Having the Courage

Having the Courage . . . to imagine possibilities, to move forward, to persevere, and to show up and speak up.

That was the theme of Claremont Graduate University’s 97th Commencement on May 11, 2024.  I was invited to be the commencement speaker and to receive an honorary doctorate – two new and meaningful experiences for me that would probably not have happened without our work together at the Center for Institutional Courage.  

In my commencement speech (text version here) I talked about the potential the graduates had to nurture institutional courage and why I believed their doing so would likely bring them meaning, satisfaction, and joy.  I also told a story from my own life:

I want to describe to you today the events that led me to come up with the concept of institutional courage. The story is not one you likely have heard before, even if you know something about my past encounters with betrayal and courage.  (continue reading here)

The commencement ceremony was live-streamed and video-recorded.   I was introduced by the university president at 44 minutes into the event (link to start of university president’s introduction). My 10-minute speech begins at 46 minutes (link to start of my speech ). The honorary degree conferral and citation starts at 1 hour, 4 minutes (link to start of honorary degree conferral).

Delivering the speech was not as difficult as I had imagined but then later standing there in front of so many people while the citation for my honorary degree was read out loud was surprisingly moving. Following the citation there was the hooding, a ritual from the middle ages that lives on in academia. Although I have proudly hooded many of my own graduating doctoral students over the years, this was my first experience getting hooded as I had moved across the country to start my first job before my own doctoral graduation in 1983.

A few days before the Claremont Graduate University commencement, the university issued a press release mentioning the Center for Institutional Courage. In addition, the Claremont Courier News published an article  (based on one published by the university) that noted that my work has not gone unchallenged and included a discussion of some of the types of resistance I have encountered over my career.  I was glad to have that resistance acknowledged.

I am deeply grateful to my students, colleagues, Courage, and Claremont Graduate University for the moving experience and for the opportunity to speak to new graduates about courage. 

Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage