One of Princeton's oldest traditions with the earliest recorded address dating back to 1760, Baccalaureate is the official ending of the academic year and one of the last events where the graduating class is all together. Seniors paraded into the University Chapel the Sunday before Commencement for an hour-long interfaith service. 

Traditionally, first-years begin their journey as Princetonians at the Chapel for opening exercises. Quickly, four years fly by, and the class is back to close this chapter of life at Baccalaureate. Although the Class of 2024 had a virtual opening exercise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the reflection of their time here and a sense of a 'full circle moment' that Baccalaureate provides are not lost on them. 

The Baccalaureate service is filled with music, speeches from University Administrators, the Baccalaureate Speaker (This year's Speaker was Federal Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury *06 of the Eastern District of New York) and concludes with blessings from Chapel staff and graduating students. The three students chosen to present the blessings were Harpreet Kaur '24, Brian S. Li '24, and Alice McGuinness '24:

Harpreet Kaur delivered a blessing from the Sikh tradition:

(44-7)

nimakh ayk har naam day-ay mayraa man tan seetal ho-ay.

If He bestows the Name of the Lord, for even a moment, my mind and body are cooled and soothed.

(44-8)

jis ka-o poorab likhi-aa tin satgur charan gahay. ||2||

Those who have such pre-ordained destiny hold tight to the Feet of the 

True Guru||2||

(44-8)

safal moorat saflaa gharhee jit sachay naal pi-aar.

Fruitful is that moment, and fruitful is that time, when one is in love 

with the True Lord.

*English Translation is accredited to: https://www.srigurugranth.org/0044.html

Brian S. Li presented a blessing from the Buddhist tradition titled, Lokka Sutta (Ud 3:10)

The Venerable Buddha Shakyamunī sat cross-legged for seven days without moving, experiencing the bliss of freedom. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, he surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. He saw living beings bruning with the many fevers aflame with the many fires born of greed, hate, and delusion. Then, on realizing the significance of that, he on that occasion exclaimed: 

This world is burning.

Afflicted by contact,

It speaks of disease as the “self.”

For whatever it thinks it is,

It turns out to be something else.

Becoming otherwise,

The world is

Attached to becoming,

Afflicted by becoming,

And yet delights

In that very becoming.

Where there is delight,

There is fear.

Where there is fear,

There is suffering.

This holy life is lived

For the abandoning of becoming.

Ayaṃ loko santāpajāto,

Phassapareto rogaṃ vadati attato;

Yena yena hi maññati,

Tato taṃ hoti aññathā.

Aññathābhāvī bhavasatto loko,

Bhavapareto bhavamevābhinandati; 

Yadabhinandati taṃ bhayaṃ,

Yassa bhāyati taṃ dukkhaṃ;

Bhavavippahānāya kho,

Panidaṃ brahmacariyaṃ vussati

Brian S. Li chose this passage because it explores the themes of impermanence and desire to “become”. “The mind can be very misleading, for it “contacts” the world and conjures up perceptions thereof, yet “for whatever it thinks something is, It always turns out to be something.”

“These are acts that many of us (myself included!) freely indulge in despite being deeply unpleasant. Once we think we might have attained something, the mind deceives us yet again, and the goalposts shift once more. This endless cycle of pursuit and want is painful, and here the Buddha’s enlightened eye sees how greed, anger, and ignorance fuel the all-consuming fire of suffering. As Princeton students, we are very good at striving towards things, and this unfortunate task is a reality of the high-achieving, modern-day academic life. I do not know if I will find the strength and wisdom to release myself from these vicious cycles of pursuit and suffering in this lifetime, but it is uplifting to know that there exists a “holy life,” a release from the “abandoning of becoming' for all of us,” stated Li.

Alice McGuiness presented a blessing from the Secular Humanist Tradition, titled 

The Pandemic is a Portal by Ardundhati Roy: 

Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.

Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.

To the Great Class of 2024, Congratulations! Although this chapter in the book of your life is now closed you have already begun the next one.  May it be a season of joy, adventure, and abundant blessing!

To watch the full Baccalaureate Service please visit Princeton University's YouTube Page:Baccalaureate Ceremony for Princeton's Class of 2024