Smith College - Alum

In her remarks, Reeta Roy, CEO of Mastercard Foundation and Smith College honorand, congratulated the 2024 graduates and reminded them to celebrate the impact of women in their lives. Here is an excerpt:

“I am deeply touched by this recognition. It is particularly moving because I so relate to the values Smith stands for: audacity, agency, and authenticity. …To the class of 2024, congratulations. Know that you will thrive in this complex and wonderful world, if you keep dreaming, stay curious, see others for who they are without passing judgment, and stay open to redefining who you are through the ebbs and flows of life. Generation after generation of women have benefited from the sweat, sacrifices, leadership, and courage of grandmothers, of mothers who changed the trajectory of their lives, their careers, and accomplishments…. Like many others, I feel blessed to come from a lineage of strong women without whom I would not be here today. I ask you to think about who matters in your life. It is so important that we celebrate grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters of Smith who had such a profound impact. If she were here today, I would say, ‘Mom, this honor is yours.’...Who do you celebrate because you are graduating today? Say their names! It sounds like you are ready. Go forth to a world that is waiting, waiting to be renewed by you.”

Like seeds that lead to wonderful blooms, gifts to The Smith Fund make a huge impact. Join the many alums who are enhancing the Smithie experience. https://www.givecampus.com/d8mu8i

Plant What You Love 2024 Join me in making a gift by June 30. Our gifts to Smith today create the Smith of tomorrow.

Smith honoree Ertharin Cousin, CEO and managing director of Food Systems for the Future, told graduates to embrace the power of their degrees. Here is an excerpt of her Commencement remarks:

“Your degree is a big ole’ powerful tool. The experiences you have and will gain are powerful tools. The lessons you will continuously learn and the resulting wisdom you will achieve are all powerful tools. These tools equip you to do the things, to perform the work, to change things too many people ignore or sadly don’t care about. To change the things other people pray to accept as too difficult to change…. Resolve to embrace the too-hard-to-change things. Ignore the naysayers, convert the possible and build a posse of the like-minded. And let the words of Nelson Mandela serve as your mantra and your north star: ‘It always seems impossible until it is done.’ Let your passion be unstoppable, and let’s get change done!”

For her presentation at the Commencement ceremonies, honoree María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, poet laureate and feminist intersectional educator, read her poem, “Today, I Celebrate You.“ Here is an excerpt:

“Today/I/a first-generation student/born in Manatí, Puerto Rico/& raised by foundry & factory workers/in the North End of Springfield, Massachusetts/celebrate with you/the kind of life each of you has shaped/these past few years at Smith/where your liberal arts learning IS limitless/where each of you has learned how to replace/any fears with creative ingenuity, to bury/uncertainty under the fierce blooming/of your spirited awareness/that you harness/self-transformational powers/ with every course, lab, creative practice/with every fruitful interaction, friendship/with every necessary act of self-love. Self-care. Self-definition.”

Jill Lepore, award-winning academic, journalist and writer, was one of five honorands who offered words of wisdom to Smithies during Commencement ceremonies. Here is an excerpt:

“I write about history and I could tell you, now, here, today, to care about the past. But that’s not what I want to say to you. I want to tell you how much I love this world, this New England breeze, the crispness of each apple, the dirt between your toes, the whistle of each chickadee. Go to the woods, to the water, the sea, the mountain, the city park, the community garden, the neighborhood playground…. Be a creature, be a mammal, be warm and caring and tender, mammalian, and human, and be humane. Cultivate. Cultivate. Cultivate the land, from the basketball court to the mountaintop. Cultivate. Bring what you know, what you’ve learned here... out into the woods, into the city, into the dark of night, where the wind rustles. Cultivate this world, its creatures. Cultivate—and I know you will—please cultivate knowledge.”

https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/priceless-work-do-smith-celebrates-class-2024

What do Smith students and gardens share? They love to grow! The Smith Fund is a great way to sustain and enhance the Smithie experience. Give today. https://www.givecampus.com/d8mu8i

Plant What You Love 2024 Join me in making a gift by June 30. Our gifts to Smith today create the Smith of tomorrow.

Want to plant a seed at Smith? It’s easy through The Smith Fund. Give to an area you love and watch it grow. https://www.givecampus.com/d8mu8i

Plant What You Love 2024 Join me in making a gift by June 30. Our gifts to Smith today create the Smith of tomorrow.

What do you love most about Smith? Make a gift to a favorite area of the college and watch it grow! Or give to the general Smith Fund and we’ll use it where it’s most needed. https://www.givecampus.com/d8mu8i

Plant What You Love 2024 Join me in making a gift by June 30. Our gifts to Smith today create the Smith of tomorrow.

Wonder what it’s like to be part of the Alum Book Club? Here’s one member’s review: “It's a great reminder of all we treasure about Smith and the community of learning, growing women who share it.” Join now: https://bit.ly/4b9bNo8

June growth is magical! Tiny seeds lead to beautiful results. The Smith Fund is similar—small gifts sprout, supporting students as they explore and bloom. Give today. https://www.givecampus.com/d8mu8i

Plant What You Love 2024 Join me in making a gift by June 30. Our gifts to Smith today create the Smith of tomorrow.

More than 2,000 alums gathered on campus over two weekends in May to celebrate each other, the graduating class of seniors, and the experiences they share as Smithies. Read more about Reunion here!

Smith Reunion 2024 More than 2,000 alums gathered on campus for two joyful weekends of Reunion.

In this piece for ‘Publishers Weekly,’ author J. Courtney Sullivan ’03 talks about how she came across an oceanfront house that inspired her upcoming release, The Cliffs, on one of her many trips to Maine.

The Haunting of J. Courtney Sullivan A decade ago, bestselling author J. Courtney Sullivan’s discovered an abandoned mansion—and the inspiration for her latest novel—on the coast of Maine.

In early May, Susan Werner Thoresen ’66 received an N.H. Women’s Foundation AmplifiHER award in honor of her long service as a community leader, volunteer, and philanthropist. The AmplifiHER award is given annually to “a person or persons who have dedicated their personal and professional lives to lifting up women and girls in the Granite State.“

NH Women’s Foundation honors Susan Werner Thoresen with AmplifiHER award The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation awarded Susan Werner Thoresen with its 2024 AmplifiHER award at its seventh annual gala.

In this recent piece for The Atlantic, Maggie Mertens ’09 identifies a growing social media trend: the quarter-life–crisis marathon. Citing research by psychotherapist Satya Doyle Byock, Mertens explores why millennials and 20-somethings are increasingly taking to running. (Article requires sign in.)

“Setting out to run 26.2 miles is intense,” Mertens writes. “But it also promises a profound sense of control that may be especially appealing to those coming into adulthood.”

The New Quarter-Life Crisis Running a marathon has become a milestone for a growing number of young adults.

World War II Veteran Zecil Gravitz, now aged 102, recently spoke with The Boston Globe about her younger days as a wartime participant in the Women’s Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Following a nine-week training program in Northampton, she served at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. (Article requires login.)

‘I was always one of the boys,’ 102-year-old Zecil Gravitz of Canton recalls her Navy service during WWII - The Boston Globe A Navy veteran of World War II, Zecil Gravitz served at a time when there were no warm uniforms or antibiotics. Female and Jewish soldiers were even more sparse. She was both.

A wonderful weekend with alums at Reunion II!

Photos by Jessica Scranton

Join the Alum Book Club! The club spends two months reading each book, with guided virtual discussions throughout. It's a great way to connect! Reading now: “Lady Tan's Circle of Women” by Lisa See. https://bit.ly/4b9bNo8

Welcome, alums!

Join us from May 24 through July 26 for our next read: “Lady Tan’s Circle of Women,“ a historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China, by bestselling author Lisa See. Sign up: https://bit.ly/4b9bNo8

Eight members of the class of 2004 were on campus May 16–19 celebrating their unique role in college history. Twenty years ago, they were among the first cohort of graduates from Smith’s Picker Engineering Program.

Shaping a Signature Smith Program Alums who were the first to earn engineering degrees at Smith share reflections at Reunion.

Ruth E. Carter, two-time Academy Award winning American film costume designer, was one of the five honorands who offered words of wisdom to Smithies during Commencement ceremonies. Here is an excerpt:

“Life is a lot like a movie—it’s filled with plot twists, unexpected turns and plenty of drama. Before dialogue is uttered, costumes tell the story of the character. Who we are, where we have been, and where we are going. The more nuanced the qualities of the character, the more unique the costume… Whatever path you have chosen, seek out the details that add color, pattern, and texture to your stories. Embrace your uniqueness and trust your voice…Continue to be unapologetically yourselves. And in the words of Queen Ramonda [from the Black Panther series]: ‘Show them who you are!’”

Smith’s director of international alum relations and development Jacqui DeFelice shares her memories from a two-week excursion where she crossed paths with Smithies in Denmark, France, Ireland, and beyond. “All these Smithie gatherings illustrate the profound joy that emerges when our community comes together,” DeFelice writes.

Cultivating Joy Join Jacqui DeFelice for a vicarious tour of Smithie events in Europe.

Congrats to Sujan Shresta ’92, who was recently named one of the Prebys Research Heroes program winners. The grant program is focused on bringing more diverse perspectives into laboratories and yield groundbreaking medical research. According to a statement, Shresta’s research focuses on West Nile, dengue fever, and other viruses.

Prebys Foundation Announces $7 Million "Prebys Research Heroes" Program to Improve Medical Research through Diversity /PRNewswire/ -- The Prebys Foundation has launched a $7 million program designed to bring more diverse perspectives into the laboratory and yield...

This Sunday, hip-hop artist and producer Billy Dean Thomas ’14 will take the stage with their three-piece band at the Boston Calling Music Festival. “​​I’m honored and hope that my performance opens the door even wider for other Black q***r musicians to perform at future Boston Calling festivals,” Thomas told MassLive

Boston rapper wants to 'opens the door even wider' for more Black q***r artists Billy Dean Thomas is hoping that his performance opens the door “even wider” for other Black q***r musicians to perform at Boston Calling in the future.

When Smith alums arrive for the Ivy Day parade, they come in dancing!

Welcome back to campus, alums! So happy to see you all here!

In the early days of international COVID-19 lockdowns, scholar Eszter Hargittai ’96 collected survey data in three countries to explore social and digital disparities among internet users. Her newest book, ”Connected in Isolation: Digital Privilege in Unsettled Times,” documents the findings from that study.

Behind the Screens Neilson Professor’s new book demystifies digital inequality.

Set in a cherry orchard during the pandemic, Ann Patchett’s latest novel, ”Tom Lake,” is “a wistful meditation on mothers and daughters learning to handle the seasons of their lives.” (New Yorker) Join now to read ”Tom Lake” with fellow Smithies. pbc.guru/smith