June 11, 2025
A promise kept
Class of 2020 returns to celebrate CommencementThey left campus in the spring of 2020 without hugs, goodbyes, or the passing of diplomas from one classmate to another. No celebratory parade surrounded by their Andover community. Just a pandemic that closed the world—and the door on their senior year.
Last weekend, more than 240 of these classmates returned to campus for their Fifth Reunion and a long-awaited celebration—to experience Commencement and other graduation traditions in person. Families traveled from across the country and abroad to be with their now-college graduates. Faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni joined the fun, as did three heads of school. John Palfrey P’21, who welcomed the class as ninth graders in 2017, gave the Baccalaureate address. Jim Ventre ’79, who served as interim head during the 2019-2020 school year, gave the keynote address. And Raynard Kington P’24, ’27, who met many of the students just before the pandemic hit, opened Sunday’s festivities in front of Samuel Phillips Hall.
“I am quite certain that yours is the only class in Andover’s history to have three heads of school take part in your Commencement celebration. We all gather today to give what you had earned but had not yet experienced,” said Kington.
“When we were students, we talked about making an impact, about leaving a legacy. But now, I think more about what we’re building—and who it’s for. Responsibility is asking not just, ‘What am I proud of?’ but ‘Who is better off because I was here?’ It’s understanding that success means very little if it isn’t shared. It’s what non sibi has always been about.” —Shahinda Bahnasy ’20, class co-president
In his address, Ventre reflected on the formative years of an Andover education. “We arrive on campus thinking one way and Andover gently prods us to open our minds and hearts to new possibilities,” he said. “We slowly, subtly become a more refined version of our younger ourselves.” To remind the class of that transformation, Ventre announced a special gift, which prompted a chorus of cheers: “To each one of you, I will email your admission essays!”
The weekend was filled with gratitude, laughter, and hugs long delayed. Reflecting on his reunion with the Class of 2020, Palfrey spoke about the familiar warmth of coming home.
“We come back to rediscover our values and our mission, the parts we shared and the parts we struggled with. We will come back home throughout our lives, and it will mean something when we do. I very much hope our paths will cross and that you will come home, and I will meet you here.”
What we lost in the spring of 2020 wasn’t just a ceremony—it was certainty. But what we gained was resilience.
”Categories: Alumni
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This is the first in a two-part series focused on the philanthropic priorities that sustain the Addison Gallery.
