A cloudy, chilly start to Trinity College graduation ceremonies on Sunday, May 20, did nothing to
quell the enthusiasm of students, parents, relatives, faculty, and staff who had gathered to send off yet another class of newly-minted Trinity alumni. The sky cleared just as President Joanne Berger-Sweeney was giving her charge to the graduates, and a bright, warm sun shone on the traditional “tent city” on the lawn below the Chapel, where everyone gathered to celebrate and say good-byes.
This year Classics majors took the two top spots in the class: valedictorian Jami Cogswell (who also graduated with honors in Classics) and her sister salutatorian Darcy Cogswell garnered the top GPAs in the Class of 2016. They looked splendid in their Eta Sigma Phi swag — yellow and purple cords and a gold sash — and their valedictorian and salutatorian sashes. WFSB, the local CBS affiliate, ran a story on Jami and Darcy.
Besides Jami, three other Classics majors took honors in Classics: Dimitri Adamidis, Kate Giddens, and Julia (“Cheeky”) Herr. Jessica Rudman (who wrote an amazing senior seminar paper but didn’t do a year-long thesis, and so wasn’t eligible for honors; the same was the case with Darcy) also graduated with a BA in Classics.
For Jami, summer plans include teaching at a rock-climbing school, with a year off before applying to grad school in Classics; Darcy, who loves the sea, will be off sailing. Dimitri is starting a post-bac program at the University of Connecticut before dental school; Jessica will be studying dentistry at the UConn. Cheeky’s looking for work in New York City, while Kate, who plans on attending medical school, will take a CPR course and then is off for a year teaching English in Denmark.
Everyone in the Classics Department joins in congratulating our 2016 graduates. We are very proud of them and wish them the very best in their future endeavors — about which we hope they will keep us informed!
In the meantime, though, we wish them all a happy, relaxing summer. They’ve earned some downtime after four years of hard work and remarkable accomplishments!