W&J holds 223rd commencement ceremony
Washington & Jefferson College President Dr. John C. Knapp addresses the Class of 2022.
Dr. Knapp awards a diploma to a member of the Class of 2022.
W&J Commencement 2022
Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson College
Students process into Washington & Jefferson College’s 223rd commencement ceremony for the Class of 2022 on Saturday.
Nathan Law 2022 W&J commencement
Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson College
Nathan Law gives the keynote address. Law received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from W&J during the ceremony
About 300 graduates received degrees Saturday at Washington & Jefferson College’s 223rd commencement ceremony at the James David Ross Family Recreation Center.
Nathan Law, an internationally recognized advocate for democracy and human rights, served as the keynote speaker. He also spoke at the annual W&J Symposium on Democracy in 2019 and 2020.
Law, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the ceremony, came to prominence while a college student as a leader of the pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” in Hong Kong. Now living in exile in London, he continues to advocate for freedom in Hong Kong and other nations with repressive governments.
Law was nominated in 2018 for the Nobel Peace Prize by U.S. congressmen and British parliament members, conferred the Magnitsky Human Rights award in 2020, and awarded the Democracy Medal by the International Association of Political Consultants in 2017.
“To live a meaningful life, I think, is to fight for what you believe in,” Law said Saturday. “When you do grow old with gray hair or probably all of them are gone, you look in the mirror and don’t hate the person you see”
Gabrielle Pasternak, an economics and accounting major on a pre-law track from Elizabeth, was the student speaker and told her classmates to choose their own path to success, which may change frequently.
“You do not have to conform to anybody else’s definition of success,” she said. “Having the strength to step off the path of the traditional definition of success may lead to to finding your purpose in life.”