In a crowded auditorium at the Sarasota Orchestra’s Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, graduating New College students buzzed with excitement as they awaited their turn to walk across the stage and into the land of job hunting and 401ks. Students were adorned in everything from face paint to hot pink ’80s-inspired prom dresses to wizard costumes. Nowhere else could this ecstatic wonder be found than at the 2025 [NEW] Commencement ceremony, or Alt Grad as it is sometimes called: an evening to celebrate the whimsy and joy of students who have endured political upheaval throughout their undergraduate education. It was a night to celebrate their tenacity, their journey and themselves.
Held this year on May 22, the evening before the official New College graduation, Alt Grad began in 2023 as a form of protest and freedom of expression amid Governor Ron DeSantis’ political overhaul of the all-honors campus. Alt Grad is funded by Novo Collegian Alliance (NCA), an alumni network created to support current and past students by working to maintain the essence of New College.
“When I attended the official graduation in 2023, I left feeling sick to my stomach,” recent graduate Beaux Delaune (‘25) said in a press release from the Novo Collegian Alliance. “In 2024, that feeling did not abate. I’ve been honored to work on Alt Grad for the chance to do something that makes people feel seen. Students deserve to have such a special day focused on our achievements—not the political whirlwind we have suffered.”
Delaune was one of the student organizers of [NEW] Commencement, along with fellow graduating students Nisreen Kalai (’25) and Isabel “Izzy” Reyes (‘25).
Delaune, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, told Old School Catalyst in an interview that she had deliberated about whether the New College takeover had to be included in the history of her beloved institution.
“Whenever you’re writing history, you still have to argue something,” Delaune said. “I feel people would be very contentious over whether or not [the takeover] was on purpose or not. Like, if it was all planned or if the side effects were just an accident. If I were to write a history book, I think I would argue whether or not it was on purpose. It has been done in a way that has completely ignored the agency of students.”
New College has taught her self-reliance, Delaune said. A seasoned host of multiple successful Walls and Center of the Universe parties (COUPs), Delaune has plenty of experience in coordinating a successful large-scale event, something she says prepared her to help host [NEW] Commencement.
“It might seem frivolous to focus on the parties that I’ve thrown, but that was space I was building for myself and for other students to feel safe,” Delaune explained.
More than just a celebration, Delaune emphasized how Alt Grad lets graduates take up space and unapologetically be who they are.
“I wanted to be able to build on and grow this tradition,” she continued. “Alt Grad is important because our official commencement has been ruined by the politics which surround it. It’s a ceremony that feels like it is thrown by the school to celebrate the school, successfully inviting speakers that are hostile to the students. Alt Grad is designed by students, for students, with speakers chosen and speeches made geared towards honoring their success academically. It’s where students can get their dignity back.”
Alt Grad co-host Kalai spoke to the crowd about how beautiful it was to be a part of a community until she was given a front row seat to its demolition. “You made it through something that tried to erase you. Existence is resistance.”
The official student commencement speaker chosen through an on-campus student election was Safari Svensson (’25). Like his predecessors in 2023 and 2024, he was called on to fulfill his role for two significantly different audiences. At Alt Grad he recalled his health and financial challenges before he started at New College, engaging the crowd with a story of perseverance and the value of not giving in to feelings of shame projected by outside influences.
“Yet standing here today, on this stage, I almost have to pinch myself. That what used to be such a distant dream has now become my reality.
“Every day that you deny the status quo, you become that much stronger, that much more fearless, and that much more resilient,” he stated.
NCA Treasurer Colin Boyle spoke on the invaluable skills of community building and public service students learn at New College and the expansive alumni network.
“I’m sure there’s that voice in the back of your head that says ‘humanities? What are you gonna do with that? How are you gonna need that? ” Boyle said. “I want to assure you that you guys know how to write. You guys know how to do research, and you know how to do things that you’ve never done before.”
Senior Manager of PEN America’s Freedom to Learn program, Amy Reid, presented the Bates Awards for outstanding student thesis projects. Currently on leave from her position at New College as Director of Gender Studies and a professor of French Language and Literature, Reid approached the podium to roars of love and admiration from the crowd.
“I am still dumbfounded by the bigoted ignorance that led to the official abolishing of the Gender Studies program two years ago,” Reid said. “And I am really thrilled that tonight we can take a moment to recognize that despite what men small in mind decreed, gender studies is alive and well here.
“I want you to realize that this celebration tonight marks a mile post and not your finish line,” Reid continued. “Now is when your real education begins, where you can really take the reins, because over the past years you have learned how to learn in community and independently, and, hopefully, you’ve found not just the one thing that you’re passionate about.”
This year’s Alt Grad keynote speaker was Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Sympathizer. The dark comedy and historical novel follows a nameless spy who must flee to America after infiltrating the South Vietnamese Army. The book’s half-French, half-Vietnamese narrator is no stranger to the life of a double agent caught between two cultures. In 2024, The Sympathizer was adapted into an HBO series, which means, Nguyen quipped, “If you haven’t read The Sympathizer yet, you don’t have to.”
Nguyen himself was born in Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam in 1971, currently Buon MeThuot. He came to the United States as a refugee with his parents in 1975, leaving behind his 16-year-old adopted sister. The family lived in a war refugee camp in Pennsylvania until eventually settling in San Jose, California. Nguyen received his PhD from the University of California Berkeley, and he is currently a professor of English, Comparative Literature, and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
“I for one believe that the United States is equal for all, where refugees and immigrants have the right to be mediocre just like every other American,” Nguyen told the crowd with unmistakable irony that was not lost on anyone.“I am a big fan of his work and I’m a big fan of his outlook on things,” Delaune told Old School Catalyst. “I think he’s a commencement speaker that a lot of people will resonate with because he’s an academic. He’s speaking to other academics instead of being a politician or a businessman.”
Nguyen spoke with wry humor and a lightness of spirit on an emotionally conflicting day.
“This is a happy day for you, one that always leaves me with mixed feelings,” he continued. “For as I look out upon all these optimistic, youthful, unlined faces ready to embark on their life’s journey, I am reminded once again that I am more than halfway to death.
“If you’re one of those people who’s never failed at anything, who’s never fallen asleep in class, who’s always been good at what you do, I hate you,” he said, referencing the necessity of learning from failure, something all recent graduates will grapple with at one point or another. “For the rest of us, the lesson is persistence. Over 20 years, I am persistent.”
Nguyen also spoke directly to the parents of graduates—who are the next generation of creatives and artists—inspiring them to not silence their children’s voices.
“Encourage your artists and actors and dancers and singers, for they bring beauty to the world,” he concluded, sharing his potent blend of humor and inspiration right to the end. “And there is nothing more necessary than beauty. And writers and storytellers, so that one day, they will find their authentic voices and write scathing memoirs featuring you.”
On the cover of the pink and blue decorated program, the [NEW] Commencement organizers wrote, “Here’s to celebrating each other, fully, fiercely and freely. Here’s to being Novos—now and forever.”
