Carleton Convos

Chance York delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 4 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Among his many distinctions, York is a regional Academy Award-winning entertainer, co-founder of the program Peace in Practice, yoga instructor, rapper, student, and teacher. York has studied yoga for over 20 years, viewing it as an “art science,” which he studies in tandem with pe...

Syrian-American violinist Mariela Shaker delivered Carleton’s convocation address on Friday, February 28 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address is titled, “Tragedy and Triumph: My Bow Bends for Peace.” An internationally recognized violinist and motivational speaker, Shaker was named a Champion of Change for World Refugees by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. Shaker strongly be...

Comedy writer and performer Claire McFadden ’13 delivered Carleton’s convocation address on Friday, February 21, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her talk is titled, “Make it Yourself: How to Pursue a Creative Career After Carleton Even If You Majored in Something Completely Unrelated Like ENTS and the Path Forward Seems Shrouded in Mystery and Fear (A Convocation Speech).” McFadden has...

Dr. Bryant Simon, an American historian and professor at Temple University, delivered the convocation address at Carleton on Friday, February 14 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His speech, “The history of public bathrooms: A story of American inequality,” is based on a book he is currently writing on the topic, which is set to be published by University of Chicago Press.  Simon has pre...

Printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. delivered the Carleton convocation on Friday, February 7, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address is titled, “A Tirade Against Boomers.” Visit the convo website for an introductory poem Kennedy provided before his address. As a self-described “humble negro printer,”  Kennedy harnesses his printmaking abilities to produce social and political comment...

Screenwriter and producer Bob Daily ’82 delivered convocation at Carleton College on Friday, January 31 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Through his address “On Creativity: Nine lessons I’ve learned, stolen and ignored,” Daily highlighted his path from Carleton to the entertainment industry.  Daily began his television career as a writer and producer on the famed NBC series Frasier, for...

Noah Tarnow ’97 delivered convocation at Carleton College on Friday, January 24 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Tarnow detailed his unique path from Carleton alum to senior quizmaster in an address titled, “The Trivial Benefits of a Carleton Education (or, How One Alum Made Himself a Game Show Host),” which, of course, included trivia questions throughout.  Originally a biweekly nightl...

Political scientist Lawrence R. Jacobs delivered convocation at Carleton College on Friday, January 17 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Jacobs’ address, “American Democracy in Fractured Times,” stemmed from his expertise in American political science and was informed by the content of his latest book, Democracy Under Fire: Donald Trump and the Breaking of American History. Jacobs is the...

Abby Kiesa, deputy director of CIRCLE , delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, November 1 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her talk was titled, “Including youth in ‘we the people’: Youth voice in U.S. democracy.” CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) is part of Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. The Center conducts rese...

Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, October 25 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Skocpol’s work addresses a broad spectrum of questions about socio-political change, including health care reform, public policy, and civic engagement amid shifting inequalities in American democrac...

Pat Sukhum ’96, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities , delivered the Carleton convocation address for Family Weekend on Friday, October 18 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. After 25 years in the bustling world of health tech startups, Sukhum found himself — somewhat unexpectedly — as the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities, the largest Minnesota arm of the nationwide nonpr...

Francis Su, Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and former president of the Mathematical Association of America, delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, October 11 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address was titled, “Seeing the unseen: the enchantment of mathematical beauty.” In his talk, Su tackled multiple questions, including: What is...

Patricia Torres Ray — a former member of the Minnesota Senate, where she represented District 63 — delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, October 4 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address was titled, “Immigration as Statement of Conscience.” After working in public service for 20 years, Torres Ray ran for office in 2006 and became the first Latina elected to the Minn...

Deborah Appleman — Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies, associate program director of American studies, and chair of educational studies — delivered the address for Carleton’s annual Argument & Inquiry (A&I) Convocation on Friday, September 27 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. In her address, “Academic Freedom and Necessity of Discomfort: The Trouble with Cancel Cu...

Dean Phillips, U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, delivered the address for Carleton's Opening Convocation on Monday, September 16 starting at 3 p.m. in Skinner Chapel. Phillips was raised in Edina, Minnesota, attended Brown University, and earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business. After being employed at a variety of small startup...

The Carleton community gathered in Skinner Chapel on Friday, May 24 at 3 p.m. for Honors Convocation, a celebration of Carleton students’ academic excellence and the culmination of the 2023–24 academic year. Honors Convo is the final event in the convocation program . Honors Convo also features the Bubble Brigade at the beginning and end of the program, where Carleton seniors blow bubbles from the...

Jill Conklin, director and strategic officer of the international nonprofit Food for Soul, delivered the Carleton convocation address titled, “Feeding the Future” on Friday, May 10 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Food for Soul was founded by Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore to cultivate a more just and sustainable food system by saving food from waste and reducing barriers to food secu...

Pipo Nguyen-duy ’83, professor of studio art and photography at Oberlin College, delivered the Carleton convocation address titled, “A Dust of Life,” on Friday, May 3 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Nguyen-duy was born in Hue, Vietnam. Growing up within thirty kilometers of the demilitarized zone near the 18th parallel, he describes hearing gunfire every day of his early life. He immig...

Teaching artist Brian Sostek ’90 delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 26 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Fear, Failure, and Catastrophe: How To Talk with Strangers,” pulled from his experience as a writer, choreographer, director, performer, and teacher who brings the best practices of his performing arts career to bear on academic research, writing...

Foreign policy expert Fiona Hill delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 19 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address, “Navigating a World in Turmoil,” pulled from her years of experience, extensive research, and multiple publications on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, regional conflicts, energy, and strategic issues.  Hill is a senior fellow...

Françoise Baylis CM, ONS, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, FISC delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 5 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address, “Altered Inheritance: The Era of Designer Babies,” discussed the ethics surrounding human genome editing and delved into her work on the subject. Baylis is distinguished research professor, emerita at Dalhousie University in Nova Sc...

Inspirational speaker Steve Hanson delivered the first convocation address of spring term on Friday, March 29 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Your Time is Now,” is a reminder that everyone has the power to affect positive change and make a difference. Centered around the concept that time is both an asset and a commodity, Hanson’s work emphasizes the importance of mindful...

Jaylen Smith, the youngest African American mayor in U.S. history, delivered the final winter term convocation at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 23. Smith was elected as mayor of Earle, Arkansas in December 2022 at just 18 years old, making him one of a select few teenagers to take office in U.S. history, and the youngest African American to ever become a mayor. A lifelong resident...

Actress and author Gin Hammond ’93 delivered convocation at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 16. Hammond’s address, “Returning the Bones,” covered her award-winning play turned novel by the same name. In its theatrical format, Returning the Bones is a one-woman show, with the protagonist inspired by the extraordinary life of Hammond’s aunt, Carolyn Beatrice Hammond Montier, whom she a...

Dudley Edmondson—nature photographer, filmmaker, author, and advocate for nature—delivered the convocation address, “My Career Working with the Natural World,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 9. His talk detailed his unique personal experiences sharing and living in nature. Edmondson has spent more than three decades as a photographer of nature and wildlife. His passion and love f...