# Video: 2024 Commencement Diploma Awarding Ceremony June 19, 2024 ![Auds Jenkins Speaking](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds2/files/untitled_600_x_400_px_13.png?itok=_r3Ohnsk) Harvard Divinity School held its Diploma Awarding Ceremony on May 23, 2024. Auds Hope Jenkins, MDiv '24, was selected by a panel of students, staff, and faculty as the class speaker for HDS Commencement 2024. SPEAKER 1: Harvard Divinity School. SPEAKER 2: Harvard Divinity School, diploma awarding ceremony, May 23, 2024. \[APPLAUSE\] MARLA FREDERICK: Wow. \[LAUGHTER\] Now, this is what I call a graduation day. My goodness. At Harvard, we like to keep it interesting. We like to keep it interesting. So I want to bring greetings to you, to graduates, our graduates, guests, faculty, staff, and friends. I was going to say to this campus green, but now I'll just welcome you to the James Room, the Braun Room, the Sperry Room, the chapel, the multi-faith space, and to all of our classrooms. It's so good to have you here with us today. This is such a special ceremony to grant you your degrees that you have worked so hard for. I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to the families and to the friends for your vital support throughout the graduates' studies here. We celebrate you today, and I ask our graduates, if you would, to stand and give your families a rousing applause. You can look in that camera right there. They are-- \[APPLAUSE\] We're going to do a slight change in the schedule, and I'm going to invite Tim Whelsky up. We will award diplomas for the PhD recipients first, and after that, we will have our graduation speaker. TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Thank you, Dean Frederick, and thank you all for your patience with us, especially doctoral students. We are so happy to be able to celebrate you here in this moment with us. So we will move you ahead in the order of services. OK, let me just get to that page. OK. So we now welcome the graduates for the Doctor of Philosophy for our local hooding ceremony. And as we read the names and dissertation titles for each graduate, they will cross the stage and be hooded by the HDS academic dean, Janet Gyatso and their faculty advisor. Latifeh Aavani. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, Shari'a and the Dilemma of Modern Legislation, the Shi'i Jurist Reception of Qanun in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries. \[APPLAUSE\] She's not here. TIMOTHY WHELSKY: OK, not here. Carleigh Beriont. \[APPLAUSE\] KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, For the Good of Mankind, Marshallese, Missionaries, Militaries, and the Making of American Empire in the Pacific, 1857 to 1957. Carleigh wants to say como tata to her teachers, students, and family. Love and gratitude to Katherine, David, Eric, Sarah, Lena, and Lyndon. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rong Huang. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, The Luminous Wind Fanned the East, a Comparative Study of the East Syriac Christian Documents in China, 618 to 907. Rong thanks all HDS faculty members for their support. She will join New York University as a visiting assistant professor after graduation. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Allison Hurst. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, For You Were in Egypt, the Rhetoric of Remembering Egypt in the Hebrew Bible. Allison thanks the faculty she taught for at Harvard, her parents, and especially her husband, for the support and encouragement. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Nougoutna Norbert Litoing. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, Enshrining the Message, a Comparative Assessment of the Translatability of Islam and Christianity through Two West African Pilgrimage Traditions. Norbert thanks the Jesuit community, his friends and family. He will be working at the Jesuit School of Theology in Nairobi, Kenya. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Luan Enrique Gomez Ribeiro. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, The Great Archangel of Many Names, Anglotrimorphic Christology-- oh, wow. \[LAUGHTER\] Dissertation, The Great-- oh, my gosh-- Archangel of Many Names. Anglo Christology and the Limits of Theological Imagination. I'm so, so sorry, Luan. \[APPLAUSE\] Luan thanks his family, friends, and wife, Priscilla. In seven years, the Lord gave us three kids, two dogs, and now a PhD. We are victorious. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Eric Michael Stephen. KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, Conceiving an American Secularism, a Contested Category in the Remaking of US Law, Religion, and Civic Life, 1851 to 1914. Eric concurrently completed his JD at Yale Law School. He will begin as an assistant professor at the University of South Florida in the fall. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: PhD Graduates, if we could have you please rise. Dean Frederick, members of the faculty, family, and friends, I present to you the Doctor of Philosophy graduates of 2024. \[APPLAUSE\] We will now present our graduate for the Doctor of Theology. Erik Kim Nordbye. \[APPLAUSE\] KATIE CAPONERA: Dissertation, The Cost of Free Religion, Church, State, and Economy in 18th-century New England. Eric thanks Paul and Mark, who didn't help much, his family, who helped a lot, and Diane, whose company made everything a joy. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: And Erik, you can remain standing. Dean Frederick, members of the faculty, family and friends, I present to you the Doctor of Theology graduate of 2024. Congratulations, Erik. \[APPLAUSE\] We'll turn it back over to you, Dean Frederick. MARLA FREDERICK: It is now my honor to introduce this year's graduate speaker, Auds Hope Jenkins. \[CHEERING\] Auds just received her Master of Divinity degree this morning. She made her mark here at Harvard with her exceptional writing and public speaking abilities, first by winning this year's annual Billings preaching competition, then by being selected to speak at the celebration for Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Desi-American graduates, one of the many affinity celebrations held at the University this week. And now by being nominated by her peers and selected to give today's commencement speech, Auds, I welcome you up. \[CHEERING\] AUDS HOPE JENKINS: We are celebrating today in the midst of unspeakable loss in Gaza and Sudan, The Congo, and Haiti and more. There are no universities left in Gaza, so we cannot sit here today at our own university graduation without bearing witness. I invite my classmates to join me in reading "If I Must Die," Refaat Alareer. "If I must die, You must live To tell my story To sell my things To buy a piece of cloth and some strings, make it white with a long tail so that a child somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in a blaze-- and bid no one farewell not even to his flesh not even to himself-- sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above and thinks, for a moment an angel is there bringing back love If I must die let it bring hope Let it be a tale" Thank you. Sometimes, we drug ourselves with dreams of new ideas. The head will save us. The brain alone will set us free. But there are no new ideas waiting in the wings to save us as women, as human. There are only old and forgotten ones, new combinations, extrapolations, and recognitions from within ourselves, along with the renewed courage to try them out. And we must constantly encourage ourselves and each other to attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply and that so many of our old ideas disparage. Audre Lorde, poetry is not a luxury. Yeah, I could just end with that. Bye. Time for lunch. We came to Harvard Divinity School because we had questions, big questions about the world and our place in it, about the past, present, and future of religion in a pluralistic, polarized country, about moral injury and repair and the spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis. And in our time here, we have endeavored to answer some of the big questions that the world posed to us, questions like, what are you going to do with that degree? Are you going to become a priest? And my personal favorite, did you have class with Maggie Rogers? \[LAUGHTER\] It is an honor to be with all of you this afternoon. Thank you, family, friends, professors, staff, mentors, everyone, for being here with us in whatever room, Zoom room, you are here in. Your presence is radiance, and we are here because of you. And congratulations, graduates. You are all so brilliant and beautiful. No, really, you're all so beautiful. I considered reading a list of my HDS crushes in this speech, but I decided that would be wildly inappropriate. So instead, I'm going to talk about heresy. In "Poetry is Not a Luxury," Black feminist Audre Lorde tells us that there are no new ideas waiting in the wings to save us. This is kind of rough to hear because truthfully, I came to HDS read books and take classes, and I was hoping that someone somewhere was going to give me some new ideas about how to change the world, or at least my very small corner of it. And yet along the way, I have realized that the key to our future is not in our books, but in our bodies, in the heretical actions that we barely dare to dream. The word heresy is derived from a Greek word that means taking, choosing, and choice. In response to the immense suffering and oppression of our world, I choose to respond with heresy because heresy is the things we choose for ourselves. It is the wisdom of our hearts. It is our deepest freedom, dreams, and it is the rookery of the future of all of our worlds. When people ask me about HDS, I often tell them that it's a sacred circus. \[LAUGHTER\] You know it is. I mean, look at what we're doing right now. \[LAUGHTER\] A playground for the poet and the future saint. During my time here, I have relinquished my deference to orthodoxy, to the way things are or should be, and sauntered into a fertile place of possibility, where the world to come is clay in the hands of the beloved. Instead of waiting for someone else to take charge, I am learning how to listen to the still, small voice within myself and to call her divine. In his 1838 address to the graduating class of HDS, Ralph Waldo Emerson said pretty much the exact same thing that I just did, but in many more words. I didn't know that I, a woman of color, and a first-generation, low-income, transracial adoptee from Korea and rural Iowa, would have anything in common with Ralph. But here we are. In his address, Emerson argued passionately for his peers, whom he called newborn bards of the Holy Ghost, BRB, updating my LinkedIn profile, to listen to the divine within. He wrote, in how many churches, by how many prophets, tell me, is man made sensible that he is an infinite soul, that the Earth and heavens are passing into his mind, that he is drinking forever the soul of God? Rather than unquestioningly accepting institutional authority, Emerson challenged his listeners to refuse the good models, even those which are sacred in the imagination of men, and to dare to love God without mediator or veil. And to be very clear, this institution, our institution did not like this. Our boy was a heretic. In fact, his words were so radical and so dangerous to this institution that they did not invite him back here for 30 years. Yet, fast forward 180 years, and now he has a chapel with his name on it in Divinity Hall. So Emerson, Audrey, and I, the trinity-- \[LAUGHTER\] \--have a message for you. This is a country and a school founded on dissent and heresy, and they are Holy. As we fight and walk out and camp for justice, as we queer our churches and our temples and create new rituals and music and pursue ordination as the next generation of broken-hearted, enraged, diasporic Buddhist priests, for whom liberation is not a metaphor, we are walking a sacred anointed path. If the institution is 30 years behind and wants to silence, punish, and suspend you, if they want to deny our peers their rightful degrees for the height and depth of their love, so be it. Because while Harvard punishes its own students for speaking out against genocide, over 35,000 people are dead in Gaza. It doesn't take a Harvard degree to figure out that silence is not an option. AUDIENCE: That's right. \[CHEERING\] AUDS HOPE JENKINS: But now that we do have Harvard degrees, we have a sacred responsibility to use them on behalf of the oppressed. My friends, today's heresy is just holiness in disguise. Today's heresy is tomorrow's wholeness. And in 30 years, they're going to be trying to name a chapel after you, too. Throughout my time at HDS, I've been trying to understand what it means to bear witness. On one hand, I think it means to look and not turn away. Witnesses are those who are willing to look at the world in the fullness of its pain and its beauty. But witnessing is not just looking. Bearing witness also implies possibility. In the same way that the body may bear a child, to bear witness means to incubate the seeds of possibility, to bring forth the fullness of life from the fertile womb of our dreams, the dreams that sing to us in the night, breaking upon the shores of our half conscious minds with the promise of other worlds. In this moment, what we need are witnesses, those who are willing to hold the pain of what is because the beauty of what can be is more than worth it. Witness-bearing, like child-bearing, is underappreciated work in a patriarchal, capitalist society that wants us to believe that we are mere products. Yet the truth is that we are divine collaborators, our very atoms birthed from the furnace hearts of exploding stars. Witness-bearing is the work of the hopeful, the hope-filled, and the hope-fed, those who believe in life. And as we choose life, we become her because we are not just transiting through this life passive passengers on a cosmic MBTA, thank God. Rather, life is passing through us, like thread through a needle, and it is our actions and our inactions that weave the tapestry of our worlds. In this moment, as graduates, and in every moment as members of the family of things, we can choose to be accountable for this great and awesome responsibility. We can choose to live into our role as future ancestors. I'm getting to the end of this speech, and I think it's time for me to say, OK, graduates, time to hit the real world or whatever. But I hate that, and I would never say that to you because I think it's total BS. I've been in the so-called real world already. I'm in my thirties. And I want to tell you that this is my real world. You are my real world. Your dedication, your creativity, your curiosity, and your refusal to back down have changed me and shown me the kind of world that I want to live in, the kind of world I want my children's children to live in. If we can do it here, we can do it elsewhere. From the ashes of a capitalist, individualist, imperialist, white supremacist world on fire, we are building elsewhere. We cannot accept this world as it is. It is not good enough yet. But this work can't happen alone. It will only happen together. A lot of people out there want to downplay student activism and organizing and art and ideas. They call it naive. They call it indulgent. They call it child's play, as if that could ever be an insult. Children are the most imaginative dreamers that we have. They don't know what's not possible, so they are not bound by it. There are no new ideas. We can't think ourselves out of this crisis. But as we harness the fullness of our collective moral imagination, we may feel our way there together. Lorde writes, "the white fathers told us, I think, therefore, I am. The black mother within each of us, the poet, whispers in our dreams, I feel, therefore, I can be free." Take a look around. Yes, really, take a look around-- no bait and switch. Look into the eyes of your peers and bear witness to one another. We are each other's divine collaborators, the ones that we have been waiting for. I am not ready to let you go, so I won't. We must hold fast to one another as we attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply. The thread between your humanity and mine is love all the way down. Life is not a problem to be solved but a love story to be lived. And our love must grow and expand and never stop growing until the entire world is a liberated zone. I want to know what else our love can craft. I want to know what else the force field of our love can create that was not there before. I want to see what blooms in the garden or the yard of our delights, the soil watered by our tears of grief and irresistible joy. As I close, I want to leave you with one of my all-time favorite quotes. In an interview after she won the Nobel Prize, Toni Morrison said, "I stood at the border, stood at the edge, and claimed it as central, claimed it as central, and let the rest of the world move over to where I was." My friends, we must stand in our truth. We must stand in our power and claim it as central and wait for the world to move to us. We cannot be moved if we are grounded in love, our love that tugs justice forth with the force of planets. We will not stop, and we will not rest. I can't wait to see where you all go from here. The heresy of our love is but a morning star. Thank you. \[CHEERING\] MARLA FREDERICK: Thank you, Auds, for your very thoughtful and moving remarks. This morning, in tercentenary theater, 131 degrees were conferred on the graduating class of 2024 of the Divinity School, inclusive of degrees earned in November, March, and May. These were comprised of 62 masters of theological studies, 55 masters of divinity, 11 masters of religion and public life, one master of theology, and two doctors of theology. Today-- that is worth-- \[CHEERING\] Today, we have the opportunity in a more personal setting to celebrate these degrees and the individual attainments they represent. Each graduate will be presented by associate dean for enrollment and student services, Tim Whelsky. As each person comes forward to receive their degree, if the graduate has indicated a desire for us to do so, a brief statement about their plans will be read by Katie Caponera, director of student life. We will award diplomas by degree, beginning with the MTS recipients. \[MUSIC PLAYING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Hongmin Ahn. KATIE CAPONERA: Hongmin thanks his family and advisors for their endless support. He will go on to live in Yokohama, Japan, and apply to doctoral programs. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Hamza Arif. KATIE CAPONERA: Hamza thanks his wife Asya and Professors Teren Sevea, Swayam Bagaria, Nicholas Boylston, Khaled El-Rouayheb, \[? Han ?\] \[? Elka, ?\] and \[? Mujtaba. ?\] \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Jude Terna Ayua. KATIE CAPONERA: Jude thanks God for grace, his wife Lillian, and his mother for their prayers and support. He will be going on to law school. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sakina \[? Kabir ?\] \[? Brahmachari. ?\] KATIE CAPONERA: Sakina thanks Allah, her family, and friends. She intends, as Mahmoud Darwish advised, to continue to think of others, especially the oppressed. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Andrea Bischoff. KATIE CAPONERA: Andrea thanks her husband Mike for loving and always believing in her. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: \[? Frama ?\] Murphy \[? Bubus. ?\] KATIE CAPONERA: \[? Frama ?\] is grateful for her partner, Max, who joined her across the world, and for the deep knowledge and wisdom of her professors. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: With the switch-around, I didn't have a chance to say this, but sometimes, it works better if you hold your applause until after the personal statement. We can try that if you want. Nicole Malte Collins. KATIE CAPONERA: Nicole thanks her family, Sarah, and Johnny, for the support. She will begin her PhD in religious studies at Brown University. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ethan Andrew Cowan. KATIE CAPONERA: Bumpy roads lead to beautiful places. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Luca \[? Hjort ?\] Del Deo. He is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Luca is starting a company to train meditation teachers in religious literacy and conduct research on meditation and community. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Maria Duenas-Lopez is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. AUDIENCE: Yeah. \[CHEERING\] KATIE CAPONERA: Maria thanks her family for all of their support, especially Yolanda, her courageous and loving mother. She says, viva, viva Palestina. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Juan Duran. KATIE CAPONERA: Juan thanks their friends and family for their support, laughs, and hugs. They will go on trying to make the world a kinder place. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Hannah Eliason is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Hannah thanks her family for their support and her students for being beacons of hope in troubled times. She says divest and free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Robert Louis Friedman. KATIE CAPONERA: Rob thanks his adorable wife for moving to Boston to allow him to study and not eat fast food every night. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Susie Greco. KATIE CAPONERA: Susie thanks HDS for this amazing opportunity and will continue on in a PhD program at the University of Edinburgh Divinity School. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Anna Dorothy Guterman. KATIE CAPONERA: Anna will be continuing her academic journey as a PhD student at the University of Virginia department of religious studies. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Tenzin Gyurmey Rinpoche. KATIE CAPONERA: Tenzin will return to Tawang, India, to work at his school and foundation, providing education while continuing Buddhist teachings and scholarly research worldwide. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Olivia Catherine Hastie. KATIE CAPONERA: Olivia thanks all of the people who have supported her throughout her time at HDS. She is heading to Boston College to pursue her PhD in Theological Ethics. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Peter William Hoogstraten. PETER: I didn't write anything. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Miriam Israel. KATIE CAPONERA: Miriam thanks all who made today possible, especially family and friends. She will work in climate adaptation and hopes Harvard divests. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Samirah Jaigirdar, who is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Samirah will be starting a PhD in political science at Georgetown University. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rameen Javadian. \[CHEERING\] KATIE CAPONERA: Rameen thanks his community grounded in divinity and informed by liberation, especially in the last year, organizing for a free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sea Yun \[? Pious ?\] Joung. KATIE CAPONERA: Sea Yun will pursue a PhD at the University of Cambridge on the letters of Saint Maximus, the Confessor. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: \[? Danby ?\] \[? Jong. ?\] KATIE CAPONERA: \[? Danby ?\] thanks her family for their trust and support, and her roommates for being wonderful. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Shabbos Israel X. Kestenbaum. KATIE CAPONERA: Shabbos thanks his parents, American immigrants who raised two generations of proud Jews. Mom and Dad, your son just graduated Harvard. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Jamail Ali Khan. KATIE CAPONERA: Jamail would like to dedicate his degree to his mother, Saida Ambrin Zara. Next year, he will be in Jordan as a Fulbright Scholar. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Trinidad Margarita Lara Anthony. KATIE CAPONERA: Trinidad is grateful to her family, friends, and professors for their support. She will go on to study Urdu in Lucknow, India. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Shir Lovett-Graff. KATIE CAPONERA: Shir is grateful for their friends and colleagues in building and dreaming liberatory spiritual communities and a free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Betul Maden-Yilmaz, who is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Betul thanks her family and loved ones for their support and says \[NON-ENGLISH\] and, of course, free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Destiny Sue Magnett, who is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Destiny will go on to work with churches for Middle East peace, continuing to pursue justice and a free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Christian Peter Maloney. KATIE CAPONERA: Christian thanks his family, friends, professors. He will be attending the Rothberg International School. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rose Elizabeth Gaelic Miller. KATIE CAPONERA: Rose thanks her parents, Mark and Carrie-Ann, for their constant support. She'll be starting a PhD at the University of Southern California. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ciara Shirine Moezidis, who's also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Ciara thanks her loved ones for supporting her in building a morally consistent and just world. She says Harvard divest, free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Claire Elizabeth Neid, who's also graduating with a certificate in religion in public life. KATIE CAPONERA: Claire thanks her mentors for their caring support, her friends for their joyful presence, and her family for their endless love. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Elyse Crow O'Bannon. KATIE CAPONERA: Crow thanks their family and partner for their support and their friends for all of the great meals and conversation. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rebecca Oreskes. KATIE CAPONERA: Rebecca will start a chaplaincy residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in September. She thanks everyone who has carried her. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rajeev Persaud. KATIE CAPONERA: Rajeev thanks the divine mother, his parents for their love, Gauri for her support, and his Nana-- excuse me, Nani and Asha for their blessings. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Cecily Patrice Powell Tolleson. KATIE CAPONERA: Cecily thanks her proofreader, best friend, and husband, Zach, who pushed her to apply here and supports her every day. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Amin Qureshi. KATIE CAPONERA: Amin thanks all professors, staff, and friends. He will be in Japan and hopes to work in social impact consulting. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Francesca Reznik. KATIE CAPONERA: Francesca thanks her family for their-- excuse me, Francesca thanks her family and her undergraduate mentors, Justin McDaniel and Anthea Butler, for their support of her journey. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Corinna Sue Maria Robinson. KATIE CAPONERA: Corinna is grateful for her community's love and support and will soon begin work at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Joe Rosales. JOE: Thank you very much. KATIE CAPONERA: Joe thanks Jesus, who will continue to guide him every step of the way. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Paloma Sitalin Sánchez Acevedo. KATIE CAPONERA: Sitalin will be working at the Mesoamerican Archives. She thanks her parents, brother, friends, and boyfriend for their love. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Philip Bernard Scholer. KATIE CAPONERA: Phil thanks his parents, brother, friends and mentors at HDS, Professors \[? Alpena, ?\] Johnson, Gaston, and Dean Bartholomew. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Brady Wilson Schuh. KATIE CAPONERA: Brady thanks his family, mentors, and friends for the care and growth-oriented support they have had for his projects and interests. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Noa Sepharia. KATIE CAPONERA: Noa thanks her chosen family who have supported her during her time at HDS. Her future includes making music and protesting empire. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sama Shah. KATIE CAPONERA: Sama thanks her husband and family for their support. She will move to Jordan on a research fellowship. She says free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Margaret \[? Tekla ?\] Sullivan. KATIE CAPONERA: Margaret wishes to thank the family, friends, and faculty members who have made this moment possible. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Lauren Ann Tassone. KATIE CAPONERA: Lauren is grateful for her supportive family, friends, and mentors. She will begin her PhD in religion at Harvard. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Mateo Thompson. KATIE CAPONERA: Mateo thanks mama, Marissa, and dad, Lezamo. He plans a gap year to seek admission into a successive graduate program. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: \[? Nicole ?\] Danielle \[? Chindi. ?\] KATIE CAPONERA: \[? Nicole ?\] thanks all of the people at HDS who made her time here so special, and her family and friends for all their love and support. \[APPLAUSE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Edwin Torres. KATIE CAPONERA: Edwin appreciates his family, friends, and mentor, Jennifer Hughes. \[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH\] \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: RJ Vazquez. KATIE CAPONERA: RJ is thankful for DivEx and the wonderful friends he has met at HDS. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Howard Andrew Vosburgh. HOWARD: I also didn't write anything. \[LAUGHTER\] \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ailih Weeldreyer is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Ailih thanks her family and friends for their loving encouragement, and calls on Harvard to divest for a free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Richard White. KATIE CAPONERA: Richard thanks his parents, friends, and roommates for their constant encouragement and support. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: McKenzie Anne Wilkins. KATIE CAPONERA: McKenzie thanks her parents for their unconditional love and support. She dedicates her success in these past two years to them. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Chen Wu. \[CHEERING\] \[? Jane ?\] \[? Shi ?\] \[CHEERING\] Anna Cecilia Zuckerman. KATIE CAPONERA: Anna would like to thank her beloved Andrew, whose love and faith in her make all things possible. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: If the MTS graduates would please rise. Dean Frederick, members of the faculty, family and friends, we present to you the Master of Theological Studies graduates of 2024. \[CHEERING\] Please be seated. \[MUSIC PLAYING\] We will now present the graduates for the degree of Master of Divinity. \[CHEERING\] First, Annie Ablon, who is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Annie thanks her family, Mike, Karen, and Haley, and the HDS friends who became family, for their unwavering love and support. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Theodora Rose Alderson. KATIE CAPONERA: Teddy would like to thank his beloveds for supporting him through every hardship and accomplishment that led to this moment. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Joe Archer. KATIE CAPONERA: Joe thanks his friends, family, and mentors. Next, he'll train to be a therapist for disabled veterans. He says divest now. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Carla Arevalo. KATIE CAPONERA: Carla wants to thank her family and fiance, Guillermo, for all of the support in her journey at HDS. She sends lots of love to them. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Gianluca Avanzato. KATIE CAPONERA: Gianluca thanks his wife, friends, family, and ancestors. He will move to Upstate New York and continue writing his epic poem. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Twyla \[INAUDIBLE\] Barkakoty. \[CHEERING\] Frank Barrett. KATIE CAPONERA: Frank will return to his position as Professor at Case Western University. He thanks his generous HDS classmates and teachers. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Lex Berman. KATIE CAPONERA: Lex thanks her family, partner, and friends for sharing the special day with her and for their support over the last three years. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Jeffrey Allen Breau. \[RINGING\] \[CHEERING\] Isaiah James Briggs. \[CHEERING\] ISAIAH: Free, free Palestine. AUDIENCE: Free, free Palestine. ISAIAH: Free, free, free Palestine. AUDIENCE: Free, free, free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] ISAIAH: I love you, Mom. TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Mauricio Bruce. KATIE CAPONERA: Mauricio is grateful to his husband, his family, and all the friends who have supported him over the last three years. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Madeline Grace Bugeau-Heartt. KATIE CAPONERA: Madeline is forever grateful to her family, friends, peers, professors, and partner for believing in her throughout this journey. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ryan Caleb Conston. KATIE CAPONERA: Ryan thanks God for creativity, family for connection, and HDS for a space of contribution. He will go on to pursue medicine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ben Davidson. KATIE CAPONERA: Ben thanks Rosemary and Tom for their support and will go on to study for a master of fine art in fiction. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Christopher James Diak. No, OK. \[CHEERING\] Nicholas Joseph Dunham. KATIE CAPONERA: Nick wants to thank-- \[CHEERING\] Nick wants to thank all of the beautiful souls who have supported him, Dad, David, Sana, AJ, Zee, Ari, Hakim, Emerson, and the trees FGFP. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ahmaad Jai Edmond. KATIE CAPONERA: Ahmaad thanks God, his family, friends, church, and mentors. He looks forward to pursuing a career in faith and public policy. \[CHEERING\] AUDIENCE: Congratulations, Ahmaad! TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sofia Estrada. KATIE CAPONERA: Sofia looks forward to continuing hospital chaplaincy training, spending less time in the library, and marrying her bestie Jimmy. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Nathalie Folkerts. KATIE CAPONERA: Nathalie thanks her family, friends, mentors, and the student organizers for teaching her the liberatory magic of love. She says free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Chris Eugene Fowler, Jr. KATIE CAPONERA: CJ will be receiving ordination as an American Baptist minister and serving at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ariella Gayotto Hohl is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Ariella honors her father, Gunnar, who captured love through photography. She goes on as a filmmaker, working towards peace and understanding. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Paul Gillis-Smith. KATIE CAPONERA: Paul thanks the Harvard out of Palestine coalition for their enduring inspiration in resistance to carceral states everywhere. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Talia Goldberg. KATIE CAPONERA: Talia would like to thank her professors, friends, family, and fiance. She is especially grateful to her parents for everything. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Kenton Thomas Goldsby. KATIE CAPONERA: Kenton is pursuing ordination as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Stephanie Hollenberg. KATIE CAPONERA: Stephanie plans to pursue her vocation as a fairy seeking, singing priestess, A.K.A. chaplain, as she makes her home on Abenaki land in Vermont. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Auds Hope Jenkins is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Auds thanks her family, friends, teachers, and ancestors for loving her into being. She says free Palestine. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ebony Joy Johnson. AUDIENCE: Ebony. KATIE CAPONERA: Ebony is a master of divinity graduate and a Linden, New Jersey, native. Her motto is divine love facilitates healing. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Oorja Joshi. KATIE CAPONERA: Oorja thanks their parents for their love and support, their professors, for their guidance, and friends, who are now chosen family. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sultan Khan is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Sultan is deeply grateful for the unwavering support of his friends, professors, mentors, and most importantly, his siblings and both his mothers throughout his HDS journey. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Alexandra Bray Kinsella. KATIE CAPONERA: Alex thanks her family, friends, and fur babies for their support, love, and kindness during her time at HDS. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Nathan Knutson. KATIE CAPONERA: Nathan would like to thank his family, friends, and spiritual communities for their unwavering love, support, and ability to tolerate him. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Daniel Kramer. KATIE CAPONERA: Dan is seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and plans to move to Tennessee to continue practicing medicine for the underserved. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Frances Lee. KATIE CAPONERA: Frances thanks spirit, ancestors, advisors, bunny, mom, dad, and their friends for their love and support. Let's heal the world. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Ezra Gary Levine. KATIE CAPONERA: Ezra thanks their New York, Chicago crew for getting them to the finish line. They're going home now to make soup and watch birds. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Kristen Maples. KATIE CAPONERA: Next year, Kristen will complete a clinical pastoral education residency and become a humanist celebrant. She thanks family, friends, and fellow graduates. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Charlotte McAdams is also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Charlotte thanks her friends and communities. She will continue her work in entrepreneurship, building spiritual care infrastructure. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Kenneth Herbert Mills III. \[CHEERING\] Also graduating with a certificate in Religion and Public Life. KATIE CAPONERA: Kenneth will continue at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to cultivate expansive environments that foster holistic growth. \[CHEERING\] AUDIENCE: \[INAUDIBLE\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: \[? Juliana ?\] \[? Moceanu. ?\] KATIE CAPONERA: \[? Juliana ?\] thanks her partner, Jack, and her mom, who made this accomplishment possible. She will keep working in academia. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Cassandra \[? Ariza ?\] Montenegro-Perez. KATIE CAPONERA: Grateful for all on her journey to Unitarian Universalist ministry, Cassandra graduates today, turns 40 tomorrow, and begins clinical pastoral education at McLean next week. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Nicole \[? Gonda ?\] Newell. KATIE CAPONERA: Nicole gives thanks for an abundance of friendship and learning at HDS. She will go on to be a hospital chaplain in California. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Tracie Palmer. KATIE CAPONERA: Tracie thanks her wife, Cynthia, for her support during this adventure. Tracy goes on to chaplaincy residency. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Rachel Peterson. KATIE CAPONERA: Rachel thanks her friends, family, and beloved dog Layla. She will remain at Harvard and plans to publish a book and plant souls. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Claire Mackenzie Rensunberg. KATIE CAPONERA: Claire thanks their best friend, spouse Micah, cap Chewy, the pinkies, and the whole dang gang. Claire can't wait for a long nap. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Francesca Robinson. \[CHEERING\] KATIE CAPONERA: Francesca is thankful for her loved ones, mentors, and teachers. The real heartifacts are the friends we made along the way. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Cara Christine Snajcsuk. KATIE CAPONERA: Cara thanks her family, especially her parents, her elders, Rose, Margaret, and Kath, and her advisors, Professors Giles and Hallisey. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Crow Stacy. KATIE CAPONERA: Crow gives all thanks to Virgen de Guadalupe and is headed to Georgia to become a special education teacher. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Emma Jacqueline Thomas KATIE CAPONERA: Emma gives thanks to God, nature, her family, and community for their love and support. Quote, "We shall be known by the company we keep," end quote. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: George Vicente. KATIE CAPONERA: George thanks Jesus Christ and family and friends that supported him. None of this would have been possible without them. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: MDIV graduates, if you would, please rise. Dean Frederick, members of the faculty, family and friends, I present to you the Master of Divinity Graduates of 2024. \[CHEERING\] You may be seated. \[MUSIC PLAYING\] We now present the graduates for the degree of Master of Religion and Public Life. Jeremy William Barber. KATIE CAPONERA: Jeremy is grateful for the love and support of everyone who made this crazy, wonderful journey possible. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Mario Cader-Frech. KATIE CAPONERA: Mario thanks all who supported the development of his MR PL project, aiming to bring religious literacy to Hollywood screenwriters. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Alice Hoffman. \[CHEERING\] Sara Jin Li. KATIE CAPONERA: Sarah thanks all those who love her, including her cat, for their support this year. After this, she plans on sleeping for a month. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Daniella Marie Malfi. KATIE CAPONERA: Daniella has created a public call to action ministry as the founder of the vegan theology, teaching that peace starts on our plates. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Brittany T. Paschall. KATIE CAPONERA: Brittany thanks mother, God, four mothers, family, and beloveds. She will continue to work as an educator, minister, and memory worker. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Sara Smirin. \[CHEERING\] Raisa Tolchinsky. KATIE CAPONERA: Raisa thanks her partner, Derek, and her family for supporting her wildest dreams. She will continue being a poet. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Joshua Wolfsun. \[CHEERING\] KATIE CAPONERA: Josh thanks his fiancée, Annie, for always inspiring him, and their cat, Morgana, for enough distractions to let the good ideas come. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: And if we could have our MRPL graduates rise. Dean Frederick, members of the faculty, family and friends, we present to you the Master of Religion and Public Life graduates of 2024. \[CHEERING\] Please be seated. We now present the graduate for the degree of Master of Theology. \[CHEERING\] Christopher Siuzdak. KATIE CAPONERA: Chris expresses gratitude to his parents and friends. He will be pursuing a master of science in bioethics at Harvard Medical School. \[CHEERING\] TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Dean Fredrick, we turn it back to you. Well, actually, let's-- MARLA FREDERICK: Have him stand. TIMOTHY WHELSKY: Let's have our THM graduate stand. \[LAUGHTER\] Dean Frederick, faculty, and friends, I present to you the THM graduate of 2024. You get the spotlight all to yourself. Thank you. MARLA FREDERICK: Wow. Congratulations, graduates. Give yourselves a round of applause. \[APPLAUSE\] Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Katie. Jamie, thank you, and the Division of Student Services, and all of the HDS staff for your work, thought, and care in making this ceremony possible and truly special. I also want to thank Bob Devoe and Robbie Rhodes, who are over-- \[CHEERING\] And everyone on the IT team for making this possible. We really appreciate you. I also want to thank Katie Caponera. \[CHEERING\] Very able director of student life, and so beloved. She has guided us through this whole day, starting at 7:00 AM. So thank you so much, Katie. \[CHEERING\] I also want to thank Mark Nystrom and his team in facilities and operations for helping us adjust to the weather, move inside, getting set up all over again. Incredible work. I want to thank all of our staff volunteers who have been working all day long to make this a special occasion for each and every one of you and for your families and friends. So thank you, volunteers, staff volunteers, for today. \[CHEERING\] And I just wanted to give one more thanks, and that is to Kerry Maloney for yesterday's beautiful multi-religious ceremony. It was absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Kerry. And so once our graduates have processed, I ask that you join us for our commencement luncheon under the tent and on the sports lawn. We're going to be on-- we're going to go-- we're going to be downstairs, OK? So you can go downstairs and grab your lunch, and then I guess you can decide whether you want to stay inside or outside. And so my deepest thanks to everyone who joined to celebrate this milestone today. And my best wishes to our graduates as you begin this new chapter. Congratulations. \[CHEERING\] \[MUSIC PLAYING\] SPEAKER 3: Music under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, director of music and ritual, accompanied by Sujin Hwang, human resources coordinator. SPEAKER 4: Copyright 2024, the president and fellows of Harvard College. See also:- [ Commencement ](/topic-tags/commencement) - [ Commencement 2024 ](/topic-tags/commencement-2024)