Photo by Cristan Gutierrez ’24
On the morning of Commencement 2023, graduates assembled on Windsor Mall with the common joy of young people celebrating a big achievement. Among the billowing robes, more than 70 students were set apart with colorful regalia that represented and honored their unique family or cultural identities.
A few days before, a new initiative celebrating diversity was offered to seniors at the first Multicultural Stole Ceremony on May 3, 2023. Dr. Carllos Lassiter, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer and Vice President for Student Life, hosted the event in Sally and Jim Nation Theatre. The evening featured student speakers Traelyn Marsh ’23 and Mariagisse Morales ’23, and performances by the South Asian Dance Association and Clemon White ’24.
“The celebration and the stoles reinforce the College’s Inclusion and Diversity pledge to cultivate minds, uphold justice, togetherness, and common humanity,” Lassiter said.
The special graduation stoles were funded through private gifts to the College and presented in recognition of these student organizations: Asian Student Association, Black Expressions, Gender Sexuality Alliance, Indian Cultural Association, La Familia, and Muslim Student Association.