BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (September 2, 2022) — Emerson College awarded more than 1,000 undergraduate degrees during its 142nd Commencement at Agganis Arena on Sunday, May 8, 2022.
Anania Williams from Davenport, Iowa (52803), received a BFA in Musical Theatre and graduated in August 2022.
During the ceremony, the College honored three award-winning artists, innovators, and Emersonians for their contributions and efforts to the arts, communication, and greater humanity. Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon screenwriter Adele Lim ('96); composer and singer Toshi Reagon, and Emerson Trustee, founder and chairman of Samuels and Associates; and film producer Steve Samuels each received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees. Lim gave the commencement address.
"I admire your sense of community, of social justice, fairness, and your willingness to use your voice in the pursuit of those ideals," said Interim President William Gilligan in the President's Address at the ceremony. "The world needs you now to continue that with all the skills and knowledge you have acquired, the values you have developed and displayed, and that indomitable Emerson spirit that you have shown us often."
Commencement speaker Lim said, "I am far from done, but what I hope for myself, for all of us, for all of you, is what all great stories have: A journey that is authentic and meaningful, and, if we're lucky, one that touches the lives of others."
About Emerson College
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city's Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and fifty countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than ninety student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, the District of Columbia, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic, as well as its new Global Portals, with the first program launching this fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000+ alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit emerson.edu.
