2024 Convocation Address
Interim President Katrina Armstrong welcomed the incoming Columbia College and Columbia Engineering students, their families, and loved ones.

August 25, 2024
As prepared for delivery
Good evening! I’m thrilled to welcome you—the students, families, and friends of the Class of 2028—to Columbia.
Today is a day for celebration and reflection as we honor the hard work that our students and their families have put into getting here and prepare some of our newest Columbians for the world they are about to enter.
For me, as I am sure it does for many in the audience, this moment brings back vivid memories of my first days as an undergraduate.
I grew up moving around a lot—from London to Indiana to Buffalo to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I went to middle school in a trailer in Northport, Alabama. Driven by their deep belief in the importance of education, my parents found an extraordinary high school in Birmingham, where I became a boarding student in 10th grade on full scholarship. It was a high school called Indian Springs, and it changed my life. It is because of that high school that I was able to go to a lesser university in the town of New Haven. You may have heard of it.
I traveled to my move-in on a train by myself. My parents would have loved to have been there but couldn’t afford the trip. Some of you may be in the same situation today. My mother sent me with a trunk that she had covered with fabric from my childhood bedspread, a trunk I still have today.
My life—from Indian Springs to Yale to medical school at Johns Hopkins and everything that came after—has made two fundamental truths very clear to me.
The first is that we live in a society that could be so much better. The second is that education is the single most important thing we can do to get us there.
I’m so grateful that you’ve chosen Columbia, that you’ve decided to embark on this new chapter in your lives with us.
Here, you will learn from the finest faculty on the planet, live and work with the greatest students you will ever meet, and benefit from the experience of the most dedicated staff you will find anywhere.
And mind you, all of this, of course, is located in the best city in the world.
Columbia has been going about its work for three centuries and will continue to do so for centuries to come. Throughout this long history, we’ve gone through some very challenging periods, including in the recent past. What we do today—how we approach the future—has to be grounded in those lived experiences.
The Covid pandemic devastated our city and our community. The personal and communal loss was heartbreaking. The past year has brought grief, anger, upheaval, and fear to the forefront. So many in our community have felt unheard, abandoned, or betrayed, and for that, I am deeply sorry.
As we look ahead to the new academic year in front of us, we must both take time to recognize this history and understand its implications as we redouble our commitment to the future of this incredible Columbia community. To do so, we have to be clear about who we are, how we see our mission, and how we define our values.
On Friday, I sent out a letter to everyone at Columbia that affirmed our priorities. Let me repeat for you what I shared there. The central mission of this University is to impart, create, and advance knowledge. This mission is grounded in a commitment to free expression, open inquiry, and generous debate. To do this, we must create an environment of inclusive pluralism, where all our members can thrive. Violence, intimidation, discrimination, bullying, and any behavior that prevents teaching, learning, or research are antithetical to who we are.
Everyone needs to feel engaged, that their voices matter and that they belong here. Protests need to be managed effectively and fairly. That requires holding two truths at once. The truth that our mission depends upon free speech and open debate. And the truth that our mission equally depends upon an environment free of harassment and discrimination, where our students can learn. There is no doubt that holding those two truths requires understanding and effectively implementing our policies, rules, and procedures, just as it does in the society around us. I know that none of this will be easy or straightforward. But I also know that Columbians are exceptionally good at doing hard things, and that we can and will do them with integrity, empathy, and respect.
I would like to end with my hopes for you during your time here. I hope that you learn. I hope that you learn from your professors about the subjects that most excite you. I hope that you learn from your peers about different ways of being in and thinking about the world. And I hope that you learn from this city about the richness of diverse cultures, the value of finding yourself in conversations that surprise and captivate you, and the delight of catching an express train on the subway when you were prepared to take the local.
Congratulations, and again, welcome to Columbia.