Hundreds of friends and family members attended in order to applaud the latest Carleton graduates, with cheers from the crowd echoing across campus after each diploma was presented.

Michelle Mattson, professor of German and provost and vice president for academic affairs, read the names of the students as President Alison Byerly awarded the diplomas — and a handshake — to every member of the Class of 2025 in attendance.

An honorary doctoral degree was conferred during the ceremony to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, who also gave the Commencement address.

Wilkerson’s address was impassioned and inspiring. She spoke of Carleton’s history of being at the forefront of change, and encouraged the Class of 2025 to use their experience to better the world.

“We have the power to act with honor and stand up when we see wrongdoing and injustice, anywhere in the world, both here and abroad,” she said. “To stand up and advocate on behalf of people who are oppressed and under attack. To extend help and benefit of the doubt to those who are marginalized and those who have been historically denied, as has this College, not just for those in need, but for the collective well-being of all of us.”

Wilkerson reflected on the Great Migration, a period of American history that she has researched extensively, as an example of the power people have when they work together.

“The people of the Great Migration had to seek political asylum within the borders of their own country. They were proxies for someone in almost all of our families who had to have done what they did just for us to be here in this moment, on this soil, at this time,” she said. “They couldn’t have seen the magnitude of their private decisions and had no grand title for it. Because they were right in the middle of it, they could not have seen how one person added to another, multiplied by millions, could be a liberation movement all its own. We each have the power to make history. You have the power to make history. If enough people are principled and purposed, and do the same thing at the same thing at the same time, they can change a region — they can change the world.”

“In a few minutes, you’ll walk across the stage to your future, celebrating in the same spot where you began in 2021,” Wilkerson said in the conclusion of her address. “As you all know, underneath this grass and soil on which we stand are the geothermal wells that generate renewable energy from deep within the earth to help warm and cool and sustain this campus. At this moment of celebration, those wells of life are sloshing deep beneath us. You started your journey right here in this verdant clearing, atop this underground source of energy, and are the only class in Carleton history to begin and to conclude your time on this campus in this sacred spot. You, the Class of 2025, were not meant to skim the surface; you are meant to go deep and reach far. Now you must carry that power and spread your life to the rest of the world.”

Wilkerson followed graduation reflections from Julia Dunn ’25, political science and international relations major with an Africana studies minor, and Annanya Sinha ’25, double major in psychology and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies.

Dunn focused her speech on unexpected journeys, speaking from her perspective as an international student from Portmore, Jamaica who knew very little about Carleton or the College’s Midwest landscape before she arrived on campus.

“The beauty of unexpected journeys is that in this life, we don’t have to travel them alone,” Dunn said. “There is always something new to discover, something different to learn, someone new to meet. As I’m sure you’ve all heard numerous times, Carls help Carls, and the community support that we provide one another makes all the difference as we embrace the uncertain… I hope that as we step beyond the Carleton bubble we’ve cultivated and enter the world, you will also think about the moments where a helping hand or kind gesture made this journey easier.”

Sinha followed Dunn and emphasized during their speech — which they titled, “A Love Letter to My Professors” — how Carleton courses have challenged their ego, pride, and existing knowledge, with talented professors teaching them the most valuable skill of all: how to think critically.

“It is not comfortable learning about the hard parts of history, or about a group of people or a theory that may not align with your existing ideological, moral, or religious framework. I didn’t like it at first… [but] I realized that my learning, and our learning, does not have to be comfortable,” Sinha said. “I want to leave you with what incredible professors at Carleton have instilled in me: Choose a narrative that isn’t about prioritizing your comfort. Shift your perspective — your way of thinking. And I say this because I know, as Carls, we will listen and engage. We will use our voice with nuance to respond to inflammatory rhetoric. We will be precise with the terminology we use. We’re trained for it. To think better… I hope you never stop learning.”

Dunn and Sinha’s focus on taking with them important life lessons from their time at Carleton is a theme of Commencement every year, as graduation marks a beginning as well as an end for each member of the Class of 2025. The newly-recognized alumni will soon head off to graduate schools, fellowships, and professional positions across the country and the globe, representing Carleton excellence everywhere they go.

President Byerly relayed in her welcoming remarks that although she doesn’t like to play favorites among class years, she does have a special bond with the Class of 2025, as she also began at Carleton in the fall of 2021.

“I have vivid memories of meeting many of you during move-in and orientation, when you and your families arrived, wearing masks, looking a bit nervous, but clearly eager to meet new people and learn about a place many of you were seeing for the very first time,” Byerly said. “I, too, was looking for clues about what Carleton would be like, and those early conversations with many of you were my first indicators of how much I would love Carleton students.”

Byerly emphasized how important it was to celebrate the diversity and breadth of the Class of 2025, as well as the entire Carleton student body, and all their different interests, talents, skills, backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs.

“Much of the current rhetoric about diversity asserts that when a college recruits students from historically underrepresented groups, it is offering them some unusual benefit,” Byerly said. “On the contrary, when we are successful in creating a diverse student body, we are offering an enormous benefit to all students, by creating the opportunity for everyone to learn alongside peers whose experiences may be very different from their own. At the same time, the primary reason for admitting any student to Carleton College is to give them the opportunity that they have earned to receive an outstanding liberal arts education.”

That outstanding education, Byerly added, as well as the irreplaceable faculty and student research that is such an integral part of it, cannot be taken for granted.

“Our nation and our world are in desperate need of citizens and leaders who can listen deeply to other voices, distinguish information from misinformation, connect complex ideas across disparate fields, grapple with nuance and ambiguity, cultivate understanding through creativity and art, and demonstrate leadership through their own ability to express, to inform, and to persuade,” Byerly said. “To those who would deny or undermine the importance of research to our nation and to the world, your experience at Carleton offers a compelling rebuttal. You know the difference between ideas that have been rigorously tested and debated, and ideas that are hastily promulgated and accepted without question. You understand the need to invest time, effort, and resources into finding long term solutions to problems, rather than settling for a popular or expedient approach. You recognize that respecting and collaborating with others will always lead to better outcomes than imposing a singular perspective. For this, you have your education to thank. And for your future contributions as citizens and leaders, the world will have both you, and your liberal arts education, to thank.”

After this year’s Commencement drew to a close with the valedictory from College Chaplain Schuyler Vogel ’07 and a rousing chorus of “Carleton, Our Alma Mater,” the members of the Class of 2025 filed out of their seats to congregate with their families, professors, friends, and others on the Bald Spot, happy to spend one last afternoon lounging with a picnic lunch before leaving campus for the first time as Carleton alumni.

The 2025 Commencement ceremony was live streamed and recorded. The full video will be posted on the Commencement website.

Erica Helgerud ’20 is the news and social media manager and Rachel Everett ’18 is the internal communications manager for Carleton College.

In her opening address, President Alison Byerly spoke of Carleton students with immense pride in the face of grave times for higher education.

“What these students share is what makes Carleton special: intellectual curiosity, energetic engagement, and commitment to the hard work of learning at a time when support for higher education, for academic research, and for the kind of diverse and vibrant community we build at Carleton are in jeopardy,” she said. “It is especially valuable to have the opportunity to honor students who have excelled in a wide variety of fields, who have undertaken research or creative projects, and who have made our community stronger through their leadership and service. You represent the true promise of higher education, and the reason it’s worthy of support.”

In his salutatory address, College Chaplain Schuyler Vogel ’07 also celebrated Carls’ actions in the face of challenges.

“Despite all of this, we gather today in joy and hope,” he said. “We cheer on our classmates, whose achievements give hope to the world — what a gift you are. We cheer on the endeavor that we are all committed to at Carleton: celebrating the truth of learning and freedom and curiosity and wisdom and justice that this place represents. The world needs that now more than ever.”

In a further celebration of Carleton talent, this year’s Honors Convo featured two musical performances by senior students — the Carleton String Quartet (Kyle Machalec ’25, violin; Kara Achilles ’25, violin; Finley Sebert ’25, viola; and Rachel Gregg ’25, cello) performed a Shostakovich movement, and Carleton’s concerto competition winner Prompt Eua-anant ’25 performed a Chopin étude. 

Carleton students were the recipients of more than 80 prizes, fellowships, honor society inductions, and awards in 2025. Due to the scale of achievement, this piece will only highlight some awards; the full list of honorees is available on the Honors Convo website. 

This year, three Carleton seniors were awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships to engage in a year of independent study abroad. Mitch Porter ’25, Jonah Docter-Loeb ’25, and Victoria Semmelhack ’25 will spend their fellowships, respectively, investigating ecological memory in places of environmental loss, delving into the complexities of beaver–human dynamics, and engaging in maternal healthcare policy and Indigenous childbirth knowledge. 

Narjis Nusaibah ’26 received this year’s Projects for Peace grant, awarded to students who have designed their own grassroots projects for peace around the globe. Nusaibah’s project is dedicated to facilitating breast cancer screenings and awareness programs in Bangladesh.

Anna Ursin ’25 was awarded the Rotary Foundation Global Grant Fellowship to pursue a Master’s of Philosophy in the Population Health Sciences program at the University of Cambridge, continuing her pursuit of public health studies and medicine. 

Due to ongoing circumstances in international affairs and higher education, this year’s Fulbright awards are still waiting for final confirmation; however, Carleton proudly celebrated all 25 Fulbright semi-finalists at Honors Convo. This year’s semi-finalists are: Amelia Asfaw ’25, Jens Bartel ’25, Max Borden ’25, Aurora Davis ’25, Sadie DiCarlo ’25, Loren Friedman ’25, Akash Ganguly ’25, Markus Gunadi ’25, Malachy Guzman ’25, Kaori Hirano ’25, Olivia Ho ’25, Ellis Kondrashov ’25, Oliver Licht ’25, Caroline Loescher ’25, Katie O’Leary ’25, Mitch Porter ’25, Ashley Rosenberg ’25, Melina Sasaki-Uemura ’25, Victoria Semmelhack ’25, Charlie Solomon ’25, Henry Stier ’25, Sammie Ulicny ’25, Kate Ulrich ’25, Anna Ursin ’25, and Aaron Zivsak ’25. This year’s Fulbright Canada-MITACS Globalink internships — prestigious opportunities for students to participate in research at Canadian universities — were awarded to Aroma Chanda ’27 and Arielle Szycher ’26. 

Carleton also celebrated the induction of 46 members into the Mortar Board national honor society, and 87 to the Phi Beta Kappa national honorary scholastic fraternity.

Carleton Student Association (CSA) President Vivian Agugo ’26 celebrated the accomplishments of Carleton students past and present in her remarks on the nature of Carleton students. After highlighting Carleton’s 2010 world record for “the largest group spoon” (check out the time lapse from Nate Ryan ’10), she centered the hard work, ingenuity, and tenacity of Carleton students. 

“You are not just students,” she said, “you are artists, researchers, organizers, dreamers, and doers. You’ve pushed boundaries, redefined excellence, and yes, survived ten weeks that move faster than time itself!”

Lee’s novel Somebody’s Daughter (2005) was an O. Henry Award nominee and is celebrated as an important contribution to Korean American literature. She more recently published her second novel, The Evening Hero (2022), which The New York Times dubbed a “soulful, melodic, rhapsodic novel.” Beyond her writing for adults, Lee has written many beloved young adult (YA) novels under the name Marie G. Lee. Among these, her novel Finding My Voice (1992) is widely considered to be the first contemporary YA novel with an Asian American protagonist written by an Asian American.

Lee’s Korean identity has been thoroughly explored throughout her writing career. She was the first Fulbright Scholar to Korea for creative writing. She is also one of only fifty writers ever granted a visa to North Korea as a journalist since the Korean War. Lee’s journalism — mostly in the form of stories and essays — has been featured in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Slate, Salon, Guernica, and The Guardian, among others. Her work frequently engages with immigration, the effects of partition on Koreans and the Korean diaspora, and the hardship her mother endured to escape her war-torn homeland for a better life in the United States.

Lee earned her BA from Brown University, where she was a writer-in-residence before beginning her current teaching career at Columbia University. She has been a Yaddo and MacDowell Colony fellow, in addition to receiving the Best Book Award from the Friends of American Writers, a Rhode Island State Council on the Arts fiction fellowship, and a New York Foundation for the Arts fiction fellowship. Furthermore, she has served as a judge for the National Book Award and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She is also a founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

In his more than twenty years living in Northfield, Wopata has worn many hats. His roles include community collaborator, economist, soccer coach, carpenter, youth pastor, trail runner (he is the fastest Minnesotan to run the Superior 100-mile trail race), and parent of four children. With this diverse range of experiences, Wopata now uses his skills at the CAC, a social justice organization serving more than 16,000 residents in Rice County that addresses needs ranging from food insecurity to accessing hygiene products.

As the CAC’s executive director, Wopata emphasizes building community systems through partnership and collaboration with the very individuals who access them. He oversees a variety of programs, including food shelves, emergency shelters, environmental justice efforts, net-zero energy construction, and economic development. The CAC has received several honors, including the 2024 Minnesota Climate Adaptation Award for Climate Justice Leadership.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

This week’s usual convo luncheon with the speaker will be replaced with Empty Bowls! Head over to the Bald Spot at 11:30 a.m. to claim your bowl and grab some soup.

Since joining GNIP in 2022, McGinn has played a key role in five cases in which individuals secured their freedom after being wrongfully convicted. Collectively, those individuals spent 62 years in prison. McGinn originally joined GNIP as a Bank of America legal fellow, a prestigious honor supporting scholars dedicated to working in social justice. In addition to her legal work, McGinn leads innocence clinics at law schools in Minnesota and South Dakota, helping train the next generation of legal professionals committed to justice.

Founded in 2001, GNIP has dedicated itself to analyzing cases in which newly discovered evidence offers clear and convincing proof of actual innocence. To date, GNIP’s team of legal professionals has helped exonerate 13 individuals who collectively served 173 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

Originally from Minnesota, McGinn graduated from Carleton in 2018 with a major in religion and minor in philosophy. She also competed on Carleton’s swim team. She went on to earn her JD from Notre Dame Law School.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Ladau is the author of Demystifying Disability (2021), which covers a broad variety of pertinent topics including disability history and identity, ensuring accessibility, recognizing ableism, and speaking respectfully. Her address will coincide with her book’s content, demonstrating her knack for candid instruction combined with her belief that storytelling is crucial to making the disability experience accessible to the world as well as creating a world that is accessible to the disability community.

Beginning her career at the age of 10, Ladau first became a spokesperson for disability rights through her role starring in multiple episodes of Sesame Street, providing education on living with a physical disability. Since then, she has been awarded the prestigious Henry Viscardi Achievement Award, which recognizes international leaders with disabilities (2022); the Frieda Zames Advocacy Award from the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (2022); Disability Advocate of the Year from the Jewish Federations of North America and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (2022); and the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities (2018). In 2023, she was also selected to receive the Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award from the Women’s Media Center.

Beyond her book, Ladau is also the editor of Able News, a monthly publication of The Viscardi Center that amplifies the perspective of New York’s diverse, vibrant disability community and serves as a statewide resource. She also serves as the digital content manager for the Disability & Philanthropy Forum, an organization dedicated to the expansion of philanthropic commitment to disability inclusion. Her writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Vice, and HuffPost, while she has served as a source for media outlets including MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, NPR, and The Washington Post. Her speaking career has addressed audiences from the United Nations to the U.S. Department of Education to Microsoft and Comcast/NBCUniversal. Her speaking reaches further audiences through The Accessible Stall podcast, which she co-hosts. Central to all of Ladau’s work is harnessing the power of storytelling as a tool to engage people in learning about disability.

Ladau previously served as the editor of The Century Foundation’s Economic Justice project and was the founding editor-in-chief of the Rooted in Rights blog.

A Long Island local, Ladau earned her BA in English from Adelphi University in 2013, where she now is a member of the Board of Trustees. She was named one of Adelphi’s 10 Under 10 Young Alumni in 2017.

In addition to the main viewing in the chapel, this convocation will be presented virtually — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

Wright Faladé is the author of the novel Black Cloud Rising (2022) and most recently The New Internationals (2025), as well as the co-author of the young adult novel Away Running (2016) and the nonfiction book Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers (2000), which was a New Yorker notable selection and a St. Louis-Dispatch Best Book of 2001. Wright Faladé was also a recipient of the Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award, a prestigious award recognizing Black writers for their achievements. 

He is a professor of English at the University of Illinois and the 2021–22 Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library. He has also written for The New Yorker, Village Voice, Southern Review, Newsday, and more.

Wright Faladé graduated from Carleton in 1986, completed nine months in Brazil as a Fulbright scholar, and later earned his MFA from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Liu is best known for her work as the writer of The New York Times’s iconic word game Connections, and often writes crosswords for The New Yorker. An avid puzzler and creator, Liu began constructing crossword puzzles in 2018 and published her first crossword in 2019 for the American Values Club Crossword, where she now serves as assistant editor. A year after her first publication, she became a games editor with The New York Times. In 2023, she was chosen by The New York Times to produce Connections for the newspaper’s games section. 

When Liu isn’t working on a puzzle to confuse and intrigue the masses, she enjoys her artistic work. She exercises her talents through jewelry-making and creating sculptural, yet wearable clothing in her living room. Liu has taken classes in neon-making and puppetry, and has started experimenting with making wax molds.

Liu earned her bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College and went on to earn her master’s degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Now extensively remodeled with new appliances and an expanded kitchen, Dacie’s is still upholding its traditional legacy thanks to dedicated house residents and members of the Dacie Moses House Committee. Skye Sparks ’25 and Elida Coronado ’25, the current house residents, have been baking in the Dacie Moses House since their freshman year. They fondly remember making dinner in the old kitchen every weekend, appreciating the homey environment that offered a welcoming and safe spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of campus life. 

“We both love giving and providing for people. It seemed very natural for us to step into this role,” said Sparks. “Our primary objective is to maintain the warmth of this old house. We still want the homey feeling that we felt when we first entered.”

“We want to uphold the legacy of Dacie Moses by fostering the sense of warmness of a grandmother’s house,” Coronado added. “We want to make sure that the history of the house is still present, even though it’s a [partially] new space.”

Louise Oviedo ’28, a student worker at Dacie’s, applied for the position after hearing many stories about the cookie house while applying to Carleton. Oviedo’s role as a student worker consists of maintaining the house, cleaning dishes, baking, and helping out during weekly Sunday brunches. 

“Seeing everyone eat and enjoy the space is a privilege,” said Oviedo, who enjoys providing for the Carleton community through baking.

Jeff Pipes ’83, a Dacie’s committee member, believes that the importance of the Dacie Moses House for the Carleton community lies in its ability to serve as an “open place for people to come without judgement.” Pipes explained how Dacie Moses stood for hospitality and radical inclusion, and it is the committee’s hope to continue that legacy.

“The Dacie Moses House is unique, there’s nothing else like it,” said Pipes.

Tim Vick, chair of the Dacie’s committee, reflected on the unique space that is the Dacie Moses House, describing it as a center for “hospitality, kindness, generosity, and openness to all people.”

Post-renovation, the Dacie’s community is looking forward to carrying on Dacie Moses’ legacy in a new age. Dacie Moses brunches are held on Sundays throughout every academic term, and all are welcome!

Learn more about the house and its history on the Dacie Moses website.

Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1994, as Chicago bureau chief of The New York Times, making her the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. She is also a winner of the National Humanities Medal, the recipient of which is determined annually by the President of the United States in consultation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wilkerson won the medal in 2015 for “championing the stories of an unsung history” in her deeply researched telling of the Great Migration, one of the biggest underreported stories of the twentieth century and one of the largest migrations in American history.

“At a time when higher education and many of our most cherished values are being questioned, it seems especially fitting to have the opportunity to recognize the work of a writer who so beautifully exemplifies the power and impact of thoughtful research and excellent writing in helping us to make sense of our history, culture, and challenges,” Carleton President Alison Byerly said.

Wilkerson will also be awarded an honorary degree during the ceremony in recognition of her groundbreaking work in journalism and history. With its honorary degrees, Carleton seeks to honor those who have achieved eminence in their own profession or who have rendered distinguished service to society.

A native of Washington, D.C., Wilkerson is also a daughter of the Great Migration. She devoted 15 years and interviewed more than 1,200 people to tell the story of the six million people, among them her parents, who defected from the Jim Crow South. She has become a leading figure in narrative nonfiction, an interpreter of the human condition, and an impassioned voice for demonstrating “how history can help us understand ourselves, our country, and our current era of upheaval.”

Wilkerson’s debut work, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heartland Prize for Nonfiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Nonfiction, the Lynton History Prize from Harvard University and Columbia University, and the Stephen Ambrose Oral History Prize; it was also shortlisted for both the Pen-Galbraith Literary Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Her 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, links the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany and explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. The venerable U.K. bookseller, Waterstones, called it an “expansive, lyrical and stirring account of the unspoken system of divisions that govern our world.”

Carleton’s 2025 Commencement ceremony will be live streamed and archived so family and friends of graduates can share in the experience wherever they are in the world. For further information about Commencement, including disability accommodations, contact Noel Ponder at (507) 222-4309 or nponder@carleton.edu.

Erica Helgerud ’20 is the news and social media manager for Carleton College.

When he’s not working in yoga, York has a prolific entertainment career. Beyond playing in two bands, York has had serious success in the Twin Cities arena, and has opened for Chance the Rapper, DRAM, Saba, Chester Watson, and more. Furthermore, York boasts a notable career as an entertainer and on-camera personality. He is the host of the PBS Twin Cities show Outside Chance, which was awarded a regional Academy Award. The series emphasizes a growth mindset and explores activities and communities outdoors.

A student at Brown University, York is a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor and teaches at the University of Minnesota’s Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Syrian-American violinist Mariela Shaker will deliver Carleton’s convocation address on Friday, February 28 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address is titled, “Tragedy and Triumph: My Bow Bends for Peace.” An internationally recognized violinist and motivational speaker, Shaker was named a Champion of Change for World Refugees by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. Shaker strongly believes in music as a tool to bring people from different backgrounds together and to foster peace and love in the world. She uses her music to build bridges, promote peace, and raise awareness for the plight of refugees and vulnerable children around the world. She strives to inspire her students to express themselves freely and to find their own unique voice as performing artists.

Shaker discovered her love of violin in 1999 after joining the Arabic Institute of Music in Aleppo, Syria. After graduating with distinction in 2004, Shaker taught violin at the Institute for five years while earning her degree in business administration at Aleppo University. Shaker received a full scholarship to Monmouth College, a nationally ranked American liberal arts college located in central Illinois, in 2013 for music performance, where she graduated with the highest honor of Excellence in Music Performance. She realized while she was studying at Monmouth that she would not be able to return home to Syria due to the country’s ongoing conflict. After completing her degree at Monmouth, Shaker received a full tuition scholarship to acquire a masters in music performance at Chicago’s DePaul University, from which she graduated in 2017. While in the U.S., she taught violin at Knox College as well as Monmouth, where she also served as the concertmaster for the College’s chamber orchestra. In 2020, Shaker founded the Highams Park Music Academy in London, where she serves as director.

Shaker’s musical accolades are extensive. Her debut as a soloist was on June 20, 2015, at the Kennedy Center, to commemorate World Refugee Day, organized by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR). She has performed as a soloist with Mesopotamian Symphony Orchestra at the California Theatre, and before Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. In 2016, Shaker was invited by Cate Blanchett to perform in London, and by the first Scottish Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, at the Beyond Borders International Festival in Scotland. In 2017, she was appointed a UNHCR High Profile Supporter and honored with the Anne Frank Promise Keeper Award in New York City. 

Shaker has also performed at various programs for the United Nations, the White House, the Aspen Ideas Festival, Harvard University, MIT, Yale, Northwestern University, King’s College Chapel, and Georgetown University, among other prestigious venues. She has given recitals and masterclasses at more than 200 international venues, including venues in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, the U.A.E., Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the U.S. 

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

McFadden has performed her improv and sketch comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest performance arts festival; San Francisco Sketchfest; Out of Bounds; and Chicago Sketchfest. She has also starred repeatedly in the Mainstage Revue at The Second City in Chicago.

McFadden’s short romantic comedy, Kim’s Big Date, which she wrote, directed, and edited, premiered in 2019 at the Windy City International Film Festival, where it won Best Chicago Comedy. After its premiere, Kim’s Big Date was screened at 12 more film festivals across the U.S. McFadden wrote the film in celebration of friendship, saying, “I wanted to make a movie that celebrates how deeply my friends and I have been involved in each other’s lives, especially when navigating choppy, unknown romantic waters. They psych me up, calm me down, ghostwrite my texts, and lint-roll my pants.” McFadden also created and acted in the improvised web series Framed (2018) based on her year of working as a custom picture framer. Framed gained recognition through its inclusion on the Official Selection of the 2018 New York Television Film Festival.

Previously, McFadden was a managing editor and staff writer for Jackbox Games, where she pitched the games Blather ‘Round and Quixort, and wrote for the popular games Quiplash, Drawful, and Trivia Murder Party.  

McFadden graduated from Carleton in 2013 with a degree in environmental studies. She was a proud member of student organizations Lenny Dee and Cujokra.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Dr. Bryant Simon, an American historian and professor at Temple University, will deliver the convocation address at Carleton on Friday, February 14 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His speech, “The history of public bathrooms: A story of American inequality,” is based on a book he is currently writing on the topic, which is set to be published by University of Chicago Press. 

Simon has previously published four books — The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, Cheap Lives (2017); Everything But the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks (2009); Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America (2004); and A Fabric of Defeat: The Politics of South Carolina Millhands (1998). Simon has also produced three co-edited collections as well as numerous essays that have appeared in media outlets ranging from The Washington Post to the Christian Science Monitor. Beyond writing, he has appeared as a talking head in documentaries about Starbucks, the history of American food, blue jeans, the Jersey Shore, the board game Monopoly, and the Alabama-based rock and roll band Drive-By Truckers. 

The academic chair of the University Honors Program at Temple University in Philadelphia, Simon is also Laura H. Carnell Professor of History and the 2020 recipient of Temple’s Great Teacher Award. Simon founded and runs the Temple history department’s Global U.S. Studies Program, which features graduate exchange with the University of Erfurt, the University of Cologne, and Sorbonne University. Beyond his teaching, Simon’s academic work is widely recognized in his field; he is an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Speaker, an elected member of the Society of American Historians, and the previous president of the Southern Labor Studies Association. 

Simon earned both his BA and PhD from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. 

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. will deliver the Carleton convocation on Friday, February 7, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address is titled, “A Tirade Against Boomers.” Visit the convo website for an introductory poem from Kennedy before his address.

As a self-described “humble negro printer,”  Kennedy harnesses his printmaking abilities to produce social and political commentaries, often through posters. Kennedy’s passion for books and letters began at the age of four, yet it wasn’t until the age of 40, when Kennedy visited the living history museum of Colonial Williamsburg, that he was captivated by an eighteenth-century bookbinding and printmaking demonstration. This was the spark that inspired Kennedy to learn printmaking at a community-based letterpress shop in Chicago. Within a year, Kennedy made the leap and quit his job of nearly two decades as an AT&T systems analyst to further his education, and continued with the master book designer Walter Hamady at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating with an MFA in 1997. Today, Kennedy owns a letterpress print shop in Detroit, Michigan. 

Kennedy’s work is motivated by his understanding of Black identity formed through his upbringing during the Civil Rights Era, witnessing the rise of Black Nationalism in the 1970s, and living in the current Post-Civil Rights Era. Using a blend of social commentary, folk art, and graphic design, Kennedy embraces his unique style to address violence, oppression, and dehumanizing stereotypes that the Black community faces, among many other issues. He is recognized as a Glasgow Fellow in Crafts (2015) and an Individual Laureate of the American Printing History Association (2021), and he received the Outstanding Printmaker Award from the Mid Atlantic Print Council (2022), among other honors. 

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Screenwriter and producer Bob Daily ’82 will deliver convocation at Carleton College on Friday, January 31 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Through his address — “On Creativity: Nine lessons I’ve learned, stolen and ignored” — Daily will highlight his path from Carleton to the entertainment industry. 

Daily began his television career as a writer and producer on the famed NBC series Frasier, for which he was awarded back-to-back Writers Guild Awards for Outstanding Script in Television Comedy in 2003 and 2004. Daily wrote 15 episodes of Frasier — one of which was included in the book, Very Best of Frasier — over the course of five seasons. During his time on the show, he also received an Emmy nomination, and is currently working as a consulting producer on the latest Frasier series for Paramount Plus. 

Beyond his work on Frasier, Daily served as an executive producer and eventual showrunner for Desperate Housewives from 2006 to 2012, earning him a Golden Globe nomination. Daily is also the co-creator of Superior Donuts and served as its executive producer and showrunner for two seasons. He served as executive producer on the ABC/Hulu series The Wonder Years, which won the Peabody Award in 2021 and was nominated for a 2023 NAACP Image Award.  His other executive producer credits include B Positive, Perfect Harmony, and The Odd Couple. Daily is currently working as an executive producer on the new hit ABC/Hulu series Shifting Gears while working as a consulting producer on the reboot of King of the Hill for Hulu. 

Daily graduated from Carleton with a BA in English, and later earned an MA in English from University of Chicago. Before working in entertainment, Daily worked as a journalist, writing for a variety of publications including Chicago Magazine, Spy, Men’s Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and The Boston Globe. He has also published six children’s books. He is married to Janet Kerrigan Daily and has two children, Emma and Owen. 

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Originally a biweekly nightlife event, Tarnow’s The Big Quiz Thing (BQT) evolved from a DIY quiz program into the nationwide customizable trivia event company that it is today, for which Tarnow serves as CEO, creative director, and senior quizmaster. In the two decades of its development, BQT has entertained hundreds of thousands of people across the country through its innovative take on classic bar-style trivia. BQT has even been adapted to television, as the world’s first bar-trivia-style TV show. 

During his Carleton experience, Tarnow — a lifetime lover of obscure facts and habitual devourer of quirky reference books — became determined to study popular culture, despite the College’s then-lack of classes on the subject. Majoring in American studies with a media studies concentration, Tarnow managed to overcome some faculty doubts to write his comps about the history of Batman as a pop culture icon, carrying that knowledge and novelty to New York City as a magazine editor. By his late 20s, the novelty had worn off — his magazine career was stagnant, and a diversion into stand-up comedy was utterly unremarkable. Yet undeterred, Tarnow repurposed his love of being on stage (in some capacity) and formulated the DIY quiz program that became BQT.

Tarnow now lives in San Francisco, where he also co-hosts the podcast I Don’t Get It: The Pop Culture Get-Off-My-Lawn Cast, and returns to Carleton when he can to check up on the Libe’s ever-growing section of graphic novels. 

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Political scientist Lawrence R. Jacobs will deliver convocation at Carleton College on Friday, January 17 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Jacobs’ address, “American Democracy in Fractured Times,” stems from his expertise in American political science and will be informed by the content of his latest book, Democracy Under Fire: Donald Trump and the Breaking of American History.

Jacobs is the founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) at the University of Minnesota. He also serves as the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and holds the McKnight Presidential Chair — one of the highest faculty honors at the University of Minnesota — for his research work and contributions to the advancement of the university.

In 2020, Jacobs was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Beyond that, Jacobs has written or collaborated on over 100 scholarly articles, 17 books, and numerous media essays and reports. Jacobs is a specialized expert in national and Minnesota elections, Midwestern swing states, presidential and legislative politics, political communications, health care reform, economic inequality, Social Security, and third party politics.

Jacobs earned his BA in history and English from Oberlin College in 1981 and his PhD in political science from Columbia University in 1990.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 30 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Beyond his role as artistic director for A.I.M, Abraham was recently commissioned by the Royal Ballet, creating Optional Family (2021) and The Weathering (2022). Abraham has also previously created works with the New York City Ballet, including When We Fell (2021), which was praised by The New York Times as “among the most beautiful dance films of the pandemic”; the American Ballet Theater, including a solo work Ash (2019) for Misty Copeland; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; the National Ballet of Cuba; and many more. Through A.I.M, Abraham has created more than just art — A.I.M for Change is an organized initiative providing support and resources for the betterment of the Black community, with the goal to create healthy and equitable change and fight oppression. 

Through his career in dance and choreography, Abraham has received glowing admiration for his contribution to the disciplines. Rebecca Bengal of Vogue quoted former artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Robert Battle in saying, “What Abraham brings… is an avant-garde aesthetic, an original and politically minded downtown sensibility that doesn’t distinguish between genres but freely draws on a vocabulary that is as much Merce and Martha as it is Eadweard Muybridge and Michael Jackson.” Beyond his MacArthur Genius Grant, Abraham has been awarded the Doris Duke Award (2016), and a Princess Grace Statue Award, among many others. Abraham has also notably worked with Beyoncé as a choreographer for her 2013 Vogue cover shoot, blending high fashion with her iconic artistic style. 

Abraham earned his BFA from SUNY Purchase, his MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Washington Jefferson College. 

This convocation will not be accessible through Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu. There will be no luncheon after Abraham’s address; convocation luncheons will resume Friday, January 17. 

Many modern druids [in North America] can trace their origin back to what was, essentially, a college prank. It began with a tongue-in-cheek protest movement, started in reaction to an overbearing college religion requirement in the 1960s.

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Carleton President Alison Byerly and St. Olaf President Susan Rundell Singer presented two checks of $85,000 — totaling $170,000 — to Mayor Rhonda Pownell and City Administrator Ben Martig.

“Carleton is proud to continue our two colleges’ longstanding tradition of support of the City of Northfield,” Carleton President Alison Byerly said. “Both Carleton and St. Olaf recognize how fortunate we are to be part of such a thriving and dynamic community, and this contribution reflects our commitment to its continued success.”

Northfield provides the nearly 5,000 college students who call it home for the academic year with restaurants, shopping, and emergency and professional services. Students enjoy local employment, internships, and volunteer opportunities within the community that expand their collegiate experience.

Carleton and St. Olaf are the two largest local employers in both Northfield and Rice County, employing more than 1,500 people combined. They are also two of the City’s top 10 property tax payers in addition to spending over $900,000 combined on municipal services such as sewer, water, waste removal, and more.

“Northfield is a vibrant community filled with passionate individuals who care deeply about the city they live in. For 150 years, the mutually beneficial partnership between St. Olaf, Carleton, and Northfield has fostered a gifted community in Southern Minnesota,” President Rundell Singer said. “We are grateful for these continuous relationships and the strength of our community. We are proud supporters of Northfield.”

The annual gift dates back to the 1920s, when Carleton and St. Olaf were among the first colleges in the United States to make such a gift. 

“Carleton and St. Olaf are two nationally recognized liberal arts colleges. They are integral to Northfield and bring many benefits to our community,” said Mayor Rhonda Pownell. “The colleges and the City are strong community partners, each working to enhance economic development, education, and cultural opportunities for the community. We’re grateful they are so involved and supportive of the entire Northfield community.”

The Northfield community benefits from the students, employees, and visitors Carleton and St. Olaf bring. The students, faculty, and staff are significant consumers and clients for local businesses, and provide countless volunteer hours for local schools and organizations. In the 2023-24 academic year, 73% of Carleton students engaged with volunteer programs, internships, work study, and nonprofits in the local community, according to data from the Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE). In total, Carleton students contributed 51,594 hours to local communities that year through programs and projects supported by the CCCE. Last year, St. Olaf had 845 students participate in Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) courses, which encourage students to learn in a community context and apply their education within real-world situations.

Bon Appétit, which provides food and dining services for Carleton and St. Olaf, also spends more than $1 million in the community each year on local produce, meat, and dairy. St. Olaf contributed around $7,000 in community sponsorships for 2024, such as the Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield Shares, and Winter Walk. Carleton provides an additional $20,000 each year to the Northfield community in sponsorship funding and in-kind contributions, and the total value of annual Carleton purchases and contracts with Northfield area businesses equals $4.9 million.

Carleton and St. Olaf family members also either live in Northfield and are active in the community or visit Northfield regularly in order to attend festivities, competitions, recitals, concerts, award ceremonies, and commencements. These visitors and community members, as well as the thousands of prospective students and their families who visit each year, frequent local hotels, restaurants, and shops. Both colleges host a large amount of athletic, art, and musical offerings every year as well, which are almost always free and open to the public.

Wilbur is the creator of Project 562, her crowdfunded initiative to visit, engage, and photograph people from over 500 sovereign Tribal Nations in North America. The project is her fourth major creative venture elevating Native American identity and culture. In 2023, Wilbur’s book adaptation of the initiative, Project 562: Changing The Way We See Native America, was published with praise from There There author Tommy Orange, was long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal, and was a New York Times Bestseller.

Wilbur also currently hosts the podcast All My Relations, which invites guests to delve into a different topic facing Native peoples today and explore the connections between land, creatural relatives, and one another. The podcast has been downloaded three million times.

Wilbur has given over 300 keynotes at such places as TED, Harvard, Yale, and Google. In November 2023, Wilbur released her curriculum, A Visual Learning Guide To: Transform. Indigenize. Decolonize., in partnership with the National Education Association; it was adopted by more than 200 classrooms in its first five months of existence.

Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 35 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Abby Kiesa, deputy director of CIRCLE, will deliver the Carleton convocation address on Friday, November 1 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her talk is titled, “Including youth in ‘we the people’: Youth voice in U.S. democracy.”

CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) is part of Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. The Center conducts research and collaborates on systems change initiatives to build what’s needed for more young people and young adults in the United States to have a voice in community decision-making and democracy.

Kiesa joined CIRCLE in 2005 after working with students across the country for several years to build more support for youth and student civic engagement. As deputy director of CIRCLE — and throughout her over 15 years of work on this issue — Kiesa has specialized in how research and data insights can influence policy and practice for stronger democracy and thriving communities. Well-versed in the wide range of youth civic and political engagement efforts and practice, Kiesa brings a broad view of the institutions and interventions that can make up ecosystems for civic development among all youth. She is most interested in how to effect change in community, institutional, and political systems to reduce inequality.

Kiesa has been cited by news outlets such as The New York Times, CSPAN, NPR, and PolitiFact. Her publications include, “Getting Young People to Vote: Seven Tips for the Classroom” and “A Civic Imperative for Media Literacy.” She has a BA in sociology from Villanova University and an MA in American studies from the University of Maryland.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 35 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Erica Helgerud ’20 is the news and social media manager for Carleton College.

Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, will deliver the Carleton convocation address on Friday, October 25 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel.

Skocpol’s work addresses a broad spectrum of questions about socio-political change, including health care reform, public policy, and civic engagement amid shifting inequalities in American democracy; currently, she is probing partisan polarization and Republican Party radicalization.

An internationally recognized scholar, Skocpol has received multiple honorary degrees — most recently from Oxford University in 2022 — and has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Academy of Sciences. In 2007, she received the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science for her “visionary analysis of the significance of the state for revolutions, welfare, and political trust, pursued with theoretical depth and empirical evidence.” Awarded annually by the Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University in Sweden, the Skytte Prize is one of the most prestigious in political science.

In addition to her teaching and research at Harvard, Skocpol also serves as director of the Scholars Strategy Network, an organization with dozens of regional chapters that encourages nonpartisan public engagement by university-based scholars, building ties between academics and policymakers, civic groups, and journalists. Skocpol herself speaks regularly to community groups and writes for blogs and public-interest magazines.

Among Skocpol’s major books are two multiple-award-winners — States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China and Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States. Other books include Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life, Health Care Reform and American Politics, and The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. Her most recent books are Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance (co-edited with Caroline Tervo) and Rust Belt Union Blues: Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party (co-authored with Lainey Newman).

Although she has lived for many years in Cambridge, Massachusetts — and in Maine during the summer — Skocpol was born and raised in Michigan and received her BA from Michigan State University in 1969. She and her husband, Bill Skocpol, a retired Boston University physics professor, celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on June 10, 2017. They have one son, Michael, a graduate of Stanford Law School, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor in 2018–19 and now works for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Skocpol does not work all the time! She loves to visit antique malls, looking for various kinds of Americana — including old membership ribbon badges from unions and fraternal associations. She is also a devoted football fan who closely follows all NFL teams, but above all, the New England Patriots.

This convocation will also be live streamed — please register in advance to receive information on how to attend via Zoom. Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Find upcoming events and archived recordings (including in podcast form) on the convocations website. For more information, including disability accommodations, call 507-222-5461 or email nponder@carleton.edu.

After each convocation address, Carleton hosts a luncheon with the speaker. Convocation luncheon is held in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room (unless otherwise noted) from noon to 1 p.m. and is generally limited to 35 people. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the convocations website.

Erica Helgerud ’20 is the news and social media manager for Carleton College.