The Class of 2024 is a pandemic class. Many of its graduates missed high school rites of passage. Proms, summer jobs, and, yes, high school graduations were canceled as communities sought to control the spread of COVID-19. Sitting in the Santa Clara sun in June this year was the first time many of the 1,448 graduating undergraduates donned caps and gowns. The celebration was epic, and the impact of the pandemic was real.
Here’s what launching into the world looked like in 2020: No prom. Few in-person graduations. Little opportunity to say goodbye to high school friends in person. Few chances to make new college friends in person. A first-year college experience held largely over the internet. To put it mildly, it was a lot. But the Class of ’24 persevered. Those experiences shaped these newly minted Bronco alumni in surprising ways, says valedictorian Simon Fournier-Lanzoni ’24 He describes the Class of 2024 as an unrelenting force, committed to fulfilling their social duties. “Whereas past generations identified many of the social issues we face today, our generation sees the solutions and the actions necessary to bring lasting change. We see the colors of hope,” Lanzoni said.
When it seemed like everything was pitted against them, the Class of 2024 took their lives by the reins and like a true Bronco, put up a massive fight. They kicked down every obstacle in their way and, ultimately, became the challenge that others would find hard to control, a quality desperately needed during these tumultuous times.