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At Washington and Lee University’s 236th commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 25, members of the class of 2023 were reminded by President William C. Dudley that engaged citizenship begins with intellect and character, and that responsible leadership is about setting an example and exerting a positive influence.
“Engaged citizenship — your citizenship — begins with the traits of intellect and character that are cultivated by a good liberal arts education,” Dudley said. “Your education has prepared you to assess what can be improved, and to have the courage to speak up about it.”
“Figure out how to make things better,” he continued. “If something needs to be done, roll up your sleeves and get to work. Persuade others to join you. Responsible leadership — your leadership — is less about commanding those who answer to you, or criticizing those who don’t, than it is about exerting a positive influence, showing others by your own example what matters, and why, and what you can accomplish together.”
Having the university president give the commencement address is a custom at W&L that dates to the 1930s.
During his speech, Dudley reflected on the challenging times during which the class of 2023 attended college. He reminded the students that when they arrived in August 2019, they did all the things that generations of W&L students had done before, such as bid emotional farewells to their families, eagerly greet their new roommates, and pledge to uphold W&L’s honor system.
“We had a great fall term,” he said. “And then things got complicated. In March 2020, Covid descended upon us, and you had to pack your bags and head home abruptly. The pandemic changed every aspect of our lives in previously unimaginable ways.”
Dudley also recounted the murder of George Floyd in May of the same year, and the subsequent protests and calls for racial reckoning across the country, as well as the storming of the United States Capitol in January 2021, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year later.
“That’s a lot of bad news” he said. “And it’s tough to look away. The issues are important, and the coverage of them is not only ubiquitous but also weirdly compelling. So much so that the term ‘doom scrolling,’ which refers to the practice of compulsively consuming negative information, was named the word of the year in 2020.”
“Social media enables information, misinformation, fear, and outrage to spread more quickly and widely than ever before,” Dudley added, then reminded the class of the university’s mission statement, and W&L’s purpose to help its students become capable people who lead lives of consequence.
“You can’t be the kind of people that we are devoted to helping you become, or do the kinds of things that we are devoted to preparing you to do, without being wellinformed about the world you inhabit, including its many serious problems,” he said. “But there’s a difference between being well-informed, which you should be, and being sucked into a vortex of negativity, which you should avoid.
“A good liberal arts education teaches you not to believe everything you read or hear,” he continued. “It teaches you to ask good questions, to make careful distinctions, to discern what is important, to sift the probable from the improbable. Those habits of mind enable you to distinguish trustworthy from untrustworthy sources. Armed with reliable information and the ability to think freely, critically, and humanely — which you have honed here at W&L — you are prepared to be conscientious interpreters of the world.”
Dudley’s advice to graduates as they prepare to leave campus is to keep their eyes and minds open.
“If you work hard, new doors will appear and open, often when you least expect,” he said. “If you choose to walk through them, you will be surprised where they will lead. Unpredictability is part of the fun. As your interests, projects, and commitments change over time, let what persists be your resolve to make a difference, and your confidence that the education you received here will see you through it all.”
James Torbert ’23, president of the Executive Committee of the Student Body from 2021 to 2023, spoke on behalf of his class.
He commended his classmates for their many accomplishments.
“This class made significant accomplishments in all areas of academic and extracurricular life,” Torbert said. “Our class helped develop new student organizations that support not only W&L but also local communities. We maintained long-standing traditions of the honor system, bringing high-quality speakers and artists to campus, and engaging in the speaking tradition. We conducted research that is being published and will continue to be pursued. We won ODAC championships in soccer, tennis, basketball, lacrosse, swimming, and more.
“Not only were we immensely successful while we were here at W&L, but we also have exceptional futures ahead of us,” he continued. “Our class includes W&L’s 18th Rhodes Scholar, 12 Fulbright Scholars (and counting), and multiple Boren scholars, as well as students working at the most prestigious companies and institutions in the world. We should all be proud of the extensive success of our class.”
Torbert went on to recount the impact of the pandemic on the class of 2023, reflecting on the special bonds created and the positive impact of the honor system during that challenging time.
“For over a year while we were enrolled at W&L we were impacted by the pandemic,” Torbert said. “We had to fully adapt our academic and social lives in an entirely new way. It was definitely not a time that anyone wants to remember, but it is something we will not forget. Our college experience was in part very different from the experiences of students before us, but that’s what makes our class unique. Going through a really challenging and confusing time has created a shared bond within our class that many former college graduates do not have.
“W&L taught us the meaning and value of personal integrity,” he continued. “Washington and Lee’s honor system is built on principles of honesty and respect … “Our class was particularly unique,” Torbert added. “As students at other institutions were required to use rigid computer lockdown technology when in-person testing wasn’t available, we were trusted to produce our assignments honorably and distanced from any monitoring. This system has also taught us that personal integrity should extend beyond our time at W&L. And, as we enter the professional world, we will know that we can trust the W&L alums we interact with.”
During Thursday’s ceremony, W&L conferred degrees upon 453 seniors. Altogether, the class of 2023 earned degrees in 52 majors, with nearly 30 percent of the class completing more than one major. Fifty-three percent of the class completed at least one minor.
Four students were named valedictorians of the class: Walter Henry Barden, Anna Elizabeth Blackburn, Mary Elaine Graham, and Jason Gu. Each earned a final grade point average of 4.0.
