The latest Middlebury Institute graduates haven’t let anything stand in the way of finishing their degrees—and their friends and family didn’t let stormy weather stop them from celebrating their accomplishments.
On Saturday, the Institute community navigated stormy weather and power outages across the Monterey Peninsula to come celebrate the graduation of 37 Middlebury Institute students from 12 homelands at the graduate school’s winter 2024 Commencement ceremony.
“It’s a culmination and a moment of celebration,” said Madison Alexander Derendinger, who graduated with degrees in International Trade and Public Administration. “I see these degrees as broadening my understanding of the world and building my critical thinking abilities, but also empowering me so I can begin to have a voice.”
Fortunately, the power was on in Irvine Auditorium where Jeffrey Dayton-Johnson, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Institute, emceed the program. Middlebury College President Laurie Patton shared her reflections, then introduced the 2024 Faculty Excellence Award winner Professor Jason Martel as a “triple panther,” referencing Middlebury’s mascot. Martel has studied or worked in Middlebury Language Schools and C.V. Starr Schools Abroad and currently chairs the Institute’s TESOL/Teaching Foreign Language programs.
“Commit yourself to being a lifelong learner . . . to thinking flexibly . . . read voraciously . . . [and] engage in dialogue with those who think differently than you and try to find common ground,” said Martel. “You might be surprised by how much you have in common.”
Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies student Anthony Dai was chosen by his classmates as Commencement speaker. He framed his comments as “A Pessimist’s Prep Talk.” Pessimism, he argued, can be a great motivator for good works: “When we look back on the progress we have achieved, we are all first inspired by the imperfections, dissatisfaction, or disappointments . . . ” Dai earned hearty laughter when he referred to Commencement as “the last day on which we can use ‘the sea lion ate my homework’ as an excuse.”
The most recent group of graduates hail from Bolivia, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Iraq, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, and the United States.
Dai, who was born in the United States and raised in China, and is fluent in English and Chinese. He studied treaty verification, seismic monitoring, and nuclear disarmament policy while serving as a graduate research assistant at the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He expressed appreciation for Professors William Potter and Jeffrey Lewis, and is looking forward to studying for his PhD in Hong Kong.
The 37 graduates received master’s degrees in Conference Interpretation (Chinese), International Education Management, International Environmental Policy, International Policy and Development, International Trade, Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies, and Public Administration, and one bachelor’s degree in International Policy. Two certificates were also awarded, one in Financial Crime Management and one in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
“You are courageous and ethical citizens,” said Middlebury President Laurie Patton, who will step down at the end of 2024 to become president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. “You embody Middlebury’s vision statement—the world it wants to create.”
Dean of the Institute Jeffrey Dayton-Johnson commented on the challenges graduates face in navigating an ever-evolving and increasingly uncertain world.
“In light of your response to all of these uncertainties and changes and stresses, and not least in light of your successful completion of your programs, here at MIIS in these circumstances, I am profoundly proud of your achievements and genuinely confident about your prospects, personally and professionally.”
As has been true for many years, the processional was led by bagpiper—and this time also faculty marshal—Professor Mike Gillen. The ceremony began with a land acknowledgment honoring the Indigenous people who lived on the land now occupied by the Institute campus, read by Dr. Nicholas Creary, Institute justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion officer.
Professor Martel summed up the sense of completion, and a new chapter opening, at the conclusion of his remarks to the graduates: “The challenges you face are great, but you are intelligent, you are tenacious, and you give us hope for the future. Please keep in touch so that we can hear about all the amazing things you do out there in the world.”
Winter 2024 graduate Derendinger, for one, can’t wait to get started: “I’m looking out to the brighter future that I know I worked hard for.”
Master of Arts in International Trade
Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Social Change
| by Jason Warburg
Family, friends, faculty and staff gathered on a sunny Saturday to celebrate the achievements of 42 graduates from eight homelands at the Institute’s Winter 2023 Commencement ceremony.
| by Jason Warburg
As the sun broke through the clouds, 284 Middlebury Institute graduates from 33 homelands were celebrated by family, friends, faculty, staff, and alumni.
| by Jason Warburg
An unprecedented hybrid Commencement ceremony connected graduates, family, and friends around the globe with a gathering honoring 65 graduating students in the Middlebury Institute’s Irvine Auditorium.
