Speakers Express Confidence in Conn College Graduates

"The word for today is sun,” Leo Higdon, president of Connecticut College, said to start the appearance of speakers Sunday at graduation ceremonies.

A bright pleasant day it wasn’t, but the weather was nice enough for the commencement to take place outdoors on the Tempel Green. Almost 460 students in the Class of 2011, nicknamed the “Centennial Class,” stood up to receive diplomas.

Higdon said the fact that the class is graduating in the middle of the 100th anniversary of Connecticut College’s founding in 1911 will ensure them a special place in the school’s history. He encouraged the students to be active citizens in whatever communities they settle down in, but encouraged them to remain close to Connecticut College. He also expressed faith that the students’ education and dedication would make them successful leaders.

“You will be the ones to solve the most pressing problems of our time,” he said.

Charles Lincoln Wesley, a graduating student, also reflected that the class would be going out into a world with a population approaching seven billion people, an uncertain economy, and increased potential for world conflict. At least one of the potential worries resolved itself.

“Well, guys, this is a little awkward. I though the world was going to end last night, so I didn’t prepare anything,” he joked.

Wesley said the four years at Connecticut College had developed skills in everything from academic studies to cooperation and negotiation through roommate relations. The Class of 2011 should remain ambitious and keep learning, he said.

“I would like to assure our class that we are indeed able to meet these challenges and changes head on,” he said.

Cynthia Enloe, a member of the Class of 1960, feminist scholar, and research professor of international development, community and environment at Clark University, said every one of the graduates and college employees was connected to the 1911 founders. However, she said such connections should be regarded as a responsibility, especially in modern times.

“A connection should probably make you feel a little uneasy,” she said.

Enloe told how the college was founded mere weeks after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, where doors locked by factory managers contributed to the deaths of 146 people. Of these, 123 were women and most were immigrants. She said that while the disaster highlighted poor working conditions, the shirtwaist product was considered a “ticket to modernity” for women, playing a role in allowing them to move about the city and get a job. The women who founded Connecticut College even had shirtwaists in some of the earliest photos, she said.

Enloe said she thought to check her own clothing recently, and determined that the garments were made all over the world, likely in conditions similar to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

“May every one of you thrive, and you’re going to thrive in many different ways,” she said. “But may you thrive in a way that ensures the justice and the dignity of every person who has made the clothes you’re wearing today.”

2011 Brookfield Graduates:

• Matthew E. Reiff