Sandy Spring Friends School 58Th Commencement, June 6, 2020 Welcome Remarks Jonathan Oglesbee, Head of Upper School Let Us Begin
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Sandy Spring Friends School 58th Commencement, June 6, 2020 Welcome Remarks Jonathan Oglesbee, Head of Upper School Let us begin with a Moment of Silence. _____ Good morning. I’m Jonathan Oglesbee, Head of the Upper School. Welcome to Sandy Spring Friends School and welcome to the graduation and commencement celebration of the Class of 2020! It seems absurd to mention that this is an unusual circumstance in which we find ourselves. Right? For the first time in our School’s history, we are unable to celebrate a graduating class in person, on-campus, with all of the traditions that make an event like this so special. And yet, to not mention it…to somehow try to pretend that us gathering by video is just a given, seems wrong as well. So instead of either trying to pretend this isn’t real or being consumed with what this moment is not, let us chart a way forward. Graduates, that is, in fact, what we hope you have learned during your years with us. When faced with obstacles to your worldview, challenges to your perspective, we have worked to support you in growing, exploring, wondering, reflecting, and taking action. Today, let us not give in to the temptation to be naive, and let us not be lured into despair that somehow because we cannot do everything we must therefore do nothing. Instead, let us seize this moment for what it is, an opportunity to celebrate you, your accomplishments, and this occasion in the ways we can. Let’s come together literally across the globe, from Burkina Faso, from Ukraine, Vietnam, Mexico and Olney…from Bhutan, South Korea, Washington and Bowie, from Ethiopia, China, Ghana, and Potomac and Silver Spring…from Honduras, Spain, Mexico City, and Montreal. Though we are separated by time and space, we are all here together in this moment to celebrate you, Class of 2020. To be sure, while we are gathered here virtually, we know that there are those who join with us in spirit. For some, a parent, grandparent, or loved one had hoped to see this moment for you, but they have passed on. Many of us also feel acutely both the absence and presence of Ben Uzzell. If he were here among us physically, he would no doubt have already given us a smile, a laugh, and some joy from his limitless supply. We are truly, “stronger together.” In so many ways, arriving at this occasion through all of the disruption and disappointment that Covid-19 has sought to wreak upon us, you—the Class of 2020—have not allowed unutterably challenging circumstances to have the last word. From the very first meeting of the newly formed Senior Celebrations Committee—when we were all coming to terms with this new reality—you demonstrated your resilience. You showed up. And you kept showing up. And then you started to do more than just show up. You started to act… to express… to emote… to imagine… to shape and create. While some of you were thinking about how we would reimagine SSFS’s traditional end-of-year events, others were creating a T-shirt to honor Ben and raising more money for the scholarship fund in his name. Yet other members of the Class of 2020 were helping to organize a community-wide Meeting for Worship, while seniors who committed to a newly formed Senior Project program went back to the drawing board and re-imagined how you could still carry forward your passion project. And you accomplished all these marvelous things—these experiences that made our ENTIRE SSFS community stronger—all while honoring your academic commitments. My friends, there is much to celebrate today. May we do so confidently... confident in the knowledge that though we are isolated, we are not alone, that though we are separated, we are still one community. And let us commit ourselves to this moment today. Let us embrace this occasion. Let us celebrate you. Sandy Spring Friends School 58th Commencement, June 6, 2020 Welcome Remarks Kip Imlay ’71, Clerk of the Board of Trustees On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to bring you the heartiest of congratulations on your graduation from Sandy Spring Friends School. The Board is exceptionally proud of each of you, and we are just as proud of your families who had the foresight to provide you with the benefits of a Quaker education. It is my firm belief that a Quaker education is uniformly good for young people, and that Sandy Spring Friends School does a great job at Quaker education. A lot has been asked of each of you this year in particular, but I am going to make a fearless prediction now, in the depths of our shared isolation, which is that you will look back on your experience at SSFS, from beginning to end, with joy, warmth, and an appreciation for what you experienced here: the wisdom of your teachers, the preparation for the challenges of modern society and events that are thrown at you, a comfort with the obligation that each of you has to speak truth to power, and—most of all—the friends that you came to know. I have some basis for this prediction, because I was a student at SSFS from the Fall of 1968 to the Spring of 1971. I often describe my three years at the School as the best institutional experience of my life. I met teachers that were, collectively, far more creative and inspiring than those I came to know in any other educational setting, including college and law school. And those teachers were allowed the flexibility to challenge me to think, reflect, and express myself well. They became mentors and remained so long after I left the School. I still get together at least once a year with one of my favorite SSFS former teachers and I still ask him for advice, which he is happy to give. I made friends here that I have kept close for the nearly fifty years since I graduated. And our two children, both SSFS alumni, had the same positive experience. I firmly believe and trust that you will have the same reflections in the years to come. I don’t remember much about my SSFS graduation ceremony in 1971. Years from now you might not remember much about this event today, other than that it wasn’t the kind of ceremony you imagined at the beginning of the school year. But what will remain in your reflections about your graduation from SSFS is much more important: the knowledge that you have experienced something very, very special here. I felt that and I didn’t want the experience to end. Some years ago, I mentioned to my son Ashton that he had a longer tenure as a student at SSFS than any of the rest of our family, having started in the Middle School. His response: “It still wasn’t long enough.” The Sandy Spring Friends School Board of Trustees is laser-focused on the sustainability of the School. We want future generations of students to have the same experience you have had. And we want to keep sending people into the world well-prepared to deal with whatever bumps in the road lie ahead for any of them. We want, in short, to be graduating people like you far, far into the future. Whatever bumps arise in your paths, know that the way will open for you, and that you will be welcomed back at Sandy Spring Friends School. We will support you, reflect with you, and hold you in the Light through all your days. We wish you all the best. Sandy Spring Friends School 58th Commencement, June 6, 2020 Graduation Remarks Congressman John Lewis Hello. I am Congressman John Lewis. I am delighted and very pleased and happy to be with you. Sandy Spring Friends School is a heaven of education. Sandy Spring Friends School is that Quaker institution which has always gifted our society with the best minds, the best athletes, the best leaders, and the best activists—the best of everything. The School has helped blossom the inner beauty of every student. At this critical hour of world pandemic, when the situation has bound us to organize this online convocation, I should feel worried about our society, intense about our future. But on the contrary, I feel excited and overwhelmed that Sandy Spring Friends School has made it possible, that you—our young, energetic graduates—are going to serve the community with the brilliance and motivation that they have earned from this great institution. Sandy Spring Friends School: First, I thank the School leadership from my heart, and secondly, I express my gratitude to the young graduates, to our respected guests, venerated teachers, faculty, and our always loving parents and guardians. I welcome you all in at this promising moment of the lives of our beloved graduates. This is the moment of our achievements, the moment of our transition to bigger duties and responsibilities. It is a great privilege to have you all here. Our skies are different today, but our minds are synced. We are apart from each other, but we are all connected. Deep inside, I’m feeling delighted to see you all with the brilliant faces over this internet. I especially thank our parents. I understand they have worked really hard to support their loving kids. Thank you. We love you a lot. From the past to now, students of this great institution are learning.