Senior speaker set to address Commencement audience
William Stafford ’26 had a choice to make about how he would participate in this year’s Commencement ceremony:
- Devote the day to celebrating alongside his classmates, accepting his diploma, and exiting the stage a newly minted graduate of Clark University.
- Do all of the above, except with the added responsibility of delivering the senior speech to the audience of family and friends in the DCU Center.
Those who know Stafford were not surprised that he selected Option 2.
On May 18, the political science major and aspiring lawyer will stand at the podium and talk about the choices we make in our lives, how they help shape our trajectories, build our communities, and guide our future.
“We all have our own issues, stresses, and anxieties, but I feel like at the end of the day, we’re all presented with a choice about how we will respond to the things that may happen to us or the decisions we make,” Stafford says. “We’re going through different things in our lives, and there’s only so many things that we are able to control. But a lot of what has brought me success is just taking overall agency and accountability for myself. My overall message is just to choose to be better, whatever that means to you.”
It’s been a very full four years for Stafford, who came to Clark to “push my own boundaries.” As he told ClarkNOW in 2023, he’d been accepted to Morehouse College, an all-male historically Black college in Atlanta whose alumni include Martin Luther King Jr. and filmmaker Spike Lee. But he was attracted by the prospect of attending school in New England, and found himself inspired by ClarkNOW stories about students taking distinctive paths, which included launching new clubs and reimagining the goals and structures of existing student-run organizations.
In addition to his studies, he’s a program assistant in the Student Leadership, Identity, and Community Engagement (SLICE) office, where he co-facilitates the Men of Color Alliance, a group he co-founded that he has described as “a space of spirit; a space of camaraderie.” He’s been a familiar and friendly presence at the Information Desk in the Higgins University Center; he’s also served as a Resident Assistant and on Student Council, played with the club basketball team, and co-moderated the Panel of the Decades, which brought together alumni of color with Clark students to share strategies for navigating their personal and professional lives. Last year, Stafford organized the Mosaic Grill and Chill, which brought together Clark’s affinity groups for a barbecue outside of Dana Commons. He hopes it becomes an annual event.
Stafford’s gaze is squarely on the future. After graduation, he will return to his native Florida to secure a job as a legal assistant and earn a paycheck while building experience and studying for the LSAT. He plans to attend law school and pursue a career in corporate law. “I’m a detail-oriented person, and I feel that corporate law matches my strengths and gets me to what I want to do,” he says. Also in his plans: acquiring a patent license and forming his own LLC.
“I was fortunate to have a very unique experience at Clark,” he says. “I’ve worked with a lot of different people and been a part of the campus in just about every aspect.
“I’ve appreciated all of it.”
