Beautiful threads linked many of the words of wisdom shared by SSW Commencement 2024 speakers. Radically imagining a liberated future, connecting and power through collective care as ways to build a better world, and the daring it takes to make change were just some of the themes offered in honor and celebration of the Class of 2024.
As hundreds gathered in John M. Greene Hall to celebrate the 120 M.S.W. and 10 Ph.D. graduates, the joy was unmistakable. Dean Marianne Yoshioka applauded the hard work of the graduates, and highlighted the power of the collective voice of the many dedicated student leaders who have shaped the School’s approach to ideals of racial and social justice.
“The people and communities that you will serve deserve your powerful voice for justice...use your voice to speak up for clients, speak out against oppression...uplift those we serve, and shape the changes that raise the bar for an ethical and just world."
"Imagine if every organization was challenged to find the places where oppression resides… and if every organization rose to the challenge of changing their systems to bring more support, more respect, more love, more care. We would be transformed.” -Dean Yoshioka
Smith College President Sarah Willie LeBreton spoke of the critical need for social workers in today's world, encouraging graduates to embrace leadership that is collaborative and service-oriented, underlining the essential role of empathy, kindness and commitment to justice in effective leadership.
“I would argue that perhaps the most meaningful and powerful form of leadership—and the one for which I believe you are most prepared—is leadership in service to others. In this model, leadership is not a pyramid with one person at the top. It is a collective effort in which different people may step forward at different moments to move a group forward, regardless of its size or type, toward a set of shared goals. According to Martin Luther King Jr., this model of leadership requires only two things, “a heart full of grace [and] a soul generated by love…”
Phuongloan Vo, Ph.D. Class Speaker, shared her gratitude to faculty and her cohort for their wisdom and support, and how through her experiences as a first generation college student and Vietnamese immigrant, she learned so much more than how to be a well-rounded researcher, educator and clinician.
Emphasizing the importance of community, humility, and the power of relationships in both personal and professional life, Vo said, “Once, I thought being educated and smart was the goal, now, I know, having a sense of humor, being kind and compassionate, building genuine connection and relentlessly supporting one another in community is at the heart of life…At the end of the day, it is our humanities that will solve our many human problems.”
Both keynote speaker Jezz Chung and M.S.W. Class Speaker Devin Duprey emphasized the importance of grounding oneself in the present and dreaming of the future. They each separately led the graduates and audience in collective breathing and imagination-based exercises, designed to help find the way back to oneself and to inspire dreams of change and of a more just, safe and caring future.
Devin Duprey reflected on the growth and challenges experienced over the past 27 months at SSW, focusing on the power of radical imagination in their future careers as social workers. Drawing from experiences in a course with Professor JaLisa Williams on centering Black experiences, Duprey spoke about radical imagination’s capacity to move society towards liberation and equity. After leading the audience in a practice to connect with and nurture their own radical imaginations, she urged everyone in the room to carry this mindset and their own magic into their work and lives.
“‘If we stop dreaming, we lose sight of the purpose of our work.’ I share these words, from Professor Janae Peters, M.S.W. ’15, with the hopes that we will return, again and again, to radical imagination. When we are feeling the exhaustion and fatigue prevalent in our line of work. When we are celebrating accomplishments, successes with clients. We can ask ourselves important questions that remind us of our commitment to creating a liberated future for our clients, communities, loved one,s and for each other.”
Keynote speaker Jezz Chung, multimodal artist, writer, and internationally-recognized public speaker, who appropriately called the Class of 2024 “radical and daring,” offered the graduates deep respect for their commitment to social work. They shared remarks from the perspective of a collaborator in the future that is collectively being built.
“…I want to speak with you about what it takes to try— radically try— to significantly change the world by changing how you show up in it. To try seeking wholeness when everything is falling apart. To try keeping love alive while other people keep breaking your heart… my remarks aren’t about how to achieve— you already know how to do that, the proof is in you being here. Instead, it’s a reminder that you have the agency and choice to live a life that accurately reflects the essence of who you are.”
Guiding the audience through a reflective exercise encouraging connection with past selves in order to envision the future they want, Chung shared three of their essential elements of world-building: knowing oneself as key to imagining the future you want for yourself, sharing that self with others, and repeating until it feels right, and that these elements magnify collective power and create change.
“In looking at every revolutionary struggle that fought for and secured the quality of life we have today, it’s clear that mass social change comes from a momentum of radical, daring efforts to do things differently— over and over again." -Jezz Chung
Chung encouraged graduates to look inward for answers of how to create the world that is so needed.
“…If intuition steered you here, it’s because as much as our bodies hold pain and trauma, they also hold knowledge and wisdom. I wish for you to continue steering yourself to make decisions that will put your life in alignment with your values. In doing this, you build the world we desperately, urgently need.”
Presented each year to a student who has shown exceptional professional and academic commitment and dedication to social work values, faculty gave the National Association of Social Work (NASW) Student of the Year Award to Rian Bodner, M.S.W. ’24. Bodner’s vision, deep commitment to change and advocacy on behalf of his peers made them a fierce proponent of change at the School. Bodner was described as “a quiet, gentle and steady force of community care” who “constantly works to envision and enliven SSW’s five principles”.
Brittany Brathwaite, M.S.W., M.Ph. candidate, adjunct assistant professor, received the second annual Laura Rauscher Memorial Teaching Award, given in honor of Laura Rauscher, late director of Smith College Disability Services, adjunct professor, teacher and friend to many at SSW. Awarded to a faculty member who centers universal access in the classroom, collaboration, social justice and collegiality, Brathwaite has made a deep impact on students and the wider SSW community with her warmth and energy. Students shared that Braithwaite embodies these values not only in her teaching but in all of her actions. She is known for her relentless kindness, the ability to engage diverse learning styles and modalities and cultivating collaboration.
Commencement serves as a joyful way of marking time and accomplishments, alongside the bittersweetness of transitioning to new chapters. The energy and the connecting threads between the speakers made the ceremony a powerful testament to the hard work, dedication and compassion of the Class of 2024. These graduates will continue to build on their clinical skills, advocate and come together in support and in radically imagining what it takes to keep building toward a world based in justice, access and care.
