Mau urged the graduates to think of them not as challenges, but “entrepreneurial opportunities.” He told those gathered, “You will live through a scale of change that has never happened in human history. Your ability to design — to think critically, to see potential, to connect the dots that others can’t, to communicate with nuance and compassion, to inspire — all the skills of a Hamilton education — will be critically important in the global transformation that you will guide and lead.”
Mau concluded, “In its broadest sense, design is leadership. With what you have experienced here at Hamilton, you have the power to show people a future more exciting than their past and inspire them to work together on the journey to a new world.”
Delbert “Del” Gonzales
Soper Merrill prize winner Del Gonzales spoke about the community he has found at Hamilton. “When I got here, I was convinced I had somehow tricked admissions. … I couldn’t believe that I belonged,” he said. “To make myself believe I belonged, I threw myself into everything … And I know I wasn’t alone.”
But, Gonzales explained, “Somewhere along the way, the need to prove myself and the disbelief shifted into a sense of belonging. And that’s because of this community. Although we all have different majors and interests and have been on different sports teams and clubs, I think we can all say we are each graduating with a major in ‘community.’”
He said an instructor defined it as communal effervescence. “It’s this shared feeling of energy and excitement when people come together for the same purpose or event,” Gonzales suggested.
He cited examples. “... It’s in the small things. It’s a professor pulling you aside after class just to say ‘you’ve got something.’ It’s a friend texting ‘you were amazing’ after your show,” he said. “We talk a lot about Hamilton’s resources, but the real resource isn’t that $1 billion dollar endowment. It’s the people — the friends, mentors, staff, and family.”
“And if you’re ever in doubt, like I was, if you ever forget that you do belong, I hope you hear the voices of the people who believed in you here, and I hope you carry those voices forward. Because out in the world, it will matter that we uplift each other, that we stay connected. That we don’t just believe in ourselves, but keep believing in each other,” Gonzales concluded.
Alexandra “Allie” Ennis
For Allie Ennis, Hamilton has been about how people show up for each other. She recalled her first campus visit when she and her family were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who held doors open for them. “There was a pervasive, intentional kindness,” she explained. Ennis recalled that kindness when earlier this year she was asked by someone new on campus: “‘What makes Hamilton so special?’ ‘What makes Hamilton, Hamilton?’ This is a place where people hold doors for one another — literally and metaphorically,” she explained.
“It may seem like a small thing, but what are you saying when you hold a door for someone? ‘I see you, you go first, come with me.’ And those are not such small things. I also came to Hamilton thinking I was done with math because I wasn’t particularly good at it,” Ennis said. “Until freshman year Calculus when Professor Cockburn pulled me into her office and said ‘You should stick with this!’ She opened a door because she saw me in a way I hadn’t seen myself. Now, I’m graduating as a math major and have had some of my most meaningful experiences tutoring math at our QSR Center.
“We showed up for each other — in every thesis presentation, every concert at Wellin Hall, every handshake line after an IM basketball game,” Ennis said. “In small moments and big, the Class of 2025 has held the door open for one another, and we’ve been brave enough to run through it. Our class came to Hamilton in the wake of extended isolation. We do not take community for granted.
“Today, as we leave the Hill and enter the exciting, messy world that waits for us, let’s remember to hold the door open because that is who we are.”
Ray Halbitter, Baccalaureate
In his baccalaureate remarks, Halbritter explained that “One of the guiding principles we follow as Oneida people is to do all things for the benefit of the Seventh Generation. We know that our actions and choices have a far-reaching impact and seek to always act with our grandchildren’s grandchildren in mind,” he said. “The evolution of this college from its humble beginnings and the community it is building today serve as a prime example of this kind of vision.
“You have spent so much time learning about what interests you, where your passions lie and what you want to be,” he said. “Everything you have learned about the world and yourself during your time in college has prepared you for the role you will take on in the world outside.
”When you leave this world, you will be remembered for what you contribute to this spectrum and the lives you touched by doing so – not for what you acquire or how widely your name is known. What matters most is that you are doing the work you were meant to do and living the life that you are meant to live.
“You will be most successful when you follow your own instructions for this world and proceed in friendship with those who do the same,” Halbritter suggested.
