Williams College to Award Bicentennial Medals at Convocation
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College Bicentennial Medals will be presented at Fall Convocation on Saturday, Sept. 17, to Convocation Speaker Maxine A. Burkett, Class of 1998, and four other accomplished alumni.
President Adam Falk and College Council co-presidents seniors Michelle Baland Caitlin Buckley will welcome the Class of 2017 at Convocation, which formally launches the academic year. The event will begin at 11 a.m. in Chapin Hall after a formal procession.
Established in 1993 on the occasion of the college’s 200th anniversary, Bicentennial Medals honor members of the Williams community for distinguished achievement in any field of endeavor. This year's medalists are being recognized for their achievements in the broad fields of conservation, energy, environmentalism, and sustainability in conjunction with the 2016-17 campus-wide theme of inquiry, Confronting Climate Change.
Burkett, the ceremony’s principal speaker, is a professor of law at the University of Hawaii whose scholarship and activism focus on international climate justice, policy change, and adaptation for island peoples and the most vulnerable. The title of her talk is "Climate, Complexity, and Other Devils: James Garfield and the Seventh Generation."
In addition to Burkett, those receiving medals will be Bruce M. Beehler, Class of 1974, a naturalist and conservationist who has studied birds and their forest habitats—in an effort to preserve them—in the Asia-Pacific region and North America; Sharon E. Burke, Class of 1988, an international security and energy security specialist who served in the Obama Administration as the assistant secretary of defense for operational energy before joining New America as a senior advisor; Eliot W. Coleman Jr., Class of 1961, a pioneer in the organic farming movement whose innovative tool design and cold-weather growing techniques have enabled farmers throughout the Northeast to be productive year round; and Jeff B. Speck, Class of 1985, a city planner and urban designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for more walkable cities.
The Convocation ceremony will also include the introduction of the newest members of Phi Beta Kappa and the announcement of the winner of the Grosvenor Cup Award, given to the senior who has best demonstrated concern for the college community.
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