Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Gratitude, resilience, and the power of human connections were themes woven throughout Smith’s 146th Commencement on May 19.
The college awarded 627 undergraduate degrees Sunday and 41 graduate degrees. Members of the class of 2024 came to Smith from 45 states and 23 countries.
Presiding over her first Commencement, Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton encouraged graduates to celebrate the day as the start of a new chapter.
“With beginnings come hope and curiosity, uncertainty and anxiety, relief and resolve,” she said. “Let the joy and warmth of this day fortify you and carry you forward into whatever is next, where you’ll spread your own joy and gratitude and love so that others may feel it, too.”
In a break from tradition, there was not one keynote speaker at this year’s ceremony. Instead, each of five honorary degree recipients offered words of wisdom and congratulations to graduates. The honorands were: María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, poet laureate and feminist intersectional educator;
Ruth E. Carter, two-time Academy Award-winning American film costume designer;
Ertharin Cousin, CEO & managing director of Food Systems for the Future;
Jill Lepore, award-winning academic, journalist and writer; and
Reeta Roy, CEO of Mastercard Foundation.
Gratitude, resilience, and the power of human connections were themes woven throughout Smith’s 146th Commencement on May 19.
The college awarded 627 undergraduate degrees Sunday and 41 graduate degrees. Members of the class of 2024 came to Smith from 45 states and 23 countries.
Presiding over her first Commencement, Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton encouraged graduates to celebrate the day as the start of a new chapter.
“With beginnings come hope and curiosity, uncertainty and anxiety, relief and resolve,” she said. “Let the joy and warmth of this day fortify you and carry you forward into whatever is next, where you’ll spread your own joy and gratitude and love so that others may feel it, too.”
In a break from tradition, there was not one keynote speaker at this year’s ceremony. Instead, each of five honorary degree recipients offered words of wisdom and congratulations to graduates. The honorands were: María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, poet laureate and feminist intersectional educator;
Ruth E. Carter, two-time Academy Award-winning American film costume designer;
Ertharin Cousin, CEO & managing director of Food Systems for the Future;
Jill Lepore, award-winning academic, journalist and writer; and
Reeta Roy, CEO of Mastercard Foundation.
