PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth Abbey awarded diplomas to 95 students in commencement exercises on May 29, with the graduates representing 12 foreign countries, from Nigeria to Peru, and 20 U.S. states.
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Following a welcome by Headmaster Daniel McDonough, the Abbey’s Prior, the Right Reverend Dom Matthew Stark, O.S.B., delivered the Invocation.
Claire Flowers Davidson, of Newport, served as one of two Class of 2016 speakers, along with Andrew Brandt Matthews, of Rye, N.Y. “Today we leave the Abbey, but the Abbey will never leave us,” Davidson said. “Every moment we have spent together has led to lasting friendships, every teacher whose passion has cultivated our desire to learn, and every team we have joined have prepared us mentally and physically for this moment. But what we didn’t realize was how hard it would be to leave each other.”
Conor Bohan, Class of ‘86, delivered the commencement address. Bohan, who went on to graduate from Brown University before setting out to work in the U.S., England, France, Italy and Haiti as a commercial fisherman, short-order cook, house painter, bartender, hotel receptionist, carpenter, teacher, sports coach and international development manager, founded in 1996 what would become Haiti’s largest university scholarship program. As a high school volunteer teacher in a Haiti outreach ministry rooted at St. Joseph Parish in Providence, Bohan gave a graduating student $30 so that she could register for the local medical school’s entrance exam. That gesture was the genesis of HELP. A comprehensive merit and needs-based scholarship program that has since allowed hundreds of top-performing Haitian students to attend a university, preparing them to enter Haiti’s workforce, with a mission to create a community of young professionals and leaders who will promote in Haiti a more just society.
“Explore all of your interests in college and continue to explore after college, and don’t be afraid to change what you’re doing if you realize that there is something you are more interested in,” Bohan said.
Graduating Class of 2016
David Roger Allen, III
Kiahna Marie Almeida
Antonia Marie-Thérèse Ambrose
Jade Ann-Margaret Asiu
Sara Elizabeth Bertuccio
Emily Mei-Lin Bogan
James William Briand
David Michael Brower
Emma Claire Butler
Zoe Ann Butler
Jon Robert Campau
Chloe Joy Canning
Bailey Lorne Carter
Katie Mei Chen
Jun Young Choi
Seha Choi
Christopher Chow
Anthony Joseph Alphonsus Christian
Siddharth Reuben D'Silva
Claire Flowers Davidson
Sean Michael DeMieri
Eleanor Rose Deutermann
Avery Schuyler Dey
Nicole Dickinson
Claire Nicole Doire
Kevin Jay Ellicks
Theodore James Fenton
Lucy Sarah Ferry
Ludovico G. Gallo
Nicholas Jacob Gartner
Yuelin (Alex) Guo
Zane Emmanuel Hamel-Smith
Mary Rocio Hobbins
Eric Christopher Holden
Joseph Flaherty Maximilian Jannotta
Oliver Flynn Jantz
Mathew Da Cunha Johnson
Carly Megan Johnston
Máimouna Kanté
Holly Ryan Kazama
Liam Patrick Kelly
Caellum Daniel Kerr
Hansu Kim
Yea Sum Kim
Thomas Alberto Knoepffler
Min Ji Lee
Shaokai Lin
Joy Rosaleen Loftus
Michael Frederick Ludwig
Ziyuan Stephen Ma
Amarachi Clare Madu
Rajahnah Imani Diana Matra
Andrew Brandt Matthews
Madison Elizabeth McCann
Jessica Ann McJones
Jacob Henry Mercier
Christopher Anthony Motta
James Aloysius Murphy, III
John Patrick Murphy
Katrina Isabella Castillo Nueva
Connolly Kathleen O'Brien
Rory Mario O'Connor
Seamus Timothy O'Connor
Finnian David O'Farrell
Ethan Shane O'Neill
Madeleine Ward O'Shea
Anjli Patel
Joshua Alec Pichette
Paulina Harbison Power
Benjamin Joseph Quick
Rose Marie Philomena Randolph
Ethan Alexander Richardson
Austin Paul Duvall Rooney
Conor Curran Rooney
Frank John Rybicki, IV
Cassandra Oshel Schuchert
Kelly Rose Shea
Ayanna Tahira Sommers
George Sturges
Rachel Tarjono
Nathaniel Tsung
Jocelyn Ann Varieur
Madeline Ann Villareal
Stephen Blaine Vye
Yazhen Wang
Christopher P. Weiss
Sydney Elizabeth Welch
Dante Malik Wentz
Elisha James Wilson
Thomas Franklin Winters
Susan Wu
Shenghe Xue
Jennifer May Thorpe Yates
Yifan Yu
Wanling (Tiffany) Zhang
