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Washington and Lee University to Celebrate 237th Commencement, Baccalaureate W&L celebrates its 237th undergraduate Commencement Thursday, May 30, at 10 a.m.

W&L News Office
May 21, 2024

Washington and Lee University celebrates its 237th undergraduate Commencement on Thursday, May 30.

University President William C. Dudley will address the graduates at the 10 a.m. ceremony on the Front Lawn of the main campus. Martha Ernest, 2023-2024 President of the Executive Committee of the Student Body, will speak on behalf of the Class of 2024.

Commencement festivities begin Wednesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. on the Front Lawn with the traditional Baccalaureate service, featuring speaker Kiersten Barnet ’05. Barnet is the executive director of the New York Jobs CEO Council, a nonprofit membership intermediary that leverages the power of the collective to scale workforce development solutions that benefit both job seekers and businesses. As an alumna, Barnet serves on the Board of Advisors for W&L’s Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. She was recognized for her service to and support of both the university and her community with a Distinguished Young Alumna Award in 2015.

Also speaking at the Baccalaureate service is this year’s recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Katie Yurechko ’24, of Havre de Grace, Maryland. Yurechko was selected by the faculty as the individual who best demonstrates high ideals of living, spiritual qualities and generous service to others.

During the commencement ceremony on Thursday, W&L will recognize 24 retiring members of the faculty and staff, who represent a total of 677 years of service.

Six graduating seniors have accepted Fulbright grants for postgraduate international work.

  • Anna Bosking, a global politics major from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will work as an English language teaching assistant in Colombia.
  • Benton Copeland, an economics and East Asian languages and literatures double major from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, will work as an English language teaching assistant in Taiwan.
  • Gillian Holloway, an English and Spanish double major from Houston, Texas, will work as an English language teaching assistant in Spain.
  • Jack Maloy, an earth and environmental geoscience major from Midlothian, Virginia, will work as an English language teaching assistant in Germany.
  • Catherine McKean, a biology and German double major, will work as an English language teaching assistant in Germany.
  • Michelle Morgan, a political philosophy and anthropology double major from Milliken, Colorado, will work as an English language teaching assistant in North Macedonia.

Thirteen seniors also received scholarships for postgraduate work.

  • Katie Yurechko, a computer science and philosophy double major from Havre de Grace, Maryland, was selected as W&L’s first Marshall Scholar and will begin graduate studies at the University of Oxford in England. She was also named the Omicron Delta Kappa Leader of the Year in academics and research.
  • Posi Oluwakuyide, an economics major from Union, New Jersey, received a Critical Language Scholarship to study Portuguese in Brazil.
  • Jules Seay, a biology and earth and environmental geoscience double major from Atlanta, Georgia, was selected for a pre-doctoral graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation to study ecology.
  • Will Martin, a global politics and Russian area studies double major from Little Rock, Arkansas, received a David L. Boren Scholarship to study Russian in Kazakhstan.
  • Lillie Taylor, a history and East Asian languages and literatures double major from Augusta, Georgia, received a Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program award.
  • Chelsea Adotey, a neuroscience and East Asian languages and literatures double major from Stafford, Virginia, received a Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program award.
  • George Alford, a German and religion double major from Atlanta, Georgia, was awarded a U.S. Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Austria.
  • Ian Kinney, an environmental studies major from Richmond, Virginia, received U.S. Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Austria.
  • Rheannon Loth, a chemistry major from Afton, Virginia, was awarded a U.S. Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Austria.
  • Maddy Mayer, a German and cognitive behavioral science double major from Dublin, Ohio, earned a U.S. Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Austria.
  • Adelaide Dashiff, a global politics major from Nashville, Tennessee, was selected for the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).
  • Tess Deyerle, a cognitive and behavioral science major from Midlothian, Virginia, received a position in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).
  • Sarah Footer, a romance languages major from San Diego County, California, earned a spot in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).

In the event of rain, events will be held at Virginia Military Institute’s Cameron Hall, and the W&L community will be notified by broadcast e-mail, a notice on the university’s website and other means. Full details on all Commencement activities at W&L can be found at https://wlu.edu/commencement. The Commencement ceremony will also be streamed online at https://go.wlu.edu/livestream.