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Fei-Fei Li addressed the Class of 2020<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAs I look at all of you today. I\u2019m so full of hope!\u201d Li told the graduates.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are the faces of incredible talent, ambition and eagerness to make a difference. And, if I know anything about Harvey Mudd, especially from the talented Mudd graduates who I have had the fortune to teach and advise in my years as a professor, I know that many of you are every bit as driven,\u201d Li said. \u201cMy wish for you is to always pursue that north star in your horizon. And remember, there\u2019s a human side to everything, whether you\u2019re an economist, theoretical physicist or a composer. It may seem like a complication\u2014even a burden, at times\u2014but it\u2019s also an incredible gift. And it\u2019s the only way to truly appreciate the impact your work will have on your world. Depending on your chosen profession, that impact may have global consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what your north star is, don\u2019t be afraid to let its human side shine. After all, it takes so many colors to add up to the white light of a star. There\u2019s plenty of room,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Djassi Julien \u201920 gave the Class of 2020 student keynote address. He talked about the isolation that accompanied the first pandemic stay-at-home orders in spring 2020 when students left campus mid-semester, and about how he now views unrecoverable time.<\/p>\n
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Djassi Julien ’20 gave the student keynote address to the Class of 2020<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI want to share a short excerpt from a poem by a brilliant poet and novelist named Ocean Vuong,\u201d Julien said. \u201cIn his poem titled \u2018Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong\u2019 he says, \u2018Ocean\u2014get up. The most beautiful part of your body is where it’s headed. And remember, loneliness is still time spent with the world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Ocean Vuong got it right. The most meaningful parts of our lives don’t live behind us; they\u2019re right now, and all of the many right nows that we have ahead of us. The birthdays, the weddings that I hope to be invited to, the destination bachelor parties (just throwing some ideas out there, Ibiza?), these are all the ways that we cannot recover the time that we lost, but honor it by not taking the time we have ahead of us for granted. So again to the Class of 2020, I offer my most heartfelt and sincere congratulations. There are a lot of memories left to be made, so let\u2019s get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the afternoon ceremony for the Class of 2021, UCLA Professor of Gender Studies and African American Studies Safiya Umoja Noble gave the commencement address. Noble is a 2021 MacArthur Fellow and also serves as the co-director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. She is the author of a best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines titled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism<\/em>.<\/p>\n Safiya Umoja Noble addressed the Class of 2021<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cCommencement speakers often talk about the future\u2014the future you will inherit, the future you will lead,\u201d Noble told the Class of 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cBut graduates, you are not the future. You are not the future of this country; you are not the future of this world. You graduates are the present.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been taught to believe that when we are young that the moment for our impact is later,\u201d Noble said. \u201cBut the future is not later. In fact, the future is made up of an infinite number of everyday decisions, choices, thoughts and actions that we are all making right now. The future is made up of our individual decisions. It is driven by our collective choices, by our silences and even by our unwillingness to take action. It is driven by the space we take up in the world, and the space we hold on to for too long when we don’t make space for others. You graduates, you must take the space to shine. We don’t need your brilliance, your empathy and your ideas tomorrow, somewhere out in the distant future. We need your voices and your power now, today.\u201d<\/p>\n Guilherme Missaka \u201921 gave the student keynote for the Class of 2021. Missaka used the metaphor of eating cake to talk about life lessons learned during his time at Mudd.<\/p>\n Guilherme Missaka \u201921 gave the student keynote address to the Class of 2021<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cFlavor is just one of the many characteristics of a cake\u2014some would say the most important\u2014but it does not paint the whole picture,\u201d Missake told the graduates. \u201cSome would argue that looks are an essential part of the cake, while some may think, texture is better. Lesson number three: There is so much more<\/em> to people than just one characteristic. Cakes, like ogres, have layers. Free Shrek reference for you there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all going to start something new and try it out for a bit,\u201d he said. \u201cWith a cake, this part is easy\u2014we always go for the bite! But it is an incredibly difficult step in life, so I urge you to experiment, responsibly of course. Take that first bite!\u201d<\/p>\n Dee West \u201965 P92\/93 welcomed the graduates of both classes into the HMC Alumni Association.<\/p>\n President Klawe concluded both ceremonies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world has many areas that need help from Harvey Mudd College graduates, from addressing climate change and other environmental problems to social justice inequities to advances in basic science and technology,\u201d said Klawe.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever you do and wherever you go, you will take your commitment to excellence, integrity, equity and inclusion, and helping others succeed. You will pay attention to the impact of your work on society, and use your outstanding skills in communication and critical thinking to help others pay attention too. Given the increasing impact of technology in every aspect of society, the world needs graduates like you more than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Safiya](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Noble-300x200.jpg\")
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