Commencement
Category: Featured News, News, On Campus

Title: SFS Celebrates 2019 Commencement Weekend

From May 16-19, 2019, Georgetown celebrated Commencement Weekend for the Class of 2019. The Class of 2019 participated in Senior Convocation and Tropaia Exercises for undergraduates, program-specific celebrations for each graduate program, and finally, the Commencement Ceremony for graduate and undergraduate students. Watch the live stream of the SFS ceremony or check out photos from the events below.

Senior Convocation

On Thursday, May 16, 2019, the Georgetown University Class of 2019 gathered for Senior Convocation, marking the beginning of Commencement Weekend. Families and graduates heard senior reflections from Truman Scholars Amanda Scott (COL’19) and Shakera Vaughan (COL’19) and a keynote address from Brian Ferguson (COL’18), Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs. Following the speeches, the senior class was inducted into the Georgetown Alumni Association.

Tropaia Exercises

On Friday, May 17, 2019, the SFS celebrated graduating seniors’ academic achievement at the Tropaia Exercises. Graduates and families were welcomed by Margaret Chappell, SFS Academic Council President, before hearing remarks from Senior Class Speaker Camille Bangug and Professor Irfan Nooruddin, who was chosen by the senior class as Faculty of the Year. Dean Hellman and faculty members presented awards to student recipients for numerous academic achievements.

Graduate Class of 2019

From left to right: 2019 graduates of the programs of Master of Arts in Security Studies, Master of Arts in Asian Studies, Master of Arts in Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, and Master of Global Human Development.

From left to right: 2019 graduates of the programs of Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, Master of Arts in German and European Studies, Master of Arts in Arab Studies, Master of Science in Foreign Service.

Commencement Ceremony

On Saturday, May 18, 2019, the Class of 2019 graduated from the School of Foreign Service! Students from the SFS’s eight graduate programs and the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service joined together on Healy Lawn for the Commencement ceremony.

This year’s Commencement speaker, The Honorable Madeleine Albright, in addition to being a former Secretary of State, is a beloved SFS professor. After joining the Georgetown faculty in 1982, Dr. Albright was appointed U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1993 and then Secretary of State in 1997. Following her time at the State Department, Albright returned to Georgetown and became the Michael and Virginia Mortara Endowed Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy.

During her speech, Dr. Albright compared the challenges facing the first SFS graduates in 1921 to those facing the Class of 2019. She said that this generation has a choice: “Will we honor the institutions and principles on which our freedom is based or will we wall ourselves off from the ailments of the world?” Dr. Albright concluded with a call to action, encouraging the graduates to be active participants in shaping the future of international affairs. “We have a responsibility not to be prisoners of history, but to shape history.” Congratulations, Class of 2019! We can’t wait to see what you accomplish! Hoya Saxa!