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By Catherine Calamé

Under a partially hazy sky and overlooking beautiful Lake Wononscopomuc, The Hotchkiss School marked the Commencement of the Class of 2025, the 133rd graduating class in the School’s history following a year-long celebration of 50 years of coeducation.

The day before graduation, May 29, families and friends arrived on campus to enjoy many Hotchkiss traditions. Student musicians performed beautiful music one last time during the Senior Music Recital. Class of 2025 Co-Presidents Anna Ruiz '25 and Yuv Banker '25, Nouri Badrous '25, Eleanor Helm '25, and James Potanin '25 shared moving student reflections at the Baccalaureate event. To end the night, students received rounds of applause during the Senior Awards and Cum Laude Ceremony.

On May 30, Head of School Craig W. Bradley addressed the graduates, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and the lifelong love of learning and opportunities to continue “getting smarter” in college and beyond. 

“This is a triumphant day. The hard work—your hard work—is done,” Bradley said. “Whether you entered as a prep or as a post-graduate, you have faced academic, social, emotional, and physical challenges. These experiences have made you smarter and more capable than you were when you arrived. I don’t say that simply as a platitude. All of you were smart and capable when you got here, or you never would have become Hotchkiss students. Yet it is a documented truth that intelligence is not fixed. Numerous scientific studies show that intelligence is malleable in people of all ages. It can grow.”

Bradley went on to discuss each individual’s own intelligence, or “natural intelligence,” in the context of artificial intelligence. 

“Natural intelligence is not defined or limited by computation,” he said. “Natural intelligence underlies our quest to understand the farthest reaches of the universe, physically and mathematically, and our place in it. Natural intelligence and curiosity fuel the desire to decode the very beginnings of life and to speculate about its ultimate ending. Natural intelligence is the source of meaning and creativity. And meaning and creativity are the source of poetry, music, and philosophy.  

“I smile as I reflect on a few recent displays of natural intelligence at Hotchkiss such as the Senior Art Walk on Tuesday evening, the Senior Recital yesterday, and the MacLeish and Hersey Scholars’ presentations last week.  The work you created or performed are meaningful and creative and provide compelling evidence of your natural intelligence.” 

Bradley referred to the work and words of visiting Hotchkiss speaker and U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, who, when addressing the Hotchkiss community, spoke of the importance of embracing what we know at the time we know it. 

Paraphrasing Limón, he said, “Many years from now, you will look back on work you did during your time at Hotchkiss. At that point in your lives, you will have created a portfolio of professional achievements and personal experiences through which you will have grown in ways you cannot even imagine today. I hope you will not think, ‘mistake, mistake, mistake.’ I hope you will take delight in your own ‘learning, learning, learning.’ Indeed, I hope you will take delight in learning for the rest of your lives.”

All-School Presidents Offer Thanks and Praise for a Resilient Student Body

After thanking family and friends, as well as faculty leadership and the entire campus community, All-School Presidents Eleni Kontokosta '25 and Isaiah Stephens '25 thanked several other people and groups who helped make their Hotchkiss experience memorable. “A huge thank you to the preps, lower mids, and upper mids for having to deal with our class’s shenanigans as well as reminding us to always lead by example,” Eleni said. 

“Thank you to our parents, guardians, and other support systems," Isaiah added. "Without your constant encouragement, endless amounts of love, and persistent phone calls, none of us would have made it this far.”

Noting how the members of the Class of 2025 share the qualities of resilience and perseverance, Eleni joked, “The Class of 2025 has faced many challenges, including COVID, ChatGPT, and most recently, our Senior Prank Day. Through all of this, we still managed to graduate, so I believe that in itself deserves a big round of applause.” Isaiah added, “Although freshman year was filled with isolation and loneliness, that didn’t stop us from bonding and getting closer to one another."

Some of the ways the class bonded through COVID distancing included special activities. “We began holding 'two to fives' during our class meetings—a new idea where individuals in our grade would speak to the class about their stories, their passions, their triumphs and dreams,” Isaiah said. Eleni added, “These talks gave our class the chance to not only understand one another on an intimate level, but helped us to learn the skill of openness and empathy. These small conversations helped us mend a large divide within our grade as we continued to fight and push forward.” 

As upper mids and seniors, these lessons proved invaluable. “We embarked on the turbulent journey that is college. Each of us began to feel the pressure of applying and getting accepted to our dream schools. With individual and exterior pressures, each of our reactions was to take the fight on by ourselves,” Isaiah said. 

Eleni added: “However, the qualities that we learned during our lower-mid year served us on a larger scale: our openness taught us to reach out to our friends and teachers when we needed help, and our empathy taught us how to stay conscious and mindful of others and support them throughout their process,” which pushed students to a new level of maturity that has prepared them for more than the next four years. 

“Did we manage to overcome these past few years without shedding any sweat, blood, or tears?” asked Leni. “No. But did we manage to overcome this? Yes we did!” 

The duo summed up their speech with words of wisdom that each Bearcat will take with them.

Isaiah: "In just a few moments, we will all be conquering one of our biggest challenges together: graduating Hotchkiss … And when we all stand up to sing Fair Hotchkiss, we will all hold each other up and sway in unison. We’ll stand together, sing together, and in our last few moments, we will feel this wave of emotions together. ... And as our time comes to an end, our message is this: stay connected."

Eleni: "No matter how far we go, or how different our lives become, remember that 168 candles will always burn brighter than one.”

Cellist Max Salzinger '25 and pianist Victoria Fang '25 then performed for the final time for the crowd.

Commencement Speaker Lisa Brown ’78 Offers Sage Advice for Graduates

This year’s commencement speaker was Lisa Brown '78. Brown is a partner with the international law firm WilmerHale and chairs its Higher Education Practice. She served as the Senate-confirmed general counsel of the United States Department of Education from October 2021 to January 2025. Before that, she was vice president and general counsel of Georgetown University. Prior to joining Georgetown, Brown served in the administration of President Barack Obama, first as assistant to the president and staff secretary in the White House, and then as acting chief performance officer at the Office of Management and Budget. She had previously served as co-director of agency review for the Obama-Biden Transition Project.

“I still recall vividly my first semester at Hotchkiss just about 50 years ago. I came to Hotchkiss the second year they admitted girls, and I was so excited. I was leaving home and stepping into a new and different world,” Brown said. “But I found my place … and I made some mistakes and learned some life lessons that launched me as a better person into the world of college and beyond.”

Brown recalled her time at Hotchkiss and related to how each graduate has felt during their time here. “You have grown into individuals who are ready for the next challenge. And you are ready. I know there is nervousness mixed in with your excitement, but believe in yourselves, as you have earned this next step and are prepared for the next challenge. And what is that next challenge? Choosing how you want to use your Hotchkiss education to engage with the world around you—how to use your education to improve the world around you. The challenges today seem endless. You are our hope for meeting those challenges.”

Brown’s Tips for Creating Opportunity and Balance

1. There is no one way to give back.   
2. Take your passion and join an existing organization or, if you see a gap, jump in and create a new one. You don’t have to be famous or wealthy to make a difference.
3. A core part of your public service should be civic engagement. You have taken the essential step of registering to vote. Now go use your voice.  
4. It may be tempting to be cynical about the ability to generate positive change right now. Don’t be daunted; our country needs you.
5. No one is going to create the world we want for us. It is up to you to do that. 
6. Take your education and get involved. Keep fighting for whatever it is that you are passionate about, but just make sure you choose to engage. Take those lessons you learned here in Lakeville to engage passionately, but thoughtfully and respectfully.

“I know that some of your most important learning here came from engaging with each other, both in and out of the classroom," she said. "Hotchkiss has taught you how to collaborate with others and how to engage with those with whom you disagree. Through open discourse forums co-hosted by a bipartisan group of Hotchkiss political clubs, you had civil conversations about controversial issues on which you had very different opinions. These experiences don’t just make you ready for college. They ready you to be leaders.”

Brown also imparted wisdom about creating balance. “If you are going to leave your mark, you also need to take care of yourself. Take that hike with a friend, read that book you discovered on TikTok, or play with your dog. Finding the balance is a lifelong endeavor but a vital one. You will find your path, as I did mine. A Hotchkiss education is a great privilege, and all of us on this stage and in the audience cannot wait to see what you do with it and how you pay it forward.”

She ended her speech with this guidance: "Take today to celebrate, and then take the amazing education you have been given and be a force for positive change. Lead with empathy. And don’t forget to have fun along the way."

Outgoing Board Co-Presidents Thank Community

Board of Trustees Co-Presidents Liz Hines ’93, P’27, and Bob Gould ’77 wished the campus community a fond farewell as their term ends on July 1. 

"This institution has never been stronger. In meaningful ways, we have Liz and Bob to thank for that,” said Bradley. “I’m deeply grateful for their partnership and wanted to take this moment to thank them.”

“This is a bittersweet occasion for us, mostly sweet, but also tinged with a little poignancy,” said Hines, thanking “everyone in this community for partnering with us over the past six years to help Hotchkiss become the best version of itself—and for keeping us learning, learning, learning.”

Gould concurred, adding, “This has been a learning partnership that has been so profoundly meaningful to me.” 

Students then received their diplomas. At the end of the ceremony, as the graduates and their families—along with faculty, staff, and special guests—united in applause, all Bearcats stood united, looking forward to the future with optimism and pride as they sang Fair Hotchkiss for the first time as alumni. As always, they were arm in arm.