Clark University this morning awarded 468 degrees to its undergraduate Class of 2025.
President David B. Fithian ’87 urged the graduates gathered at the DCU Center in Downtown Worcester for Clark’s 121st Commencement to celebrate their accomplishments.
“For this day, smile upon yourself, applaud your achievements, reflect upon your growth, celebrate your friends and classmates and, perhaps most importantly, bask in the love of those here with you and for you,” he said.
“All of us up here representing the trustees, administration, faculty, staff, and alumni are so proud of you, especially for overcoming all that you have had to in the past four years. We are smiling upon you, we applaud you, we celebrate you, and we thank you for sharing these years with us.”
In a separate ceremony later in the day, the University presented 1,014 advanced degrees.
Esther Duflo, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivered the commencement address. Duflo told graduates that they face a hard task after graduation: To discover what gives them worth and meaning.
“Until now, you have had grades, orchestra auditions, team tryouts, math competitions. All of this is over. You’ll have to determine, for yourself, what the goals are, and whether you are reaching them,” Duflo said.
“I have no advice for you as you embark on this task, but I have one plea. Do not let anyone convince you that the world is a Hobbesian dystopia where everything is zero-sum and wealth is the ultimate metric of success. It’s not a place where there is a concentric center of caring, and beyond some radius, the value of others is zero. Think about this day, about how you got here, remember the kindness of many, and ask yourself what you can do to keep that going.”
Gary Labovich ’81, chair of the Board of Trustees, challenged graduates to think about how they’ll engage with the world moving forward.
“Many, if not all of you, will pursue careers that require you to collaborate with others in pursuit of a common goal, be it a financial target, a research objective, or perhaps working to enhance or even save someone’s life,” he said. “Your chosen field may be borne from a particular area of expertise that germinated during your time at Clark or from a set of unique circumstances that you cannot even fathom today.”
Labovich assured students that even though the commencement ceremony felt like an ending, it was really a beginning.
“It is the beginning of a great adventure — the rest of your life — one that only you can define and shape,” he said. “I know it sounds kind of scary, but isn’t this what you have been waiting for?”
Temera De Groot ’25, the student commencement speaker, reflected on the vulnerability that comes with starting a new phase of life. Throughout the highs and lows of college, De Groot often found inspiration from a cartoon icon: Mr. Krabs from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. One episode depicted Mr. Krabs outgrowing his shell, a common occurrence for crabs that to De Groot symbolized the way humans shed old versions of themselves to make room for new experiences.
“The idea and process resonated with me and gave me the strength that I needed to succeed throughout my time here,” said De Groot, a first-generation college student who emigrated from Guyana when she was 10 years old and plans to pursue law school.
“Now, we are all back in that vulnerable, uncertain stage as we start a new chapter in our lives, especially in political and economic uncertainty,” she said. “But just remember that as we search for our new shell, the vulnerability that we show is not weakness but rather a sign of growth.”
Fithian closed the ceremony by congratulating Clark’s newest alumni.
“Our graduates are all different and yet you are now all the same in one respect,” he said. “You are all graduates of Clark University, and it is my honor to welcome you into the brilliant company of Clark alumni.”
