- Good afternoon everyone.
In keeping with our Quaker tradition,
I would like to invite you
to begin the program by joining
me in a moment of silence.
I know for many, this idea
of a moment of silence
will be a new practice.
The purpose of this
silence is to prepare us
to come together from our
many diverse backgrounds
and traditions into a shared space
of deep reflection and community.
It is a time for each of us to
center and collect ourselves
and prepare to listen and be
fully present in this moment.
Please join me in a moment of silence.
Welcome class of 2024.
My name is Karen Henry class of 1987
and I'm the Dean of first year students,
and director of first gen
and low income student initiatives.
Welcome to orientation.
You have taken placement exams,
attempted to sign into Zoom
to attend the academic fair,
you've met with your advisor
and registered for classes.
You have already done so much.
But I am excited to join
you for the first gathering
of the class of 2024.
Over the next couple of days,
we will ask you to reflect
on your own values and experiences.
You will be challenged by your classmates
to see things in a different way.
As you join this community,
you will encounter both
in and outside of the
classroom points of view, ideas
and values that are
different from your own.
Orientation is an opportunity for you
to learn more about yourself,
our Swarthmore community
values and our Quaker heritage.
Today and throughout orientation,
we will introduce you
to one aspect of Quaker
tradition, the concept of queries.
Queries are questions that guide personal
and group reflection.
We want to introduce you to three queries
have been carefully selected
to help guide your reflection
over the course of the next couple of days
and we hope that you will return often
to these queries throughout
your time at the college.
Quakers believe that returning repeatedly
to the same prompt for deep reflection,
can set the stage for new understanding,
changes of heart and a
greater sense of work
that needs to be done.
The queries are, given
this time of uncertainty,
what have I learned about myself?
What have I lost and what have I gained?
How can I bring those
experiences and perspectives
to this new experience?
What is my role and position and systems
that perpetuate racial injustice?
What does it mean to live
in community with others?
What are my personal responsibilities
to the Swarthmore community?
How do I contribute to the common good?
Now you will hear
reflections on these queries
from several members of our community,
including President Valerie
Smith, Grace Dumdaw,
class of 2021, Kathryn
Riley, class of 2010,
Assistant Professor of
Analytical Chemistry,
and BooHee Yoon class of 2001,
President of Alumni Council.
Now it's my pleasure to
welcome our first speaker.
- I'm delighted to welcome
the great class of 2024
to Swarthmore College.
I joined with Swarthmores' faculty staff,
Swathmores' juniors, seniors and alumni,
in saying that we are
thrilled that you have chosen
to become a member of this community.
And we look forward to
getting to know you.
Since we entered this
period of remote teaching,
learning and working back in March,
few of us have seen each other in person.
Not surprisingly, we miss
hugging and shaking hands,
catching up on each other's news,
asking about the summer and
plans for the new academic year.
We especially miss meeting you,
and we miss witnessing and participating
in the in person rituals of
the start of the academic year.
The crush of families
unpacking belongings,
decorating the room
and then saying goodbye to their students.
Roommates meeting each
other for the first time.
Of teammates beginning
to practice together
and get to know each
other and their coaches.
Of students meeting their
professors, advisors,
and the staff members who will teach them
and accompany them along
their college journey.
And speaking of in-person rituals,
ordinarily at first gathering,
you would be looking around
the room at each other,
asking yourselves who these strangers are,
and wondering what kinds of relationships
you would forge with them,
during the next four years.
I miss those in-person rituals
at least as much as you do.
It is such an inspiration to meet
and get to know each
cohort of new students.
Our interest in you as individuals,
our commitment to you and our
desire to see you flourish,
motivates all that we do.
Whether you're on campus
or studying remotely,
you are beginning your
college career at a moment,
and in a manner different from any other.
During the past six months,
you've experienced
extraordinary disruption,
a global pandemic, renewed
social and political activism,
and the cause of racial justice,
and a dramatic economic downturn.
Primarily, but not exclusively
because of the pandemic,
every aspect of our
shared lives has changed,
economic, social, educational,
recreational, and more.
If you were like me, in the
early days of the lockdown,
you were waiting for
things to return to normal.
But as days turned to weeks,
and weeks turned to months,
we began to realize that
we have absolutely no idea
when things will change,
when or perhaps even if
things will return to normal.
For many of us, that
recognition can be dispiriting.
Some are angry about the
changes forced upon us,
and want all of this to go away.
And I completely understand that feeling.
Who among us doesn't miss the
opportunity to hug loved ones,
to be in a classroom or
lecture hall with professors
and fellow students, to
go to parties or concerts,
to eat in restaurants, to
visit elderly relatives,
to go to arts performances,
to go to a movie theater?
Who among us would not prefer
to leave home without wearing a mask?
And yet we know that to do any
of these things is dangerous.
And if we do them too soon,
or without taking appropriate precautions,
we risk our own health, our own lives,
and we risk the health
and the lives of others.
So there is cause to feel dispirited,
but we don't have to wallow
in sadness and grief.
And I don't want to focus
on what we have lost,
or what we are missing
because of the pandemic.
Instead, I want to focus on
what this time has taught us.
It has taught us that even
in the midst of disruption,
we have choices.
And we can choose to approach this time
as a moment of opportunity.
We can grieve what we
miss and those we've lost.
But we can also see this as
a time for self discovery,
a chance to create the next
chapter of our individual
and collective lives.
What have you learned in the six months,
since your life has been upended?
What has motivated and inspired you?
What has filled in the spaces
your habitual activities used to occupy?
Perhaps this disruption gave you more time
to spend with loved ones,
getting to know one another in new ways,
discussing the challenges
of the current moment,
sharing family stories, working together
to sustain the needs of your household.
Perhaps it has caused you
to appreciate more deeply,
the sources of joy, that
have not been taken away.
The beauty of nature, your favorite walks,
the transcendent power
of artistic creativity,
your passion for reading,
the random acts of kindness
you can extend and receive.
Perhaps it's slowed the pace of your life,
providing opportunities
for more regular exercise,
for meditation, for learning a new skill,
or pursuing an interest.
Yours is not the first generation
to begin college during
a period of disruption.
In the 1940s, many young men
delayed the start of college,
or had their college
experience interrupted,
because they were drafted
into World War II.
In the 1960s, black students
interrupted their studies,
to join the fight for freedom and justice,
and white college students
from around the country put
their bodies on the line
to support the struggle.
Indeed, throughout that turbulent decade,
students in many institutions redefined
their relationship to,
and responsibility for the larger society.
We will forever feel the ripple effects
of those significant moments in history.
And with the pandemic,
the economic downturn,
renewed social activism,
and the worsening climate crisis,
your generation faces an inflection point,
that promises to be at least
equally transformative,
if not more so.
Solving such complex problems
depends on our willingness
to understand the experience of,
and work collaboratively
with those who differ from us
to the race, ethnicity, religion, class,
sexual and gender identity,
political ideology,
and other categories of experience.
It depends on our
willingness to engage deeply
and critically with
knowledge and information,
gleaned from a range of
disciplines in the sciences,
the social sciences, and
the arts and humanities.
And it depends on our willingness
to cultivate a spirit
of empathy and grace,
extending our gratitude to those,
whose work keeps us safe and well,
and enables our society to function.
Despite the daunting challenges,
despite all the negative news,
the seemingly relentless
barrage of negative headlines
that come our way, I remain hopeful.
Just beyond those front page headlines
are stories about the ways
young people have contributed
to the common good during
this critical time.
Some are organizing for racial
or environmental justice.
Some are working on political campaigns,
or get out the vote initiatives.
Some are volunteering
to deliver groceries,
medications or other necessities,
to those who are home bound.
Some are repurposing fabric to make masks,
to be donated to those who need them.
Part of the reason you're
here at Swarthmore,
is because you've demonstrated
that you care for others,
that you have a strong sense of empathy,
that you're committed to collaboration
and creative problem solving,
in order to make the world better.
As you begin your college career,
I invite you to carry that spirit forward.
In fact, those characteristics
are perhaps more important now,
than at any time in recent memory.
For those of you who are
beginning the academic year
on campus in-person,
bear the responsibility
for your own health and safety,
and the health and safety of others.
By accepting the invitation
to live on campus,
you are agreeing to live with
with others with intention,
you are agreeing to observe
health and safety protocols,
such as wearing a face covering
when you leave your room,
washing your hands frequently,
maintaining physical distance
from others, and so on.
Your vigilance protects
yourself, your fellow students,
and the staff, and faculty
who will be on campus,
to support your experience.
Keeping our community safe will require
that same spirit of empathy
and care for others,
that same creative problem solving,
you've shown us you are capable of.
Now while we need you to be
intentional about your own
and the community's health and safety,
I invite you to be creative,
about the possibilities
that are open to you.
How will you build community and have fun,
even though you must
maintain physical distance
from other people?
With everyone living in single rooms,
how will you get comfortable
with your own company
and learn the difference between
loneliness and aloneness?
And how will you build
an identity as a class,
when many of you are here on campus,
but a significant number have
chosen to take a gap semester?
None of us knows the answers to these,
and to so many other questions,
but together, we will figure it out.
I welcome you into this new experiment,
into what living in community means.
I'm excited to learn about
all the ways you will define,
what the new normal looks
like for yourselves,
and begin to lay the foundation,
for what it will mean for
future generations of students.
You are the pioneers, the
architects, if you will,
of the next generation
of higher education,
the next generation of Swarthmore College,
the next era of our society.
What do you want that to look like?
Who do you want to be?
- Welcome class of 2024,
I'm Professor Kathryn Riley,
and I teach in the Chemistry
and Biochemistry department.
I'm also a Swarthmore alum,
and was in your shoes,
what seems like only a few years ago.
What a thrilling time for you,
as you begin your Swarthmore career.
You might be feeling excited,
nervous, anxious, I am too.
You might also be feeling
exhausted, I am too.
What a challenge
these last few months
have presented us all.
We are living in an
extraordinary moment in time,
that has caught us to
lean into uncertainty,
in a way many of us have
never had to before.
I hope to have the opportunity
to engage with many of you,
over your four years at Swarthmore.
Something that you will learn
about me pretty quickly,
is that I am highly
organized, and I am a planner.
I like order, I like discipline.
Notice how you didn't hear the phrase,
deals well with uncertainty.
Right, I've actually taken
the same BuzzFeed quiz,
at least three times now since
March, it's the one called,
we know what you need
in your life right now,
based on your quarantine routine.
My result each time, a plan
for creating structure.
Thanks, BuzzFeed, understood.
The irony of this result
is not lost on me,
the self proclaimed planner needs
a plan for creating structure.
But how do you create structure
when the landscape is
constantly shifting under you?
Sometimes you don't.
That's not to say that
you don't need structure
or a plan at all,
but the current moment
requires much more flexibility,
and more willingness to let go
of our carefully laid out plans,
and respond to what's
presented to us each day.
And if there's one thing
I've learned about myself,
over these past few months,
it's that while I'd much
prefer to live in the space
of carefully laid out plans,
that progress more or
less without a hitch,
I can also let go of those
plans, and enter triage mode,
when the moment calls for me to do so.
So I could end the
speech here, make a plan,
but be willing to adapt
to changing circumstances,
be willing to enter triage mode.
And that would be great advice
for navigating your first
semester at Swarthmore,
and really for navigating
the rest of your life.
But to do that would be
to dismiss just exactly
what is being presented to us each day.
A global pandemic that
has ravaged families,
communities, health care
systems and economies.
Daily protests within the US and globally,
that advocate for far
reaching change to the systems
that continue to oppress people of color.
And finally, an apparent turn
away from the core principles,
that strengthen our communities,
including thoughtful
respectful communication,
and intent listening.
Okay, so let's recap what I've covered
in these first three minutes.
Make a plan, but be ready
to change that plan,
so that you can respond to any one,
or all of a global pandemic
fighting for racial justice
and engaging and thoughtful discourse,
that will progress our communities
toward a better future.
Well, I don't know about you,
but that sounds exhausting
and overwhelming.
That's a lot to process.
That's a lot to confront
and respond to each day.
And now each of you will add to that,
all of the responsibilities that come
with beginning your educational
journey at Swarthmore.
I promise there's an upside
to this, just bear with me.
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. once said, quote,
"We must come to see that the end we seek,
"is a society at peace with itself.
A society that can live
with its conscience."
End quote.
A few years years ago, I was
asked to speak at an event
on campus to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's death.
As I prepared for that event,
I returned to the full text
of the speech from which
this quote was lifted.
I would like to read
just two short excerpts,
from Dr. King's speech,
that have helped me
throughout my adult life,
when I'm feeling
exhausted and overwhelmed,
by providing the encouragement needed
to tackle present and future challenges.
After addressing those in
attendance, Dr. King says, quote,
"Last Sunday, more than 8000
"of us started on a mighty
walk from Selma, Alabama.
"We have walked through desolate valleys
"and across the trying hills.
"We have walked on meandering highways,
"and rested our bodies on rocky byways.
"Some of our faces are burned,
" from the outpourings
of the sweltering sun.
"Some have literally slept in the mud.
"We have been drenched by the rains.
" Our bodies are tired and
our feet are somewhat sore.
"But today as I stand before you,
"and think back over that
great March, I can say,
"as sister Pollard said,
a 70 year old Negro woman
"who Lived in this community
during the bus boycott,
"and one day she was asked while walking
"if she didn't want to ride,
and when she answered no,
"the person said, well, aren't you tired?
"And with her ungrammatical
profundity she said,
"my feets is tired, but my soul is rested.
"And in a real sense, this
afternoon, we can say that
"our feet are tired and our
souls are rested." end quote.
Later Dr. King goes on to say that quote,
"The road ahead is not
altogether a smooth one.
"There are no broad highways
that lead us easily,
"and inevitably to quick solutions,
"but we must keep going."
End quote.
And so it will be for you.
Your path ahead at Swarthmore,
and in the life you will lead after,
will not be on all together smooth.
You will not always be able
to find quick solutions,
for the challenges you will face,
but you must keep going.
The question then becomes how?
Sure, you can be flexible,
and adapt to changing circumstances,
that will certainly
help you to keep going.
But how will you withstand the fatigue
of tackling the hurdles, that
will be placed in your path?
Sister Pollard would tell you
that if your soul is rested,
then you won't be much bothered,
by how tired your feet become.
I have taken great comfort
in this idea over the past several months,
as I have engaged in many
difficult conversations,
with friends, family and
members of the communities,
in which I exist, regarding
our collective response
to the pandemic, and issues
related to racial justice.
My feet have tired as
I've worked to respond
to the pandemic in my personal
and professional life,
yet my soul is rested knowing
that I've done everything in my power
to protect the lives of those around me,
and to provide the greatest gift
I could ever give to you,
a Swarthmore education.
My feet have tired as I
have shared painful stories
of my personal experiences
of racial injustice.
And as I've worked to change some
of the broken systems
in which I play a role.
Yet, my soul is rested
because while this work
is not easy, it is just.
I have approached this
work with an intensity
that has left my feet
swollen and blistered.
At times, I have needed friends and family
to carry me for legs of this journey.
At times I have had to retreat altogether
from the rocky road
under a sweltering sun,
to rest my feet in the
grass under a shade tree.
At times when I have felt rested,
I have helped my friends and
family on their own journeys.
This is to say that you need
not tackle the challenges
you will face at Swarthmore, and in life,
alone or without rest,
and when you are rested,
make time to help others.
By beginning this journey at Swarthmore,
you have already made a
commitment to yourself,
to develop the skills you
need to create a plan,
adapt to changing circumstances,
and to keep going,
even as you face personal adversity,
or work to help our society
overcome significant obstacles.
You have made a commitment
to the Swarthmore community
to learn and grow together.
You have made a commitment
to allow your understanding of the world,
to be awakened, through
your academic work,
and through the rich
interactions you will have
with all members of this community.
Your classmates, professors,
instructors, Deans,
administrators, coaches, alumni,
and our fantastic and treasured
staff, all across campus.
Grounds, facilities, EBS,
dining services and many more.
In turn, you will find that
the Swarthmore community
has also been made commitments to you.
You will find classmates committed
to your personal growth and success,
you will find faculty
and instructors committed
to your development as a lifelong
learner in the humanities,
social sciences and natural sciences.
You will find deans and
administrators committed
to making sure you have the
resources you need to thrive.
You will find coaches
committed to the development
of your physical well being.
You will find alumni
committed to mentoring you,
through your time at Swarthmore,
and as you transition into
your professional life.
You will find staff
committed to making sure
that you smile each and every day,
by sincerely asking, how are you today?
And so in closing, my
advice to you is this.
Take these next four years to figure out
what sets your soul on fire,
and chart a path on that road,
no matter how bumpy or long it may be.
Allow those around you
to help you on the various
legs of your journey.
Take pit stops along the way
when you become fatigued,
take detours along the way to help others.
No matter the path you choose, keep going.
Embrace the Swarthmore community fully,
learn from our values, our
strengths, and even our flaws,
these lessons will undoubtedly
help you on your journey.
And if you do this, then
four years from now,
instead of feeling
overwhelmed and exhausted,
you instead feel rested,
and ready to begin the next leg
of your personal journey, thank you.
- Hi, my name is Grace Dumdaw,
I am part of the class of 2021.
And I'm so grateful to be able
to speak with you all today.
Thank you President Smith for
giving me the opportunity,
you all look really
great, really well rested,
and I just wanna say welcome
to Swarthmore class of 2024.
Congratulations on starting
off your college career.
I know this isn't the most ideal situation
for anyone to be in,
the start of your your college experience
will basically be on a tiny
computer screen in front of you.
What is there to do?
That's a question that's been constantly
on everyone's minds these past six months,
what is there to do?
Well, at the beginning of this year,
I was in the Czech Republic,
doing my semester abroad,
just got my sea legs, just
started making friends,
just started getting your routine,
and the Coronavirus was on
the peripheral of everything,
wasn't really worried
about it till one day,
everything changed, and the Czech Republic
basically shut down all their schools.
And my roommate actually fled the country
in the middle of the night,
and I woke up at four in the
morning with text that said,
sorry to leave really suddenly,
I hope everything works out for you.
And thanks to the office of study abroad,
everything did kind of work out for me,
and I was back home in Louisiana,
in the span of like 24 hours.
And that's where I am right now,
I'm in my backyard in Louisiana,
just waiting for Hurricane
Laura to make landfall.
I am here with my parents,
and it's just me, I'm an only child.
And these past six months,
it's gotten really lonely.
I'm not the best at keeping
in touch with people,
even my friends, if you text me,
I'll probably respond in
two to three business days.
And I even have trouble keeping
in touch with my best friend,
but eventually we got on the phone,
and we talked about how
we've been feeling at home,
and we basically, admitted to each other
that we've been feeling really lonely.
And we wondered why we felt so lonely
when it's so easy to communicate
with people more than ever
because of the internet.
Like there's never been a
pandemic while we've had internet,
and we're more connected
than we could have possibly
been at any other point in time.
But we have trouble
reaching out to each other,
because we feel like we can
do everything on ourselves
and get through this alone.
And we wondered why it's so embarrassing
to admit that you're lonely,
when everyone feels lonely to an extent.
I thought about this beyond
the scope of this phone call.
I kept thinking about what
it means to feel lonely,
and what it means to be alone.
In America we are raised to
have pride in being independent,
and we are all individuals,
and we build ourselves up to be so unique
from everyone else.
I'm sure that you're
familiar with that sense
of individualism because it's so present
in the college application process,
because you're trying to set
yourself apart from everyone,
and you're all fighting for this one spot
at this one school.
But you've got that spot now
and you're here watching this
video, what is there to do?
Well, I think it's time
to focus on bringing all these,
super unique individuals together,
and really emphasize community building,
it's time to focus on a
new sense of collectivism.
Individualism is a fairly new concept,
it's a Western tradition
brought about by capitalism,
but for so much of our history,
humanity has power through
the toughest situations
by banding together, and
taking care of each other,
and establishing community.
We need each other and we
honestly do better together.
And we know this, every
team building activity
that you do in orientation
is trying to get you to
form these connections
with each other, so
that we feel supported,
and we feel like we're part
of something greater than us.
And we all are part of
something greater than us,
we're part of a pandemic,
that's affecting every single
human being on this planet.
Now the challenge this semester
is going to be forming these bonds,
while we're socially distanced,
staring at each other
remotely on a laptop screen.
But it's possible, during
these past few months,
we've seen people across
the world come together
in different capacities,
but mostly to survive.
We've got scientists all over
the world working together,
sharing information with each other,
to work on a vaccine for the Coronavirus.
We are witness to the largest
civil rights movement ever,
because of peoples' willingness to unite,
and care for each other,
and using our privilege
to care for those who are less privileged.
And even looking at the roots,
of why there is a need for
a civil rights movement,
it's because there's been a
consistent lack of empathy
for each other, for another human being,
the lack of care and accountability.
So going into the school year,
it's time to take care of each other,
and it's time to push yourself,
to reach out to the person
that you've never talked
to before, to form a bond,
because you know, when this is all over,
we're hopefully gonna be back on campus,
and you wanna feel that
sense of community,
you wanna feel that you're
being taken care of.
And we need to remember
that every little thing
that we do to show that we care,
or just demonstrate that
we are here for someone,
is contributing towards the common good.
Now I'm looking forward to
meeting all of you virtually,
or in real life,
and I hope we all find
motivation within ourselves,
to remember that every little thing
that we do this semester
affects each other.
And we could be saving life just
by keeping each other accountable,
and checking in with each other,
because it's more important now than ever,
and it's time for us to
think outside the box,
and how to care for each other.
Now, I hope you all have
a wonderful orientation,
and kind of settle in to your
little rhythms really quickly,
and I can't wait to get
to know you, thank you.
- Hi, my name is BoHee
Yoon, class of 2001,
and I'm the president of
Swarthmore Alumni Council.
All former students
automatically become members
of Swarthmore Alumni Association.
So as long as you log
on for your first class,
I'm thrilled to welcome you
to the supportive and
amazing alumni community.
Swarthmore teaches us to think critically,
and to look past the surface.
And it also encourages deep conversations
and relationship building.
Swarthmore nurtures us to really
learn each other's stories.
When I arrived at
Swarthmore, on my first day,
I was surprised and intimidated
by the amazing diversity
of all of my classmates.
And I couldn't imagine
being close with people
who were so different from me.
But we were lucky enough
to spend so much time learning together,
living together and growing together,
and earning those
stories from one another.
And soon I couldn't imagine
my life without my amazing new friends.
There's the family that raises you,
and the family that you choose.
Swarthmore helps you lay the foundation
for the family that you choose.
I remember all those
wonderful late night chats
in my dorm room, lingering over dinner
with a table full of friends,
whispering with each other
in McCabe instead of reading,
and dancing together,
like nobody was watching,
at every single party.
I remember the absolute
joy we felt for each other,
when one of us succeeded.
And I also remember the dark times,
the tears, the insecurities,
and feeling as though
I didn't belong here.
Through the delicious the wonderful time,
and all of the challenging times,
the members of my close
knit Swarthmore family,
have been there for me.
And we've lifted and supported
each other and build trust.
And they carried me across the finish line
to graduation during my
parents sudden divorce.
In between the papers, the
parties and the protests,
we had created our family.
Right after we graduated,
we lived busy lives,
and started to spread out
across the country in the globe,
with new jobs and new graduate schools,
and we did our best to stay in contact,
and to travel to see each
other whenever we could.
We talked on the phone, all the time,
and it almost felt as though
we were still all together at
Swarthmore, sharing each day.
Fast forward almost 20
years to just before COVID,
we were working our butts
off in our various careers,
welcoming new members into
our individual families,
and into our collective family.
We were busy lawyers,
historians, doctors, writers,
and political gurus.
And we didn't get to see
or speak with each other
as much as we used to.
And we kept postponing
plans to travel together,
but we loved each other
as much as we always had,
and we looked forward to
recreating Swarthmore again,
especially when we all move
into the same retirement community
whenever that time comes.
And I guess that was
enough for us to get by.
With the COVID pandemic
and ongoing violence
against black lives however,
all the background noise has faded,
and we are holding our
families a little closer.
I suddenly find myself
at home 24 hours a day,
with a bit more time to reflect,
and a bit more time to get deep
with my Swarthmore family again.
My evenings usually
reserved for networking,
and post work drinks and dinners,
are now filled with rich
Zoom and FaceTime sessions
with my Swarthmore family.
From sharing notes on how to
support Black Lives Matter,
and screaming about
the upcoming elections,
to extremely spirited game nights.
Competing over the creative things
we are cooking in our air fryers,
and discussing the wonderful
books we're reading.
And of course at all
times, debating all things.
Despite all the horrible
and disheartening things
that are happening in the world,
and the feeling that we
are pumping the brakes
on our respective careers
at a critical time,
I realized that we have
managed to create Swarthmore
with each other again.
That being quarantined and limited
to only seeing each other on screens,
has actually brought our
Swarthmore family closer together.
During COVID, it will be more difficult
for all of you to take advantage,
the natural settings that we had,
like late night dorm room
chats, lingering over dinner,
or dancing at all those parties,
to build trust with each other,
and to nurture those relationships.
The Swatties are resilient and innovative,
and always up for a challenge.
So I challenge you, I
challenge you to be resilient
and innovative, and to be ingenious,
and create wonderful ways
to nurture your Swarthmore relationships.
Because you're not here
just for the highest
quality academic education,
but also to seek and build
the family that you choose.
And we are so thrilled
that you have chosen
to become a part of ours, thank you.
- I wanna thank our
wonderful speakers today.
On Saturday, we will come together again,
for the closing of orientation
for our first collection,
and you will have your own opportunity
to begin your own reflect,
share your own reflections
on these queries.
We will conclude our program
with the way we began,
with a moment of silence.
Please join me in a moment of silence.
Thank you and that concludes
our time together today.
