Spirits were high in early June as the RISD community celebrated Commencement Weekend 2023, the 140th such celebration in the institution’s history. From the opening remarks by alumna and Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf Visionary Award Winner Julia Rothman 02 IL to a series of community breakfasts bringing together international and first-gen college graduates to Friday’s graduate hooding ceremony and Commencement itself, a clear message came through: community is everything. As senior class speaker Sofia Di Lodovico 23 ID put it, “RISD has given us the power to create, but it is our responsibility to use that power to connect with the people around us.

President Crystal Williams, who also spoke at the graduate hooding ceremony, reminded RISD’s graduate class of 2023 to mark the occasion with care. “Each of you is at a moment of great transformation with the freedom to say, think and make who you are manifest,.” she noted. “I cannot wait to see how you make this world a better place.” President Williams and Provost Anais Missakian 84 TX went on to award honorary degrees to visionary designer and educator Walter Hood and internationally acclaimed artist and RISD alum Do Ho Suh 94 PT before NPR reporter Ari Shapiro stepped up to present the keynote address.

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Schedule
2023
Saturday, June 3rd
9:00 AM

Commencement 2023 Diana Sánchez Barrios, Graduate Student Speaker

Diana Sánchez Barrios, Rhode Island School of Design
RISD President, Rhode Island School of Design

Amica Mututal Pavilion, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, RI

9:00 AM

9:00 AM

Commencement 2023 Keynote Address | Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro, National Public Radio (NPR)
RISD President, Rhode Island School of Design

Amica Mututal Pavilion, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, RI

9:00 AM

9:00 AM

Commencement 2023 Presentation of Honorary Degrees | Walter Hood, Do Ho Suh

RISD President, Rhode Island School of Design

Amica Mututal Pavilion, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, RI

9:00 AM

9:00 AM

Commencement 2023 President Crystal Williams Opening Remarks

Crystal Williams, Rhode Island School of Design
Sherenté Mishitashin Harris
RISD President, Rhode Island School of Design

Amica Mututal Pavilion, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, RI

9:00 AM

9:00 AM

Commencement 2023 Sofia Di Lodovico, Undergraduate Student Speaker

Sofia Di Lodovico, Rhode Island School of Design
RISD President, Rhode Island School of Design

Amica Mututal Pavilion, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, RI

9:00 AM