Honorand Fireside Chats (April 27, 2021)

To Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff,

It is our tradition at the College not only to bestow honorary degrees each year to a small handful of people who are leading the way in their respective fields but to invite them to share insights from their worlds with the Bowdoin community.

As we look forward to celebrating this year’s honorary degree recipients at Commencement—National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci; renowned civil rights activist and Freedom Rider William Harbour (to be presented posthumously); civil rights activist and Campaign Zero cofounder DeRay Mckesson '07; and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir—we can also anticipate hearing from three of these remarkable individuals themselves on three successive Wednesday evenings in May.

As is the case with many things owing to the pandemic, these honorand presentations will take a different form this year. We will be hosting a series of virtual fireside chats with our honorands in the weeks leading up to Commencement:

DeRay Mckesson '07
Moderated by Beth Kowitt ’07, senior editor at Fortune
Wednesday, May 12
6:30 p.m.–7:45 p.m.

Dr. Anthony Fauci
Moderated by Dr. Judith Currier ’79, professor of medicine, UCLA Division of Infectious Diseases, UCLA Medical Center
Wednesday, May 19
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Dr. Jessica Meir
Moderated by Alvin Hall ’74, award-winning BBC broadcaster and educator; host of the podcast “Driving the Green Book”
Wednesday, May 26
6:30 p.m.–7:45 p.m.

Please save the dates and register here for what I know will be fascinating and enlightening conversations.

Clayton