WATERVILLE — Light rain Sunday morning could not dampen the excitement of Colby College’s 200th commencement.

Even as clouds rolled in and the ceremony was moved up 15 minutes, the feeling of celebration was palpable on Mayflower Hill in Waterville as speakers emphasized unity and perseverance during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

As is tradition, Colby held its commencement ceremony on the lawn in front of Miller Library, creating a natural stage framed by campus buildings. The 520 graduates sat up front, with faculty, on folding chairs. Behind them were chairs filled with guests. And farther back, other guests brought their own chairs or spread out on the lawn.

Speakers included Colby President David A. Greene, student Nicholas Ho and poet Richard Blanco.

Colby College graduate Myriam Skodock, right, of Germany is congratulated by her aunt, Katrin Czinger, during the recessional during the college’s 200th commencement, on Mayflower Hill in Waterville. Also shown: Skodock’s cousin, Antonia Czinger. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Buy this Photo

And while the speeches were applauded and inspiring to the graduates, many new grads said being able to celebrate in person with family and friends was the best part of the day.

Rashawn Grant, who studied government and global studies, said his older brother and mother attended the ceremony, which meant a lot to them.

“No one thought this was going to happen,” Grant said. “It’s kind of surreal. Having family and friends here made it all the more special.” 

Emily Hogan, who studied psychology, was joined by her mother and grandfather. She said the experience felt “unreal.” 

“I think this really was just the icing on the cake for everyone,” she said.  

After sending students home in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Colby officials were unable to hold an in-person commencement for the class of 2020. Instead, there was a virtual version in May, and the school is working with representatives from the class to plan a celebration in 2022. 

Finding a way to hold an in-person ceremony was a priority throughout the commencement planning process, according to Brian Clark, vice president of planning at Colby. The college was determined to do it safely. 

Colby College graduates toss their caps into the air Sunday morning after receiving their diplomas in front of Miller Library during the college’s 200th commencement, on Mayflower Hill in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Buy this Photo

“Planning this year really did require that we layer on our strong COVID protocols and everything that we’ve learned over this past year to this,” Clark said. “And to do this in a way that maximizes the health and safety of our community, our faculty, our staff, our students and our guests, and to be mindful, too, of the health and safety of the Waterville community in all this, as well.” 

Ultimately, that meant holding the ceremony outside, and asking guests if they had been fully vaccinated, to provide a negative COVID-19 test or to take a test at Colby the morning of the ceremony. Originally, students were limited to two guests each, but with the recent changes in CDC guidelines, the college allowed each student four guests. 

Since students and attendees were spread out on the lawn, there were also two large screens up front that showed the speakers. There was also a livestream on Colby’s commencement website. 

The ceremony included many of the traditional moments of commencement, including the processional and conferring of degrees. Hannah Johnson was awarded the Condon Medal Award.  

A Colby College graduate enjoys the moment Sunday morning during the college’s 200th commencement, on Mayflower Hill in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Buy this Photo

Honorary degrees were presented to Erin French, a James Beard Award-nominated chef, restaurateur, author and founder of The Lost Kitchen, a restaurant in Freedom; Michael Rosbash, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist and chronobiologist, and a professor of neuroscience at Brandeis University; Theresa Secord, award-winning Penobscot basketmaker and founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance; and Charles Terrell, founder of Cross Creek Higher Ed Associates and a Colby activist who was a founding member and the first president of Students Organized for Black Unity in 1969. 

Thoughts of the pandemic were present in the speeches and the overall ceremony. Greene, for example, spoke of the challenges over the past 14 months, and how students overcame them. 

“You treated your senior year like it was precious. Every experience mattered, every action was consequential and every friendship and moment of joy was meaningful,” Greene said. “If we didn’t know it before, we learned through this pandemic of the ephemerality of life itself, and the uncertainty of the routine and expected.” 

Blanco delivered the commencement address, focusing on the importance of seeing oneself in relation to the world around us.

Family members and friends applaud new graduates Sunday morning during Colby College’s 200th commencement, on Mayflower Hill in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Buy this Photo

“This milestone is a time, as you know, to take inventory, to take stock, to take a look at your life in the proverbial mirror and see who we’ve been, who we are, who we hope to be,” Blanco said. 

He also read a poem he wrote for the occasion because, as he said, “my poems are way smarter than I am.” 

Ho, the student speaker, reflected on the moments and experiences that unified the class of 2021: Enduring the pandemic together and the countless moments before March 2020.

He spoke of the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, and realizing much of that loneliness is not going to end after graduation. But even with all the losses of the past year, Ho said, students have been able to find joy.  

“Be grateful for all the memories you’ve curated over the past four years, and savor them for what they are, not for what they should have been,” Ho said. “Because at their core, if you let them, every moment in life is a moment for joy.”

Colby College graduates during the processional Sunday morning in front Miller Library during the college’s 200th commencement, on Mayflower Hill in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Buy this Photo

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