On May 22, 2021, Scripps College celebrated the Class of 2021 in its 91st Commencement exercises in a digital event watched across the country. Ruth Reese Lane ’92, immigration attorney and Scripps alumna, delivered the keynote address. Selected as the keynote speaker by senior class co-presidents Amelia Hahn ’21 and Alexa Sanchez ’21 for “her commitment to social justice, her advocacy for others, her reflection of the diversity of the Scripps community, and her role as an alumna,” Reese Lane spoke on topics of immigration, equity, gender disparity, and uncertainty.
“As you finished your junior year, you had no idea what your senior year would bring . . . the secure bubble of Claremont was pierced,” Reese Lane said. “Yet, 2020 also reminded is that it “takes a hearty does of courage and hope to move forward . . . [and the graduating class embodies] the values that Ellen Browning Scripps lived out . . . through her life and work, values that were ingrained in the founding of Scripps College.”
Chair of the Board of Trustees Lynne Thompson ’72 opened the ceremony, commending the Class of 2021’s “focus and discipline in rising to the challenges of the academic rigor that defines a Scripps College education, particularly those challenges of this past academic year.” Interim President of Scripps College Amy Marcus-Newhall thanked faculty for re-creating the robust and dynamic classroom experience during the period of remote learning and providing a “world-class educational experience for every Scripps student.” Of the seniors, Marcus-Newhall said, “you have enriched the Scripps community with your ideas, curiosity, aspirations, and creativity, [and] restored our faith in the future . . . and we look forward to the ways you will leave your impact on the world, just as you have here at Scripps.”
Hahn, a neuroscience major, and Sanchez, a politics major, delivered the senior address. They commended the academic achievements and resilience of their classmates and praised the care that Scripps students showed one another amid the pandemic, loss of their campus home, transition into virtual learning, and the difficult political climate.
Two hundred and sixty-eight graduates were honored in the ceremony.