Hobart and William Smith Colleges will open the 2026-27 academic year with a convocation ceremony August 30 featuring faculty, alumni and student speakers whose work spans science, energy, philanthropy and public service.
The ceremony will begin at 4:30 Sunday afternoon on Stern Lawn, with Bristol Gym serving as the rain location.
President Mark Gearan will welcome students, faculty and staff and mark the start of the academic year. Senior Associate Dean Kelly Payne and Chaplain and Dean for Spiritual Engagement the Rev. Nita Byrd will also offer remarks.
Faculty speaker Susan Flanders Cushman, a 1998 graduate, studies stream ecosystems in the Finger Lakes region, including benthic macroinvertebrates, fish and water quality.
Alumni speakers Paul Wasmund and Jane Erickson, both members of the Class of 2007, will return to campus for the ceremony. Wasmund is an energy industry leader, a director at E Source and a member of the HWS Board of Trustees, while Erickson leads a consulting firm focused on philanthropy and social impact.
HWS Student Government President Ela Gardiner, a member of the Class of 2027, will represent students. Gardiner spent the summer in Washington through the college's fully funded Frelinghuysen Assembly Internship Program and held a communications internship with the New Democrat Coalition.
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