Congratulations to Earlham’s Class of 2017

Members of the Class of 2017 received their diplomas at Earlham's 170th Commencement Ceremonies at Druley Performance Gymnasium in the Athletics and Wellness Center on Saturday, May 6.

President David Dawson helped deliver the degrees to 205 Earlhamites, including 185 Bachelor of Arts degrees, and 20 master’s degrees — 10 from the College’s Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program, as well as eight Master of Divinity and two Master of Arts from the Earlham School of Religion.

Following tradition, an Earlham teaching faculty member delivers the Baccalaureate Address. This year, Joanna Swanger presented, “The Labor of the Lost Cause.”  She is the Program Director and Associate Professor of Peace & Global Studies.

The College also recognized two retiring professors: Deb Jackson (Sociology/Anthropology) and Michael "Mickey" White (Theatre Arts).

The Class of 2017 features Hashem Abu Sham’a, Earlham’s third Rhodes Scholar; Imani Norelle-Lewis, the College’s 13th Watson Fellow in 12 years; Peniel Ibe, this year’s recipient of the Davis Projects for Peace prize; and Eric Nicholson, who was selected to participate in this summer’s La Music Lirica, a five-week intensive opera training program.

Ibe and four other members of this year’s graduating class — Caleb Smith, Truman McGee, Rachel Logan-Wood and George Lowring — recently celebrated the completion of a senior capstone project that will result in the construction of Richmond’s first playground designed for children with special needs.

Every year Earlham's Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies are streamed live at the Earlham website for the pleasure of our graduate's family and friends and our globally engaged alumni network.