Commencement Speakers Offer Parting Words to 2022 Grads

Published June 23, 2022

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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)

“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

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

Published in the July 2022 Issue