On Tuesday, June 11, 2013, Head of School Jody Douglass welcomed families and friends to Westminster Church for Sem's 162nd commencement honoring the Class of 2013. Although the all-girls school is nonsectarian, holding graduation at Westminster, a Presbyterian church founded in 1854 on land donated by Buffalo businessman Jessie Ketchum, has been a longstanding tradition.
After the welcoming remarks, Ms. Douglass introduced the 2013 recipient of The Captain John W. Brown Young Faculty Award: Sophie Michaud, instructor of French and chair of Sem’s Foreign Language Department. The award was presented by trustee and 1972 alumna Margaret Brown, who is one of John Brown's daughters.
The entire student body then sang "At the Beginning” by Stephen Flaherty, chosen for graduation by the Class of 2013. The two other songs performed during the ceremony were "Jerusalem," based on a poem by William Blake, and "To Alma Mater," written by 1910 graduate Mary Gail Clark Gomez. Music director Roland Martin accompanied on piano and organ.
Diplomas for the Class of 2013 were presented by Ms. Douglass and David E. Knauss, Board of Trustees chair and father of Catherine ’08 and Olivia ‘11. Supervising Sound Editor for Skywalker Sound, Gwen Yates Whittle, Class of 1979, delivered the commencement address. Benjamin Priest, Ph.D., chair of the History Department, offered closing remarks.
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Gwendolyn Yates Whittle '79, award-winning Supervising Sound Editor for Skywalker Sound, Lucasfilm,
delivers the commencement address in honor of the Class of 2013.
Here is the text of Gwen Whittle’s commencement address:
When I graduated from Sem 34 years ago, it never occurred to me that I would be standing up here facing you. Thank you for inviting me, It’s truly an honor, and I have to say, it’s a great vantage point: the collective effect of the Class of 2013 is breathtaking. It is clear you are brimming with talent, verve, and possibility. The world will surely be a better place with you out there making it so.
Thinking about what to say to you today naturally led me to think about my own four years at Sem. Ask yourself: what three things you will remember most about the last four years? Here’s what I remember:
The fireplace in the library.
The friends I made. And 1066.
So why did those three things spring into my head? The fireplace is easy. It was always a safe, warm place – especially in the middle of a Buffalo winter. It was a place to shake off the chill, and the stress of the day, a place that gave me the energy and calm to be brave enough to step outside – into the cold, and into the ever elusive future.
The second thing is also easy. The friends I made at Sem are closer to me today than many good friends I’ve made since. They live all over the world, and some I haven’t seen in many years; and yet it never takes more than a second or two over an e-mail, an iChat, or an old-fashioned phone call to be in total sync again. These people knew me when I was just me, not an editor, or a mother, or a wife, or any of the other names we collect as adults – and that is priceless.
The third thing is 1066. I don’t have to tell you that you are academically well prepared, because when I say 1066, I bet you know exactly what I mean. It’s when the Normans invaded England and why we are speaking English today. Thank you, Mr. Schooley. You were right; I never did forget!
It took actually going to university for it to really sink in just how well Sem prepared me for college-level work. I promise you that you will thrive in any school across the globe because of Sem. You have a very broad base of knowledge, but you also have the skills you’ll need to master entirely new subjects. You know how to read for meaning and talk about what you’ve read. You can write an essay of impressive length and content. You know how to take notes, how to study for an exam, and how to advocate for yourself with your teachers. These are also skills that will serve you well long after you have your college degrees in your hands.
While I was in high school, I was not aware of how much I received from Sem and how it was shaping me. Nothing on the surface gave any indication my future would land me in any spotlight. I was not the valedictorian. I was not an athlete. I didn’t lead any clubs. I didn’t really stand out, except perhaps for my height, but Mary Ellen was always taller. I suppose it is memorable that my friends and I impersonated the band KISS for the talent show, complete with dry ice machine and throwing Hershey Kisses at the audience. 70’s Lip syncing at its finest. As KISS member Ace Freeley, I wore black tights, a one-piece black bathing suit, a T-shirt, and thigh-high, 5-inch heel boots, clearly a violation of the dress code. I had to convince Mrs. Magavern that I actually had on more clothes than the dress code dictated and that it was in the service of “Art.” Wise teacher that she was, the show was allowed go on!
Sem gave me a safety net to make mistakes. In the middle of all the tough academics, I was able to find a side of me that in a different scholastic environment would have most likely stayed dormant. In a bigger school, I probably would have remained the shy, quiet one. Instead, I graduated with a sense of confidence. I actively threw myself out of my comfort zone. Instead of going straight to college I became an AFS exchange student to Germany for a year. I did not speak a word of German when I left home, and when I returned I was fluent, even dreaming in German. Stateside again, I went to four universities in four years, majoring in things as diverse as Communications, International relations, and Pre-vet. I ultimately graduated from NYU with a BFA in Film.
Now most people who want to work in film live in Los Angeles, New York, or London. What did I do? On a total whim, I moved to San Francisco with my sister. Compared to NYC, San Francisco was slow; I didn’t like it. Plus Mark Twain was right: summers there are freezing. I didn’t want to leave, though, without giving northern California a fair shot. I got a job in a picture frame shop to pay the rent and scoured the local film scene for an in. My timing was lucky: an independent Sundance-funded film was just ramping up to start shooting. I was brought on as an unpaid art department Production Assistant. One day I happened to overhear the picture editor complaining that he needed an assistant. From what I learned at NYU, I thought I was qualified. The reality of that was, I still had a lot to learn. But the point is, my dream came true – I was actually hired on a feature film. I got the job because I was present, willing, and also worked cheap – $100 a week, cash. That film, “Smooth Talk,” was my “in,” and the beginning of my career in film, one that has now spanned a quarter of a century, including a few trips to the Academy Awards.
Sem graduates are amazing people. They touch lives all over the world as they lead, create, heal, collaborate, and resolve conflict. You are now a member of this prestigious group. Many of them achieved their dreams because Sem encouraged them to be audacious. At Sem tt was expected that you stretch yourself.
Given this encouragement, and the thorough grounding in academic and life skills that Sem provides, there is a lot of advice that a Sem graduate doesn’t need. You are already living in a way that is only a faint glimmer to so many seniors graduating from high school today. For example, I don’t have to advise you to take on challenges; you do that as naturally as breathing. You know how to work hard. You embrace change – it’s part of being born when you were.
So, then, what is left? What can I offer you in the way of parting wisdom that you might actually find useful?
Well, some of you might discover that upon graduation you’ve landed in a very large pond, when you were used to a small familiar one. You might respond to this new sense of small by clinging to what you know you’re good at, to taking those subjects you already know you have an affinity for. Completely understandable, but… a mistake. Remember: you are awesome, and you can take the risks. When if not now?
Every once in awhile, take a class you know absolutely nothing about. You might hate it, true; but you might discover a whole new direction you never would have thought of before. I am proof you can change majors and cities yearly, and still end up finding the right fit for you. This can be a little nerve-wracking on your parents, though, so be kind to them.
Many of us have no clue what we want to be when we grow up – whenever that is. We wind up settling for the first thing that keeps a roof over our heads and doesn’t stifle us with boredom. This is also understandable. But, we’re here in this world for such a short time. Do you really want to settle for “good enough”? I advise you not to; please keep looking. The search will most likely entail disappointment, frustration, and sometimes the very scary one, failure.
But this might be what you have to do to find your personal cadence, your own rhythm, your own voice. The world needs you, and how you meet this need is entirely personal. You can venture as close as around the corner to tutor a struggling student, or work as far away as the deserts of Sudan. They are all contributions that count.
It took many happy mistakes, and glitches of time and place for me to find my cadence. All those choices that I leapt at, led me to my career: a non-techie woman in a very techie, male-dominated field.
Living your life with passion is a given. But, as a wise friend of mine once said, “We very quickly adjust to taking for granted, things that once were mere wishful thinking.” So think about this; it’s almost as important as 1066. Attitude is as vital as passion. I love my job. I work with very creative and inspiring people, who are often also difficult and demanding. It is easy to fall into the trap of focusing on how frustrating the job can be. It is also easy to feel we’ve earned a right to whatever perks we’ve gotten used to, that we are owed. Fight these tendencies. Complacency and entitlement are the enemy of creativity, of innovation. They sap the meaning and value out of your work. Remember what you bring to what you do and nurture it. Make your enjoyment and sense of purpose evident so that your colleagues feel it and benefit from it. Focusing on the positive takes effort. But the end result is contagious, and always lot more fun, even if you’re in the middle of the 16th hour of the 39th day in a row on the final sound mix.
So, if on this day of your graduation, you have the sense that Sem has permanently changed and shaped you... you are correct. You are all set to leave the fireplace in the library.
As Princess Merida asks: If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?
Be brave.
You are ready. Congratulations, lucky class of 2013!
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Dr. Ben Priest delivers the closing remarks.
Here is the text of Ben Priest’s closing remarks.
I visited Buffalo Seminary for the first time two years ago this month. The day was a whirlwind of interviews with faculty and staff, conversations with my future colleagues in the History Department, and a truly bizarre Morning Meeting in which an alum peddled steak knives in the chapel. It was exciting! But the highlight of my visit was the period I spent with a group of students in Mrs. Greene’s AP World History class, most of whom are now sitting behind me. Charged with teaching a sample lesson on a topic of my choosing, I gave a lecture and narrated a slideshow on the Arab Spring, a phenomenon about which I knew very little at the time. (I was faking it.) Afterwards, I asked for questions, fully expecting that the class, having just survived a brutal AP exam, would have nothing to say, and that I could begin packing up my things. You can only imagine my surprise when several girls raised their hands and regarded me with disconcerting intensity until I finally called on them. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself answering multiple questions about the complex role that Islam had played in initiating and shaping the Middle East’s most recent political transformations. (Seriously, that’s what they asked me about.) In short, what began as an awkward, early-morning lecture from a nervous stranger evolved into a dialogue on timely and important issues. Needless to say, I was impressed by the intelligence of the students and the clarity of the questions they asked. But above all, I was struck by their remarkable openness: having never met or interacted with me before, these students responded to my presentation with interest, enthusiasm, and good cheer. In a word, they made me feel welcome.
Today, as we gather to congratulate our seniors and begin the bittersweet process of sending them out into the world, it is tempting to pose questions about who they are as a group: to pinpoint their collective personality. Several of my colleagues have hinted at the near-impossibility of this task given the Class of 2013’s uncommon diversity, and indeed, the group of young women graduating today includes scholars, artists, actors, athletes, dancers, bakers, musicians, poets, novelists, and songwriters. It includes students with fascinating life stories, students with admirable zeal for public service, and at least one student who does a frighteningly accurate impression of Batman saying, “This isn’t a car.” But it is also true that the members of this class share the simple but indispensable virtues of generosity and friendliness that I encountered on my first visit. Despite their diversity (or perhaps because of it), they are united in their fondness for community and their matchless ability to make others feel at home.
As a newcomer to Sem, I credit these qualities with my own success at slowly but surely becoming a part of the school. Thanks to the enthusiasm and the encouragement of these students, I’ve participated in a variety of activities for the first time, doing things that I never would have dreamed of doing a few years ago. Together, we have appeared in a school play (during which I got to scream at several of them); performed the ukulele in public; restarted Sem’s Model U.N. team after a long hiatus; competed in a cutthroat Academic WorldQuest trivia game; participated in a faculty-student field hockey event (which many of them found really amusing for some reason); and presented papers at an academic conference on William Shakespeare. Along the way, we have discussed books and movies, argued about politics and current events, and spent far too much time debating the relative merits of John Adams and Natalie Portman. Occasionally, we’ve even studied history. Each activity has only strengthened my initial impression that the Sem experience isn’t merely an academic one: that it is an intense process of social and intellectual transformation that students and teachers undertake together. I can honestly say that I’ve never belonged to a community quite like Sem, and our graduating seniors deserve enormous credit for continuing to make our school a uniquely vibrant and welcoming place.
Today’s graduates may find that the same community has value for them in the future. In fact, my principal message to the Class of 2013 is this: one of the best things about contributing to the Sem legacy is that you begin your adult years with a ready-made source of support. Obviously, this is an exciting time for you. As Ms. Miller told last year’s class, all graduating seniors leave home on their very own Hero’s Quest, their very own odyssey, trading the safety and security of their schools and families for a wide range of new experiences. Most you have yet to forge your most important friendships and romantic relationships. You have yet to meet your most talented and influential teachers. You have yet to start (or even settle upon) the careers that will consume the lion’s share of your adulthood. You have all of these things to look forward to, and that is a wonderful thing. However, as we all know, the Hero’s Quest is fraught with peril. Leaving your hometown or your hobbit hole means trying new things, but it also means coming face to face with a multitude of dangers and difficulties. In the not too distant future, you will find that the people you care about don’t always behave the way you want them to. You will encounter intellectual challenges that seem insurmountable, accept jobs that pay far too little, and discover that the sentence “your statement is now available” is one of the most terrifying in the English language. The good news is that, having created a network of relationships that will last forever, you will always have good people standing behind you. If and when you stumble on the obstacles that appear in your path, remember that you have a community here that is ready and willing to help you to your feet.
You should also remember that the people gathered here today want very much to remain a part of your lives. I’m sure the last month has been an exciting blur for many of you, but the rest of us have already begun the process of adjusting to your absence, and it has been downright strange. Morning Meeting hasn’t been the same without Bridget revealing that the Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat is the world’s smallest mammal (or whatever). My classroom has felt oddly vacant without small groups of students heckling me from the senior catwalk or stopping by to share what they’re currently reading. The hallways have an eerie, empty quality without your voices and footsteps. In short, while I encourage you to return to this community for help in hard times, you should know that your teachers, mentors, and fellow students will appreciate any opportunity to hear from you in the months and years ahead. We want to know about the fascinating classes you’re taking and the life-changing books you’re reading. We want to know where your travels have taken you and where you plan on going next.
Small communities are sustained by such news. As I think about you and all the interesting people and places you are about to experience, I can’t help remembering an amazing moment at the end of The Song of the Lark, a novel by Willa Cather. The book chronicles the trials and tribulations of Thea Kronberg, a young woman who leaves her dusty Colorado hometown and, after years of persistence and hard work, becomes a world-class opera singer. (She could have been a Sem student.) Ultimately, though, Cather concludes her narrative not with a description of Thea dazzling audiences from the stage in New York or London, but with a backward glance at the town, and the people, that she left behind. Here, Cather explains, accounts of Thea’s accomplishments “give them something to talk about and to conjecture about, cut off as they are from the restless currents of the world. The many naked little sandbars which lie between Venice and the mainland, in the seemingly stagnant water of the lagoons, are made habitable and wholesome only because, every night, a foot and a half of tide creeps in from the sea and winds its fresh brine up through all that network of shining waterways. So, into all the little settlements of quiet people, tidings of what their boys and girls are doing in the world bring refreshment; bring to the old, memories, and to the young, dreams.”
So, goodbye for now, Class of 2013. Cherish today and the summer months ahead, take full advantage of every opportunity the future provides, and make every attempt to create the lives you want for yourselves. And, every once in a while, when you get a chance, let us know how you’re doing; news of your adventures will always refresh our own quiet community, reminding us of the path you’ve walked and giving those who follow in your footsteps a glimpse of the wider world. Congratulations.
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We congratulate the Class of 2013, and wish our newest Sem graduates all the best
as they head off to college!
Founded in 1851, Buffalo Seminary, or Sem, is an independent day and boarding school for college-bound girls. Located at 205 Bidwell Parkway in the historic Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y., Sem offers more opportunities for girls through an independent, nonsectarian, college-preparatory curriculum. Sem is a member of The New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), The National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) and The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), as well as an affiliate charter member of the Online School for Girls (OSG). To learn more, visit www.BuffaloSeminary.org.
Buffalo Seminary officially kicked off the 2013-2014 academic year on Friday morning, September 6, 2013, with convocation in the chapel. Head of School, Jody Douglass, welcomed students and faculty and reminded them of the long and outstanding history of women’s education which began at Sem in 1851. This year, the enrollment totals 209, with 80 new students who come from 35 different schools.
