Bryn Mawr's campus has been buzzing with activity and excitement. First, the undergraduate Class of 2030 arrived with boxes and bins full of everything they'd need to call Bryn Mawr home. Days later, returning students made their way back to campus to reignite friendships after summers spent interning, working, researching, and spending time with family and friends. On Monday, Aug. 30, classes were back in session, and at the end of the day, the annual convocation ceremony was held to celebrate this year's graduating class and welcome the first-year students.
Convocation 2026
Associate Professor of Geology Selby Hearth
It's hard to imagine an uplifting speech focused on just how insignificant we all are in the grand expanse of the earth's lifespan, but that's exactly what Associate Professor of Geology Selby Hearth delivered to the Bryn Mawr seniors and others gathered for this year's convocation ceremony.
As Hearth gave her speech, she held her arms at her sides to represent the age of the earth, noting that complex life inhabits only the length of half her right palm, and that human existence occupies a millimeter of her right fingertip.
"All of written human history, the Greeks and the Romans and all the empires and the Polynesian navigators, everybody is in the last skin cell at the top of my finger," she told the crowd.
And despite humankind's efforts, the Earth will exist long after Homo sapiens, she added.
"Even if we solve all of our problems, even if we solved climate change and got rid of all the nuclear warheads and learn to live in perfect harmony with the whole world, species just don't last that long ... We're not heroes, and we're not saviors, and we're not villains. We're just mammals. And we get a brief whiff of time, and our extinction is certain."
Happy yet?
Hearth’s point, however, was not to leave the audience contemplating their inevitable extinction. Instead, she used the vastness of geologic time to make a case for something much more immediate: paying attention to the time we have now.
In a culture where we're always thinking about and planning for the next thing, Hearth called on the audience to live in and appreciate the moment.
"When we bring our attention off of these futures that we're so afraid of or eager for, and just focus on right now, we find a relationship with time that is not transactional," Hearth said. "I'd like to suggest that maybe our purpose is not a list of future accomplishments but instead a faithful devotion to our values right now on the scale of the Earth."
In concluding her remarks, Hearth turned again to the metaphor of her outstretched arms.
"A semester is a single hydrogen atom wide, and I'm very grateful that I get to spend it with you, my brilliant students and my wonderful colleagues, in this beautiful place. I hope that you all have a wonderful hydrogen atom."
Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge, Provost Dee Matthews, Vice President for Enrollment Nichole Reynolds, and SGA Co-Presidents Angelique M. Lee and Autumn Kelley also gave remarks. Class of 2027 members Priyanka Rajapatiran, Molly Fancher, and Kit Kringel, as well as Ph.D. candidate Dalena Vien also reflected on their time at Bryn Mawr and the year ahead.
In her remarks, Cadge, a sociologist of religion, talked about campuses as sacred spaces, places set apart not only in a physical sense but also by their community's traditions and rituals.
"We make offerings to Athena and light lanterns of knowledge. All of these sites and practices connect our nondenominational campus to aspects of spiritual reverence and reflection."
However, she went on to note that a campus can't only be a place apart.
"As we move into the College’s next chapter, the campus — this sacred space — must be profoundly entwined with, and open to, the world our students will encounter, shape, and lead," she told the audience. "Bryn Mawr must be a beacon, not a cloister. At the same time, the beauty, belonging, contemplation, and tradition sacred and central to the Bryn Mawr experience must endure."
The convocation ceremony ended with a dance performance by Lucia Engelhardt '27, Julia Lee '27, and Lauren Kocurek (HC'27), choreographed by Dance Program faculty member Melanie Cotton, and was followed by a community picnic.
The first week of classes ends on Friday night, when first-year students are welcomed into the Bryn Mawr community at Parade Night, Bryn Mawr's first tradition of the year.
New students on campus included 374 first-years, four transfer students, 11 GSAS doctoral students, 75 postbacs, and 94 students at the Graduate School of Social Work. The 2026-27 academic year is also the inaugural year for Bryn Mawr's 22-month online master's of social work program.
In addition to new students, Bryn Mawr welcomed seven new tenure-track faculty members and 37 other faculty appointments.