May 25, 2025: Commencement Address

Remarks by President Sarah Bolton at Whitman College’s 139th Commencement ceremony held on Sunday, May 25, 2025:

Class of 2025, we are here to celebrate you. We celebrate today because of who you are, and the great work you have done here at Whitman. And we celebrate you because of who you will be and the impact you will make in the world.  

Fifty years ago, Reginald Green ’55, a diplomat who had worked around the world, was the commencement speaker for the class of 1975. In that time of great challenge—just after the conclusion of the Vietnam war—he posed hard questions about what actions individuals, communities and nations must take to bring about a more just, thriving and sustainable world. The class of 1975, many of whom are with us today, carried those questions out from their commencement, and answered them in hundreds of ways, through their lives and work. Now they stand ready to support your futures as you answer those questions for your own time.

Class of 2025, today we celebrate your amazing individual talents and accomplishments, but also who you are as a community. You started college at a time of tremendous isolation. Together, you rebuilt the life of this college as our campus—and the world—gradually reopened. But you did much more than just bring Whitman “back to normal”. Together, you made a new, even stronger, Whitman—one that is even more welcoming, more vibrant and more inspiring. One that has new student organizations, new ways of building community, new landscapes, new ways serving communities in Walla Walla and around the world. Together, you found new ways to learn about the greatest challenges of this time, and new ways to work for a better future. You have rebuilt Whitman, and now you give it to the students who follow you. What an extraordinary gift, and legacy.

Class of 2025, you are now poised to commence in the finest way, with knowledge, courage and wisdom, with deep care for the world and the ability to understand it from a wide range of viewpoints. Just as you have built so much that is lasting here, you will make a difference in the world, and your futures are incredibly bright. Congratulations!