Remarks by Allie Ennis
Thank you, President Tepper for the introduction, and good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. I’m very grateful to my parents and my family who’s here, all my mentors and professors (especially Professor Kantrowitz in the Math department who let me practice this speech for him), and of course the people who made these four years what they were: my peers, the class of 2025. I am sincerely honored to be our class-elected speaker.
My Hamilton story began when I was in high school, visiting campus with my family on a bitterly cold Clinton morning. Walking down Martins Way, I begged my parents not to take pictures or flag down students to ask about night life. They took pictures, and flagged down students to ask about night life. Despite my teenage self-consciousness, I noticed a student had stopped at the door of KJ, holding it open for us. We hadn’t even reached the stairs! Yet there he was, waiting. It was a little awkward, as we jogged to relieve him. Soon enough, other students did the same – at KTSA, at the library, at Commons. There was a pervasive, intentional kindness.
Fast forward to senior year – back on Martin’s Way – I was asked by someone new on campus: what makes Hamilton so special? What makes Hamilton – Hamilton? This is a place where people hold doors for one another – literally and metaphorically. It may seem like a small thing, but what are you saying when you hold a door for someone? I see you, you go first, come with me. And those are not such small things.
I can’t count the doors that have been held open for me on this campus. Friends, willing to talk late into the night after a great day or a hard one. There was my first-year orientation leader, who encouraged me – a kid from Manhattan – to become a leader myself. Something I might otherwise not have considered given I’d never slept in a tent before college.
I also came to Hamilton thinking I was done with math because I wasn’t particularly good at it. Until freshman year Calculus, when Professor Cockburn pulled me into her office and said “You should stick with this!” She opened a door because she saw me in a way I hadn’t seen myself. Now, I’m graduating as a math major and have had some of my most meaningful experiences tutoring math at our QSR Center – helping others find confidence, just as I was helped.
I asked our class about their favorite moments at Hamilton – stories of bonding and doors held open. The list is long: from ten-way high fives at the men’s hockey championship, to unexpected friendship in the Geoscience department, to pure euphoria on our two snow days earlier this year.
We showed up for each other – in every thesis presentation, every concert at Wellin Hall, every handshake line after an IM basketball game. In every senior pub, empowering one another to nail the karaoke song of our choice – in my case, it was You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift (though perhaps that’s one door that should have stayed closed). We even have a senior class GroupMe. Parents if you’re confused, it’s kind of like a giant group text.
In small moments and big, the class of 2025 has held the door open for one another, and we’ve been brave enough to run through it. Our class came to Hamilton in the wake of extended isolation. We do not take community for granted. And what’s more, we know our community isn’t perfect. We’ve spent four years rebuilding the things that matter to us, and trying to make them better.
Peers shared stories with me about reinventing team culture to promote healthy competition for athletes. We’ve worked to make Greek Life – something that is intrinsically exclusive – more inclusive, tackling conversations around historical inequities and asking ourselves what legacy we want to leave. As a class, we’ve packed every roundtable discussion and speaker series – learning how to create meaningful relationships, beyond the classroom, with people we don’t see eye to eye with. Because we know that standing behind a closed door, though it might be easier, doesn’t lead anywhere.
As pretty much the whole planet seems to know by now, President Obama was here last month! He spoke about the value of a liberal arts education, and the importance of thinking critically and for ourselves. A recent Gallup poll found that 80 percent of adults feel that the country is greatly divided on core values. That is the world we are graduating into. But rather than be afraid, let’s be confident in how prepared we are. It is our privilege and our obligation to keep practicing what we learned here: to say with and without words: I see you, you go first, come with me.
I’ll close with two thoughts. One — can we please keep that Senior Groupme going!? Any stragglers who haven’t joined yet, see me after. I’ll add you. And finally, today, as we leave the Hill and enter the exciting, messy world that waits for us – let’s remember to hold the door open because that is who we are. Thank you.
