Convocation: Related Content
This fall, the Bennington community welcomed over 250 new students to the College.
Text for the 2020 Convocation Podcast speeches by Manuel Gonzales, Tonya Strong, and Flo Gill '22.
On September 3, 2019, the Bennington community gathered to celebrate the start of the academic year and welcome over 180 new students to the College.
Eve Mefferd '19, chair of the Student Educational Policies Committee, was the student speaker at Convocation 2019. She spoke about the multitude of ways in which Bennington students can get involved and make their voices heard on campus and beyond. "As a Bennington student, protest and change-making are your inheritance," said Mefferd.
Rage Hezekiah, First-year and International Student Counselor, was the staff speaker at Convocation 2019. She shared her perspective as a relative newcomer to Vermont and the inspiration she finds in her daily work with students. She also urged the community to "be gentle with each other."
"I trust our collective ability to have hard conversations, and find common ground," said Hezekiah. "This doesn’t mean we always have to agree, but that we can treat each other with tenderness, trusting that we are committed to sharing this space, and making this place our collective home."
Dina Janis was the faculty speaker at Convocation 2019. She stressed the importance of preparation and action as necessary first steps to discovery and education.
"Regardless of how one finds oneself preparing for the act of creation, there is no substitute for time on your feet actually doing the thing, rather than thinking about doing it," said Janis. "There is nothing hypothetical about action."
Michael Dumanis was the faculty speaker at Convocation 2018. He charged the campus community with stretching their expectations to "swerve, and get overwhelmed and lost, and make a few discoveries along the way, and find yourself at least a little changed."
On September 4, 2018, the Bennington community gathered to celebrate the start of the academic year and welcome over 200 new first-year students to the College.
Eve Mefferd '19, chair of the Student Educational Policies Committee, was the student speaker at Convocation 2018. She spoke about the "enormous potential for creating leverage points" for which Bennington's flexible curriculum and student-centered education allows.
Holly Andersen, project manager for the Planning Office, was the staff speaker at Convocation 2018. She shared her career over the course of nearly a decade spent at Bennington, reflected upon her experiences as a first-generation college student, and encouraged students to take advantage of the family found on campus.
Welcoming an incoming class of about 200 students, Bennington College’s convocation speaker, college librarian Oceana Wilson, urged those gathered in the Usdan Gallery on Tuesday to look to the future.