Commencement Remarks for the Class of 2024
President Kathleen Harring delivers remarks to the Muhlenberg College Class of 2024.Sunday, May 19, 2024 11:00 AM
Families, friends, faculty, staff and students — thank you for joining us today to honor our graduates.
Class of 2024, congratulations. We celebrate you and all that you have accomplished during your time at Muhlenberg College. You have thrived in a remarkable community where we challenge and support each other constantly. Where we strive to make an impact every day. And where we foster a sense of community and belonging. You thrived in this community because you are this community. YOU are Mules.
Nonetheless, most of you started at Muhlenberg during a rocky time: Fall of 2020. I’ve heard many of your stories about leaving high school and never returning — about milestones missed and traditions left uncelebrated. For many of you, today was the first time you walked across a stage to receive a diploma. And, just for you, we’re using an extra-large stage.
For those of you who arrived at Muhlenberg in the fall of 2020, your first year was a strange experience. Social distancing, time spent isolated in dorm rooms, classes by Zoom, meals surrounded by plexiglass — this is not what you expected college to be. It was surreal. It was a problem. A big problem. A wicked problem.
“Wicked problems” are intractable issues like pandemics, climate disasters, racism and threats to democracy. The only way to solve these “wicked problems” is to bring together a diverse range of disciplines and use sophisticated habits of mind to work out solutions. For us, the wicked problem we had to solve was how to provide the Muhlenberg experience in a way that stayed true to our mission, preserved who we are as a community and kept everyone healthy and safe.
You were partners and drivers of the solutions we came up with. You collaborated with faculty and staff and each other to resolve issues by working across disciplines, using your skills to attack problem after problem. You were the embodiment of the liberal arts.
Together we responded to the new world we had been thrust into. We made evidence-based decisions. We communicated and overcommunicated with one another. We showed kindness, compassion and humility. You made it through this difficult ordeal. And still, you grew and thrived, bound together by shared experience.
I am proud of our community and how we handled this challenge. But it wasn’t easy. As you have learned, our community is a close one. We thrive on proximity, conversation and interaction.
Indeed, a Muhlenberg liberal arts education is a contact sport.
What do I mean by that?
Contact means occupying the same spaces, talking with one another face to face, knowing and respecting one another. It means friendships, partnerships, and deep mutual understanding.
But contact also causes friction. Friction sometimes causes sparks. And sparks can make all of us uncomfortable. Our value as a college and as a community — indeed our identity as a liberal arts college — lies in the way we address that friction and withstand the sparks.
We create and test competing theories and arguments. We develop habits of mind that are systematic, evidenced-based and grounded in reason. We engage in dialogue that is thoughtful and scholarly. We do not always agree with one another. But we strive to create a forum that is brave and rooted deeply in our values.
This is what strong communities do. This is what the best colleges do. You are stronger, better students because of it, and I know that you will be stronger, better citizens, professionals and leaders, too, as a result.
And that is a very good thing, because today there are a lot of wicked problems to solve: Threats to peace and democracy. Bigotry in its many manifestations. Environmental degradation. The list goes on and on.
So, this is my charge to you: Solve those wicked problems. Take your Muhlenberg experience out into the world. Talk, listen, debate. Do your research. Work hard. Be hopeful. Be skeptical. Be thoughtful. Seek out discomfort. Collaborate with everyone. Even those you disagree with. Especially with those you disagree with.
Like the liberal arts, life is a contact sport. So make contact. Play the game.
Be the Mules our world desperately needs.
At some point, not too long from now, you will see how your Muhlenberg liberal arts education is helping you meet the challenges to solve wicked problems in a way that others simply can’t.
It will be a good feeling. When that happens, come back and tell us all about it.
Congratulations, Class of 2024. I look forward to welcoming you back to your Muhlenberg home and celebrating your accomplishments. Now, go and change the world!
