Yale-NUS College Graduation 2023 (Afternoon Ceremony)

Graduates from the Class of 2020, Class of 2021

Parents, families, friends, and the Yale-NUS Community

My heartiest congratulations to the Class of 2020 and Class of 2021. It is so good to welcome you back to our community and to the Yale-NUS Graduation ceremony. Some of you can’t be here today and are joining us online. Thank you for celebrating with us from wherever you are.

Today is a day of celebration. This morning, I spoke about the things I am grateful to celebrate today – your achievements, your aspirations, and very importantly, our time spent together. For you, graduates from the Classes of 2020 and 2021, I am additionally thankful to celebrate our continued ties.

In August, I began my presidency with a convocation celebration, and an event called ‘Balik Kampung’.  As many of you know, in Malay, this expression means `returning home’, or ‘returning home to the village’.

As we stood in the Oculus last August, I was thinking of home for our current students as a physical, tangible place.

Today, when I look at all of you, I see the village that together we have created. This village transcends our physical space and represents our sense of home and belonging. It is in that spirit that I’m delighted today to welcome you home again to Yale-NUS.

Your capacity to create home in difficult times and sustain it through distance was seen in the pandemic.

And the news of the closure has called on us again to stay united as one village.

You graduated in tumultuous times, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During your final semesters in college, you adapted to remote learning and virtual student activities, including having to attend your graduation virtually. Then, you entered the workforce or started graduate studies during a time of flux. Many of you probably started work or studies under strict safe distancing guidelines and learned or worked remotely. Fresh from college and new to the workforce, it probably wasn’t an easy way to begin your career. This new mode of working and learning required people to be adaptable, resilient and independent.

As your graduation speakers at the time highlighted, no one really knew what kind of world was on the other side of the pandemic but they expressed the surety that as Yale-NUS graduates, you would emerge stronger, able to face its challenges and thrive in it. And you have.

You now work in diverse fields, in different countries, creating impact through your work and research. At the same time, you have not forgotten the people around you, and have taken on projects to help improve the lives of others. Many of you volunteer or work with non-profits, while some of you have created start-ups or initiatives in different areas including sustainability, supporting the underprivileged and more.

As you make your mark in the fields you are passionate about, I am touched to see how many of you have continued to carry a piece of Yale-NUS within you. Some of you have gone on to support or build new communities modelled after our own, to advocate for diversity and inclusion like you have done here, and of course, to pioneer new ways of doing things as you did on campus.

As we come together today to celebrate your special milestone and our continued ties, I am filled with excitement about what we can go on to create together.

Alumni shape a school’s identity, reputation and impact on the world. As we approach our closure in 2025, the role of our alumni becomes even more important as you represent our legacy and what will continue on beyond 2025.

Ten years ago, we set out to build a community of learning. And we have indeed done so. We have pioneered a fully residential liberal arts model of education in Singapore, created an innovative curriculum that integrates knowledge from across the disciplines and around the world, and produced well-rounded and globally oriented graduates who epitomise the highest aspiration of a liberal arts education. Today, I am proud to see that we have a strong Yale-NUS community of alumni, students, faculty and staff, who are passionate about driving our mission and continuing to build our community, and ultimately to sustain our legacy.

Two exciting projects to strengthen our community ties are already in the works. The first are our legacy building projects, which include a digital legacy platform, a commemorative book, a permanent sculpture, and a legacy wall. These projects celebrate our achievements and memories, and also allow us to connect with one another and share our stories.

The other is our ongoing work to build our alumni space. Alongside existing efforts like the Alumni Advising and Mentoring Initiative, our Shared Interest Groups (SIG), sport and social activities, the Alumni Task Force was launched this year to continue to deepen connections among alumni and current students and to build your future alumni association and community.

Many of you are already involved in these projects, driving dialogues, contributing ideas as well as facilitating contributions from fellow alumni. I am moved by how our Kingfishers continue to rally together to build our community, and sustain our village. I know with certainty that the Yale-NUS spirit will carry on, no matter where in the world we may find ourselves.

Today as you find yourselves coming home, whether you are here with us in spirit or sitting right here in the audience, I congratulate you once again Class of 2020 and Class of 2021, and thank you for celebrating your special milestone with us!