2024 Commencement Speaker
State Rep. Joanna McClinton, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Delivers 2024 Commencement Address
Rosemont College's 101st Commencement was held on Saturday, May 18. Speaker McClinton emphasized how the challenges students have faced have equipped them to overcome future obstacles. She discussed the college experience during COVID-19 and the valuable lessons learned from balancing part-time and full-time jobs while studying. Additionally, she highlighted the power of their voices and their potential as the future leaders and innovators of our communities.
Watch Coverage from Rosemont's 2024 Commencement Ceremony
Excerpts from Speaker McClinton's Commencement Address:
“Let me tell you, do not minimize all of your work experience. I waited tables back and forth going down Montgomery Avenue as a new driver. It was rough back and forth working at a restaurant on the Main Line as I was studying law. And let me tell you, no matter where you’ve worked up until this point, do not minimize your experience. Certainly, it was working at those restaurants when I was back and forth to law school that has given me the patience to interact with the public – first as a public defender and now as speaker of the house and wait until I go back Monday as a doctor. They’re not ready for that.”
“Your time, your skills, they cannot be minimized to this point. So all of our experiences help determine who we are and help us to go where we’re headed. And I would love to tell you that this is, of course, one of the highlights of your life and after today, everything will be easy breezy except that’s not true. There will still be this thing called life’s journey.”
“You will still have obstacles in your way, but you are armed with everything you need to succeed. Rosemont provided you not just academic lectures, not just 1159 deadlines, not just times when you had to get into the books and turn your work in, but you’ve had fellowship, you’ve had service, and it has built resilience. You can now package all of that up with your very own personal drive that got you here and all the academic growth and you’re ready to take on the world.”
“No matter what the obstacles will be to come, no matter what types of disappointments inevitably each of us will face, you’re overcome those frustrations, and you will change the community and the world we live in as a result. I’m so proud today that Rosemont has fostered a community of doers, people that see needs, respond to the needs, and lead in taking action. People who not just want to make a difference but will make a difference, and that action is up to each and every one of you.”
“Regardless of what you set out to achieve, despite what obstacles you’ve had up to this point, you’re going to use your drive and your perspective to get down the path you have chosen. Every day will provide opportunities, every day will provide choices in which you can decide. And do not ever dismiss an opportunity. Just because you didn’t plan for it, it doesn’t mean you’re not prepared for those types of opportunities.”“Every single obstacle we face doesn’t have to take us off the path. It can push us a little further. So, before I sit down, I encourage you to put all those challenges you’ve had in the forefront of your mind as you get ready to walk across this stage and know that those challenges, they’ve pushed you to your purpose. They’ve pushed you to your destiny. And the best news is that today you are just getting started. Congratulations graduates, God bless.”
Rep. Joanna McClinton's Biography:
State Rep. Joanna McClinton, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, delivered Rosemont’s 2024 commencement address and received an honorary degree at the ceremony on Saturday, May 18.
“Rep. McClinton’s commitment to civic engagement is the embodiment of Rosemont’s mission, and I was thrilled she will delivered this year’s commencement address to our graduates,” said Jim Cawley, president of Rosemont College. “Rep. McClinton is a trailblazer and champion for economic and social justice reforms. Her passion for positive change was an inspiration to our students, fostering a sense of responsibility and empowerment to be contributing members of society.”
Elected to serve communities in Philadelphia and Delaware County in 2015, Joanna McClinton was the first woman elected Democratic Caucus Chair, the first woman elected Democratic Leader and is Pennsylvania’s first woman House Speaker.
A lifelong resident of southwest Philadelphia, she graduated from Grace Temple Christian Academy, LaSalle University, and Villanova University School of Law, and was a public defender and chief counsel to Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams before being elected.
McClinton has earned several distinctions including City and State PA's 40 Under 40, Politico Recast’s Power List, and a NewDeal Rising Leader.