Williams College conferred 522 degrees on Sunday . More photos and information on local graduates to come. See more photos here. The college also conferred four honorary degrees.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The CEO of Xerox told Williams College's graduates to do their part to clean up the "messy world" they enter from Sunday's 226th Commencement Exercises.

 

"We live in a world of both sobering challenges and awesome opportunities," Ursula M. Burns told the grads. "As you leave this serene campus, you realize there is something very wrong in America."

 

Burns then ticked off a range of problems ranging from the nation's frequently broken political system to an education system incapable of preparing students for the 21st century to "the incidence of killings of black men by those sworn to protect them."

 

Of course, Burns is an example of America's promise of opportunity for all. Her life story tells the tale of a woman who rose from humble beginnings on New York's Lower East Side to the corridors of power, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 company.

 

And she reminded Williams class of 2015 of the opportunity they have to help America fulfill its promise.

 

"In fact, you have a choice to make," she said during her commencement address on West College Lawn. "You now have a Williams degree, which is your ticket to success and comfort.

 

"You can wring your hands over the sad state of affairs, or you can become part of a crusade for continuous change. You can reap the benefits of the sacrifices of those who have gone before you, or you can honor the memory of those upon whose shoulders you stand today and help build a better tomorrow.

 

"I'd suggest it's not much of a choice. In fact, when you enrolled at Williams, you already cast your vote. This noble institution doesn't graduate people content to sit on the sidelines."

 

The college sent 522 newly minted graduates into the front line of life on Sunday beneath clear blue skies.

 

The group included seven graduates from Berkshire County, including four who graduated with honors.

 

Dalton's Elaina Pullano, North Adams' Anuj Kamlesh Shah, Lenox's Andrew Bravo, Margaret Mitts and Scott Pelton-Stroud, and Williamstown's Sarah Brink and Alyssa Tomkowicz each took their turns walking across the stage to receive a diploma from Williams President Adam Falk.

 

The class also included students from nearby Bennington, Vt., (Alyssa Amos) and Petersburgh, N.Y., (Celilia Denhard).

 

Pullano, Shah, Bravo and Mitts each graduated cum laude. Mitts was awarded the college's Karl E. Weston Prize for Distinction in Art History. Pullano won the Shirley Stanton Prize for the student who best fulfilled his or her potential in music. Shah earned two prizes: the Patricia Goldman-Rakic Prize for neuroscience research and the Richard K. Meyers Texaco Scholarship for chemistry.

 

Most of Williams' honors are bestowed prior to commencement. On Sunday morning, the winner of the William Bradford Turner Citizenship Prize was named. Long Dang of Boston earned that honor for, among other things, his work with the groups Students Against Silence and Men for Consent.

 

"His grace in these conversations, telling hard truths while listening deeply ... made him a trusted leader," Falk said of the history major.

 

Dang was chosen by his classmates as one of three student speakers at Sunday's program.

 

He praised his classmates for "figuring out" how to make it through the last four years and, like Burns, challenged them to figure out how to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

 

"I hope we recognize the importance and implications of this privilege, this Williams education," Dang said. "Let us use this opportunity and these experiences to do good. What does that mean? It means to do our part and figure out how to improve the lives of those around us.

 

"Let us practice warmth, grace and kindness."

 

Sunday's ceremony offered the graduates inspirational stories of individuals who have made a difference in the lives of others — both the honorary degree recipients and retiring faculty members who are moving on from their Williams careers.

 

The former group included a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who changed life for all humanity by being the first to warn the world of the effect of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer, former Gov. Deval Patrick and Burns, who serves as an adviser to President Obama's program on STEM education.

 

Closer to home, this year's class of retiring Williams faculty includes a psychology professor who has served on the Williamstown Elementary School Committee, Robert Kavanaugh, and a pair of long-tenured coaches who were Pied Pipers for their respective sports — skiing's Robert "Bud" Fisher and soccer's Mike Russo.

 

A student-athlete from another sport, softball, spoke on Sunday as the class of 2015's valedictorian. Emma Harrington, of Columbus, Ohio,chose as her metaphor a casino, reminding her classmates of what they have won and what gambles lay ahead.

 

"We are walking into the casino of life armed with a huge pile of past wins, whether they be victories on the field, insightful conversations with professors or fun times with friends," Harrington said. "We can look forward to the many gambles that lie ahead, confident that we can absorb any disappointments and always end our days among the lucky ones."