Hobart and William Smith graduates were urged to reject division and embrace community building during the colleges’ 2026 Commencement ceremony on Sunday in Geneva.
Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and former leader of the Universities of Oxford and St. Andrews, delivered the Commencement address while also receiving an honorary degree and the Elizabeth Blackwell Award.
“We need, more than ever before, a generation of community builders,” Richardson told the Class of 2026. “Building community is…both easier and harder than pursuing your goals alone. It is a matter of small steps and meaningful acts.”
Throughout her speech, Richardson emphasized cooperation and empathy, using examples from nature — including migratory birds, coral reefs and underground fungal networks — to illustrate the importance of interconnectedness over competition.
Richardson also warned graduates about political polarization and the growing divisions fueled by technology and algorithms.
“It will take concentrated effort to overcome the algorithms that keep us in opposing camps,” she said, “but it has never been more vital to leap the fence.”
She tied her message to the legacy of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the pioneering physician and HWS alumna, and praised the college community’s longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement.
HWS President Mark D. Gearan echoed many of those themes during his remarks, encouraging graduates to focus on character and service in a rapidly changing world shaped by artificial intelligence.
“One thing is clear,” Gearan said. “You can still be a better person.”
Gearan noted that ChatGPT had not officially launched before the Class of 2026 began its studies at HWS and reminded graduates that technology could not replace empathy or leadership.
The ceremony also recognized four honorary degree recipients: Richardson, community advocate Lillian Collins, Father Thomas P. Mull, and Lt. General John L. Woodward Jr. ’68.
Senior speeches were delivered by Randy Hong ’26 and Maeghan Mahoney ’26.
Hong, a computational neuroscience and public health double major, reflected on his father’s journey to the United States as a Vietnamese refugee and credited his family’s sacrifices for helping him reach graduation.
Mahoney, a biology and environmental studies double major from Phelps, encouraged classmates to use their education in service of others and face the future with compassion and curiosity.
“HWS did not give us answers,” Mahoney said. “It gave us something better — the ability to ask the right questions, and the courage to pursue them.”
