This May, three FCS alumnae were student speakers at the commencement ceremonies of their respective colleges. All three young women were selected in recognition of their outstanding achievements during their years at each institution.

Kalila Jones ’19, a fine artist who earned a BFA in Fiber & Materials with a concentration in K–12 Art Education from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, was Tyler’s 2024 Commencement speaker on May 9, 2024. An active and engaged member of the community, Kalila served as co-director of Temple University’s Artists of Color Collective (AoCC) for the 2022-2023 academic year. 

This was not Kalila’s first graduation address. As a student at Friends’ Central, she was chosen by her classmates to speak at the Class of 2019 Commencement. Kalila’s literary and artistic skills, leadership, and commitment to community were evident throughout her time at FCS. Among other contributions, in 2018, she created an intricate and beautiful poster for Black History Month depicting Black pioneers, and that poster can still be seen around the Friends’ Central campus. 

“With great curiosity and energy, Kalila takes concepts learned and evolves them into creative and intimate expressions of vibrant color, texture, and joyful exploration, bringing smiles to the viewer!” shared Kalila’s former FCS art teacher Caroline Maw-Deis. “Beginning with strands of yarn in the FCS art studio, it has been exciting to witness where Kalila’s artistic adventures have flowed, and I celebrate her many accomplishments.”

A practicing fine artist, Kalila uses the medium of crochet to create highly original, brightly colored sculptural pieces. She is currently a member of the Summer 2024 Apprenticeship Training Program at Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum. This summer, Kalila debuted an installation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is on view in the Art Kids Studio from July 6- August 25. She also helped develop a pop-up workshop for the Museum of Art’s July family festival. “It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do more workshops in the future!” Kalila said.

Marielle Buxbaum ’20 was one of two student speakers at Brown University’s 256th Commencement on May 26, 2024. Marielle has a BA in Literary Arts and Theatre Arts and Performance Studies from Brown. Her thesis project was a satirical play, titled The Hummus Wars, which Marielle described as, “a fictional work based on the 2010 competition between chefs in Israel and Lebanon working to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the largest tub of hummus, as well as the Palestinians caught in between.” 

“Marielle’s super powers are her curiosity and her willingness to share her enthusiasm for learning,” said former FCS drama and English teacher Terry Guerin, reflecting on Marielle’s time as a student at FCS. “She was a treasure in our drama program, acting on stage, championing Shakespeare while directing the 9th and 10th grade play, helping the cast of Les Miz sing in French, or simply filling the space with her joy.”

With support from a Fulbright award, Marielle is heading to Loja, Ecuador to work with local theater company Teatro Quimera to design a playwriting program for social change. 

“I will be drawing upon my time studying theater for social change in Ecuador during a semester abroad with the organization Pachaysana,” Marielle shared, “I look forward to combining this experience with everything I learned not only in college but, so importantly, at FCS. I am so grateful to Terry Guerin and FCS’s drama program for everything I had the opportunity to learn and for the inspiration to continue on as a theater artist.”

Roxana “Roxy” Calder ’20 graduated summa cum laude from Franklin & Marshall College with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Middle Eastern Area Studies. She was awarded the 2024 Williamson Medal, the highest student award presented each year at Franklin & Marshall. It is “given to the member of the graduating class who has, during his or her senior year, reached the highest standing in character, leadership, and scholarship.” As the recipient of the Williamson Medal, Roxy was a speaker at F&M’s 237th Commencement on May 11, 2024. 

While at Franklin & Marshall, Roxy was an admission tour guide and a museum and library collections aide, working with faculty from the library and F&M’s Phillips Museum of Art to organize and catalog large collections. She also was a student teacher for the “Islam in North America” Connections course, advising and leading classroom discussions with first-year students. (Excerpted from the article on fandm.edu.)

As a student at Friends’ Central, Roxy was a tour guide for the Admissions Department, a chorus member, and a contributor to the School’s literary magazine, among many other activities.

“A brilliant student who always put others first, Roxy was a passionate, curious, and fun leader in and out of the classroom,” shared Bill Kennedy, Roxy’s former FCS English teacher. “Her influence on the fabulous Class of 2020 was such that she encouraged her peers to keep learning, straight through senior seminars during COVID, and her classmates responded. Roxy led with intellectual courage and a rare gift for seeing the good in others.”

Through an F&M course, Roxy was a student teacher at a high school in Lancaster, PA last year. She has been selected by the Teach For America Corps program to teach English at a Philadelphia high school for the next two years.

We wish all the very best to these three remarkable young women, and we look forward to hearing more about them and their FCS classmates as they continue to make their unique mark on the world. 

Watch a recording of the Tyler Commencement here - Kalila speaks at 49:35
Watch a recording of the Brown Commencement here - Marielle speaks at 4:33:27
Watch a recording of the F&M Commencement here - Roxy speaks at 1:55:45