The Hun School of Princeton celebrated its 101st Commencement, honoring the Class of 2015 on June 5 on the lawn behind Russell Hall.
More than 1,000 faculty, administration, families, and friends gathered to celebrate during the traditional academic ceremony, during which Valedictorian Jiafeng Chen and Salutatorian Amanda Barbour were honored for their sustained academic achievements. Senior Speaker Julia Blake ’15 offered remarks about the individual attention that marked her experience as a Hun School student.
Valedictorian Jiafeng (Kevin) Chen, who will attend Harvard University, encouraged his classmates to be extraordinary and to reject the fear of judgment that comes from pursuing a passion.
“I find it ironic that, in America, a country built on the principle that birth does not determine ability, intelligence is so frequently used as an explanation for good academic work, or as an excuse for mediocrity. … Intelligence only determines how far you can venture into excellence. It is by no means a prerequisite for being extraordinary,” he said.
“It is OK to break out of the cell of conformity and be awesome once in a while. It is OK to say no to mediocrity, to say no to the dull and ordinary life expected of us, and to embrace your passion, all the way and all the time. It is OK to be called a weirdo; it is okay to be judged, for judgment from the ordinaries is the only surefire sign that you are extraordinary.”
Senior Speaker Julia Blake drew attention to the disappearance of Main Street America, and the personal attention and collegiality that has gone with it. She likened The Hun School to a small shop that has retained its personal touch.
“Nearby and in surrounding towns, huge big-box schools move students hastily through math, science, and English. There, school isn’t a cheerful experience, but merely a chore, where boxes are checked off and students come and go,” she said.
Back on Edgerstoune Road, things are handled differently. Teachers, coaches, class deans, advisors, and even the custodians, put their greatest effort into every customer that visits. These [faculty] are people like Mrs. Davis, Coach McQuade, Chris from the Panini Bar, and Alfredo the groundskeeper, who make every student’s experience special. Even with Hun’s recent global initiative focused on making us globally aware citizens, we’ve been taught the importance of personal human interaction.
“Class of 2015: These small interactions have the power to shape lives and make incredible change. We will do this by not treating the people we come into contact with as just numbers, but as people, just as the faculty at Hun has done to us the past four years or as a small shopkeeper would.
“In this very store, we found and will forever hold the true heart of Hun.”
The school presented the following awards:
Valedictory Award: Jiafeng Chen; Salutatory Award: Amanda Leslie Barbour; The John L. Kuschke Memorial Award: Panayiotis Zavaliangos-Petropulos; The John R. Scott Memorial Award: Tucker Alexander Stevenson; Michelle Bonacci Marks ’89 Memorial Award: Julia Kathryn Blake; The Robert Strianese ’70 Memorial Award: Taylor Anne Nehlig; The James A. McFadden ’59 Memorial Award: Christopher Stephen Sharp; Edwin “Jake” Jacobs Memorial Award: Skylar Rae Tucker; The Katherine Wright Gorrie ’98 Memorial Award: Anchal Kannambadi; The Headmaster’s Award: Madeline Joanne Carlson, David Charles Figurelli, Marguerite Jené Tucker, and Thomas Serban von Davier; The Faculty Prize: Victoria Elizabeth Leach.
