Merrill Commencement 2016

March 21, 2024

newsletter

Hundreds of Merrill students graduated at Commencement on June 11, 2016

Chancellor George Blumenthal conferred degrees to hundreds of Merrill grads, including class speakers Justin McClendon, who is aiming for graduate degrees in law and public health, and William (“Bill”) Pool. A beloved Merrill staff member, Bill drew upon his unique perspective (a 1st-year college student in 1969, he graduated as a 46th-year politics major) and schooled his fellow graduates in Professor Jack Schaar’s advice on guarding against untruths by thinking critically but generously, especially in today’s roiling world. Keynote speaker Mike Rotkin inspired the crowd and the faculty on stage with his calls to radically reduce the costs of higher education, and reminded Merrill grads that their education prepared them not just to act in the face of injustice but to ask the questions that would reveal its cause.