Skidmore College celebrates the start of the Class of 2022 – Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Skidmore College celebrated the class of 2022 on Saturday in its 111th kick-off drills.
The ceremony, held at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, honored a total of 589 graduates for their achievements.
In a multidisciplinary fashion, these graduates have collectively completed 708 majors and 348 minors. Their largest major is Management and Business (94), and largest minor is Media and Film Studies (31).
Together, they have garnered hundreds of awards and national honor society memberships, co-authored published research, and presented at numerous academic conferences.
The diverse class, with 12% international students, represents 32 US states as well as 43 different countries.
Additionally, 72 of Saturday’s Skidmore winners are first-generation college graduates.
A first-generation student, Mark R. Alcantara, addressed his peers at the start as president of the Skidmore 2022 senior class. He recognized the group’s remarkable resilience in navigating the college experience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which began during the students’ second year.
“I’ve never met a group of people as passionate as the Class of 2022,” Alcantara said. “Each of you have contributed something meaningful to the Skidmore community.”
Skidmore College President Marc Conner, at his first full-scale graduation ceremony with the institution, also praised the class.
“It hasn’t been an easy time,” Conner said, asking the graduates to focus not on what was lost, but on what was gained through their unique experience of attending Skidmore College for a global pandemic.
“My hope…is that you will think with justified pride of your endurance, courage, tenacity and creativity that you have shown not only for yourself, but for the entire campus through this difficult time. And especially the care you have shown to each other. It’s the key to our success – the culture of caring – that has sustained us.
Beyond their experience at Skidmore College, many graduates are now preparing for employment, continuing education and other unique individual projects such as launching a start-up, producing a film documentary and volunteering as an English teacher.
Along with the hundreds of graduates who received their degrees on Saturday, Skidmore College awarded honorary degrees to film director, playwright and arts activist Moisés Kaufman and acclaimed novelist, literary scholar and philosopher Charles Johnson during its 2022 commencement exercises.
Attendees heard remarks from the two writers at the ceremony, as well as Lisa Grady-Willis, teaching professor and associate director of the Intergroup Relations Program and affiliate faculty member in Black Studies, who served as the launch speaker for Skidmore Faculty.
“Skidmore has been your home, and it will always welcome you home,” Conner told the graduating class at the end of the event. “Skidmore is part of who you are, who you are. We will always care about you. We look forward to hearing about your accomplishments and triumphs, so we can celebrate them with you. Here you have studied, laughed and lived, now march proudly into your life to come.
