Commencement Speakers Offer Parting Words to 2022 Grads

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“Over these decades, I’ve seen that our society’s injustices are solvable, but they are also massive and complex, and it takes a lot of time to make a meaningful difference in the face of them. So the path of no regrets is to start early.” — Baccalaureate speaker Wendy Kopp ’89 Founder of Teach For America and co-founder of Teach For All

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“Let us promise ourselves that our ‘corporate memory’ of the tragic realities of the inequities experienced with COVID-19 does not fade after we return to our new normal. It will take a decades-long commitment for society to address these disparities.” — Class Day keynote speaker Dr. Anthony Fauci Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

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“I missed that kid who obviously only did one reading at the beginning of the semester but still dominated every precept discussion. Without him — and yes, it’s always a him — we all would have had to talk more. Sure, he was there during Zoom, too, but it wasn’t the same.” — Class Day speaker Owen Matthews ’22

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“I wish you safe travels and gentle landings. I wish you time for rest and time for joy. I wish you the space for critical reflection, complexity, and change. More than anything, I wish you hope, even — and perhaps, especially — in the face of uncertainty.” — Valedictorian Natalia Orlovsky ’22

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“We have taken innumerable journeys through harsh winds on rain-flooded pavements because we longed for a snack from late meal or the Wa. Later, remembering these things, we wept many a tear as we ate cold food from clamshell containers.” — Salutatorian Frances Mangina ’22 (Translated from the Latin) 

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“Princeton is hard, and that is especially true during the pandemic. … Nothing was more challenging than trying to fill a COVID test tube with my saliva after abstaining from liquids, food, and gum for 30 minutes. Conjuring up enough spit is one of the most pressing struggles of our time.” — Class Day speaker Maddie Winter ’22

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Read PAW’s coverage of the Class of 2022’s Commencement here