Chesick Scholars stand on the porch of Founders Hall under a poster saying Haverford College

Celebrating Chesick Scholars

A ceremony and a banquet on May 12, celebrated the graduating 2022 Chesick Scholars.

An expanded cohort of Chesick Scholars attended a celebration ceremony in Founders Great Hall ahead of the 2022 Commencement. At the joyous event, the graduating Chesicks, as well as scholars from the Classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025, heard from Dean of the College John McKnight, Chesick Program Director Christina Rose, Chesick Program Coordinator Julian Jackson, and keynote speaker Nicole Stokes, associate provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Saint Joseph’s University. They also received their graduation stoles, which they later wore over their gowns at Commencement. 

The Chesick Scholars Program was founded in 2012 to serve and support first-generation and/or low-income (FLI) and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students. The program now offers a combination of event programming, resources, advising, mentorship, and workshops over the summer and during the academic year to support and celebrate all of Haverford’s FLI students.

“This event marked the first Chesick Graduation Celebration that was open to all FLI students on campus,”  said Rose. “In the first nine years of the program’s existence, it served only 15 students per year (chosen by Admission).  Now the program has expanded to serve all FLI students on campus, so we went from 60 students to 315, or almost 25% of the student body.” 

“Of the seniors who chose to attend the celebration, only a handful was part of the original Chesick cohort.  Many of the others had participated in other programming for FLI students, but now they are able to be called Chesick Scholars as well.  This ceremony was to honor them and to present them with the stoles that they could proudly wear over their robes at graduation—and the first time we had specific Chesick Scholar stoles made, so this marked the first year of what we hope will be a long tradition that students will look forward to each year.”