficult year: conversations with professors, quiet moments with friends—and countless walks together from Hitchcock. “Your social relationships,” said Wasson, “will literally get you through anything.”
Brito reflected on that idea: “At Amherst we talk a lot about building community. Part of it is showing up for each other and also realizing we need each other. I like to think Amherst needed me this year, and I needed Amherst.”
The 438 members of the Bicentennial class—389 of whom were present for the ceremony, while 49 took part via livestream—graduated on a cold, rainy, windy May 30. The ceremony had been planned for Pratt Field, as dictated by COVID-19 protocols, which also restricted guests to two per senior. But weather forced a move indoors to Coolidge Cage. The event was livestreamed online and to screens in LeFrak Gymnasium, where the guests assembled.
President Biddy Martin delivered an address that interwove themes of continuity and progress. Class speaker Jordan Andrews ’21 spoke on the theme of perseverance. In addition to COVID-19 upending a third of their college careers, the students had confronted “the disconcerting continuum of racial violence,” he said from the podium.
Earlier, before the procession, class marshals Isabella Edo ’21, Ben Gilsdorf ’21 and Lauren Simpson ’21 came together to assess the moment. Gilsdorf was philosophical about the rain. He realized the class of 2021 can weather anything, including weather. “It was one more adjustment in a year of adjustments,” he said, “one more wrench thrown into our plans. But this class is so resilient. We can handle it.”
Edo said the hard year had brought the class closer together. “And now we’re feeling like we’re at the edge of a cliff about to take a deep dive. I’m proud to be able to say I know these people, and I can’t wait to see what they do.”
And with that, nearly 400 seniors began the march side by side. In the Cage they were all together, with their professors, for the first time in more than a year, and for one last time.
Caroline Hanna and Katharine Whittemore contributed to this article.
Photos: Maria Stenzel (6); Andrews: Matthew Cavanaugh
For more coverage, including speeches by Martin and Andrews, a video of the event, dispatches from LeFrak, hundreds of photos and a comparison to graduation 200 years ago, visit our Commencement page.
