Convocation 2020
Welcome, class of 2024! Celebrate the start of Fall term! For the first time, Convocation will be presented as an audio podcast. Kick off the academic year from wherever you reside in the world—on campus, or beyond. Tune into B-RAD or listen below via the SoundCloud link. Written versions of speeches are available alongside the audio link.
For Convocation this year, we wanted to do something more intimate and collaborative; something that makes creative use of remote technology and meets everyone in this community wherever they happen to be at the start of this term. To that end, we have created a Convocation Podcast, which combines audio contributions from students, faculty, and staff all centered around the theme of community, connection, and togetherness.
How to attend:
Listen using the Soundcloud link below, listen through B-RAD, or read transcripts of the speeches.
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Bennington College Convocation
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Convocation Speaker
Manuel Gonzales, Literature Faculty Member
Additional Remarks
Tonya Strong, Director of Admissions
Flo Gill '22, SEPC Chair
Laura Walker, President
Reading of an excerpt of the Commencement Statement
Jennifer Rohn, Drama Faculty Member
Music
Sound Constructions (2018 | Documentation Excerpt)
by Senem Pirler, Nina C. Young, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti
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The Music of Convocation
Sound Constructions (2018 | Documentation Excerpt) by Senem Pirler, Nina C. Young, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti
Sound Constructions is a site-specific performative sound installation created on and for the Montalvo Arts Center. Using a combination of found objects from the grounds, such as eucalyptus tree barks, and sound sculptures built from industrial materials, the mobile sculptures invite interplay. By choosing specific found objects, we amplify only certain sounds that normally might not be heard. The installation and our improvisation is an exploration of these objects and presence, asking: How does taking things out of their natural environment create tension? As we have collected these things in order to build an environment, how do we touch them, give them focus, and ultimately let them go?
Resources for Well-Being
SEPC Chair Flo Gill '22 has created a resource document in which she has compiled the information new (and current) Bennington students might need to know about how to access campus support systems.
Convocation Through the Years...
As we celebrate the start of another academic year with Convocation, we think of former faculty member Milford Graves, whose iconic "heartbeat" drumming rhythms and spirited performances were a signature part of Convocation for many years.
In 2018, Graves was diagnosed with amyloid cardiomyopathy, otherwise known as "stiff heart syndrome," and was told he had six months to live. Today, however, Graves is still living at his home in Queens, both exceeding his medical expectations and furthering his lifelong work on heartbeats—now using his own health as a subject, as was recently featured in The New York Times.
Nothing Hypothetical About ActionDina 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."
Convocation Welcomes Class of 2022On 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.
Radical CaringEve 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.
Critical Mass of ChangeHolly 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.
Use Your AntlersMichael 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."