Commencement 2025: “History has given you this moment”
On May 25, 2025, 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć celebrated its one hundred eighty-eighth Commencement, marking milestone achievements for the class of 2025. Maura T. Healey, governor of Massachusetts, was the graduation speaker.
On May 25, 2025, 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć celebrated its one hundred eighty-eighth Commencement, marking milestone achievements for more than 600 undergraduates, 77 graduate students and two international certificate recipients. The ceremony marked a turning point for students: the end of their College journeys and the beginning of their next steps.
It was a profoundly joyful event, with an audience from across the country and around the world, on campus and online, watching and cheering the graduates.
The Laurel Parade
There were traditions to honor before graduates marked the end of their time as students. The College has many Commencement traditions, and the Laurel Parade is one of the most festive. This year’s parade, held on Saturday, May 24, welcomed the class of 2025 into the ranks of alums and celebrated alums returning to campus for Reunion.
Marchers wore the traditional white and augmented their outfits with alum scarves in their class colors. Others accessorized further with colorful beads, flower crowns, lion’s tails, hair ties, capes, wings and hip wraps.
Alums held signs that marked their classes’ milestones and memories. “As students, we had no idea smartphones, the internet and social media would change our lives so much,” one read. One sign proclaimed, “From hall phones to smartphones!” Another sign declared, “Suzan-Lori Parks directed our junior show!”
Some alums brought their families, including kids who are starting to consider colleges. Anica Miller-Rushing ’00 brought both of her teenagers to Reunion. “It’s been a real gift to be able to talk to them and show them the things I’ve been telling them about 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć” she said. “It’s really fun to talk to them about that and their own choices, especially as higher ed is under fire right now.”
Laurel Parade also welcomed a very special guest: Paws, the MHC mascot. Paws has an updated and refreshed look, complete with sporty new kicks. Students, alums and families crowded to get selfies with the lion mascot.
“Let your values always be your North Star”
Commencement was held the next day, May 25, on Pageant Green. The day began cold and overcast, but families and friends were undaunted as they filled the green and the Amphitheatre, ready to cheer their students.
Speakers shared words of encouragement, wisdom and advice with the class of 2025.
Rhynette Hurd ’71, vice chair of the Board of Trustees, was the first to speak and had a full-circle moment with the class.
“In August of 2021, I had the honor of extending a welcome to you at Convocation. Most of you were first-year students, just beginning to embark on your academic pursuits here at the most beautiful and inclusive college campus on Earth,” she said. “I am as delighted today to celebrate your achievements as I was when welcoming you in August 2021.”
President Danielle R. Holley spoke next. “Today’s the culmination of years of hard work and focused study. It marks four years of growth and change. And it’s special — rarely do we have the opportunity to acknowledge the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next in such a meaningful, collective way,” she said.
“Building your body of knowledge and understanding how to tackle complex questions are essential to purposeful leadership, and so is leading with your values. Let your values always be your North Star,” Holley continued. “I have seen you lead with your values, and I know that you will take that with you. As you know, Mount Holyoke is a values-driven institution. We were forged in dissent in 1837 and were founded on the core value that a student’s gender must not be an impediment to an excellent education. And we still believe that today.
“In other words, Mount Holyoke was founded so that tomorrow won’t look like yesterday. For 188 years, we’ve known we are stronger when we include people rather than exclude them. And we will continue to make decisions based on our mission and our values for as long as we exist — which, as you know, .”
The student speaker for 2025 was Tehani Chandrasena Perera ’25. Perera said that after arriving at Mount Holyoke from Sri Lanka, she and her friends often asked each other, “Who am I, if not a 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć student?”
“It’s a question that started off as a half-joke, half-existential crisis as the Fall semester of senior year came along — but over time, it’s become something so much deeper,” she said. “We are first-generation trailblazers, international students who crossed oceans to be here, transfer students who chose this place midstream, scholars, student workers, dancers, artists, leaders and quiet change-makers.”
“I hope we never forget this version of ourselves: the ones who showed up and made it through in the face of adversity. I hope we carry with us not only our education but also our kindness, our fire and the ability to lift others as we climb,” Perera said. “Because if Mount Holyoke has taught me anything, it’s that we are capable of extraordinary things — and we are never alone in the pursuit of them.”
Next to the podium was guest speaker , the seventy-third governor of Massachusetts. In 2022, she became the first woman elected governor in the state’s history and the first openly lesbian governor elected in the country.
“I’m proud to be a governor of a state that is home to the world’s first institution of truly higher education for women,” she said. “Mount Holyoke, your graduates have changed the world through activism, education, public policy, science, medicine [and] civil rights. You’re one of just two colleges that were the first in the nation, back in 2014, to officially welcome a gender-diverse student body. And this year, President Holley and Mount Holyoke were the first to stand up without hesitation for the essential importance of diversity in higher education. You make Massachusetts proud.”
Governor Healey acknowledged that the graduates are entering a world of upheaval and face an uncertain future. She spelled out what the class of 2025 could expect in the near future.
“I want to talk about this moment in history because this is your moment. Yours to confront, yours to change. It’s not an easy moment by any means. Values and people we hold dear are being attacked and vilified,” Healey said. “It’s a frightening time in many communities, and some of you no doubt have been directly affected. At this moment, starkly different visions of America are in conflict: a democracy defined by pluralism versus a system of hierarchy and domination, an economy of innovation and opportunity versus greed and inequality, a social vision that is rooted in freedom versus fear and hate, and a vision of higher education as the foundation of our leadership in the world, not a domestic enemy to be torn down.”
“The crisis of this moment, the challenge of this moment, also offers a huge opportunity. It’s an opportunity to make choices that truly matter not only to yourselves but … to the world. It’s the gift of a purposeful life, however you choose to build it. I don’t mean to suggest that you should own and bear the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she continued. “But what I do want you to know is that in a time like this, simply how you live makes a statement. Who you are makes a difference. You can be caring and compassionate to those who right now are afraid or hungry or sad, sick or struggling in your communities.”
Two alums were also honored during the ceremony: Bess Weatherman ’82 and Tara Roberts ’91.
Weatherman is a Special Limited Partner of Warburg Pincus LLC, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, where she spent 28 years as a healthcare investor. She has twice been named to Forbes’ Midas List recognizing her as one of the 100 most highly-regarded leaders in the venture capital industry. A dedicated and generous volunteer, she is a 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć trustee and chair of the College’s investment committee, composed exclusively of distinguished alums.
Roberts has written extensively on the group Dive With a Purpose, a group of scuba divers documenting shipwrecks from the Middle Passage. She first launched a blog series which became the six-part podcast series “.” The podcast resulted in Roberts being named 2022’s Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. She was the first Black woman explorer to ever be featured on the cover of National Geographic.
After these words from peers, guests and honorands, the class of 2025 listened to the choir sing the , crossed the stage to receive their degrees and turned the tassels on their mortarboards to the right, ready for the next chapter of their lives as trailblazers and bold leaders but always connected to 91¶ĚĘÓƵappĆĆ˝â°ć.
