The Northern Vermont University Class of 2023 at both the Lyndon and Johnson had U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D) as the guest speaker at their commencement this year. Seniors told The Critic that there had not been a formal announcement regarding the guest speaker prior to the ceremony. “I looked at the [commencement] website occasionally and saw who it was,” Natalie Harriman said.
Balint served in the Vermont Senate for eight years representing the Windham district. Her initial 2014 election to office made her Vermont’s first LGBTQ+ person to be elected to the state senate. In office, Balint served as the party majority leader for four years before taking on the president pro tempore role of the Vermont Senate in 2021, making her the first woman and first LGBTQ+ person to do so.
This past fall, Balint moved to the national political scene, representing Vermont in Washington D.C. as part of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is also the first woman and LGBTQ+ person to represent Vermont at the national level.
After receiving a B.A. from Smith College in Massachusetts, Balint pursued a master’s in education from Harvard (1995) and a masters in history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2001). Prior to her career in politics, Balint put those degrees to use as a middle school teacher in Windham Country for fourteen years.
Most seniors that The Critic has spoken with prior to today had neutral feelings about Balint taking the stage. “I don’t know anything about her, but I [was] intrigued to see what she is going to talk about and learn more about her,” said senior Grace Ilsley-Greene. John Habershaw echoed that sentiment, following up by saying he’s “just excited to be graduating.”
However, Harriman was “a little excited.” She admitted that while she’s “not as into politics as [she] should be,” bringing Balint on board as “a representative of equality is nice.” Fellow senior Symone Levels was also happy about the announcement, telling The Critic, “I’m just glad they got someone within the LGBTQ+ [community].”
Lyndon’s 111th commencement ceremony took place this Sunday, May 14 at 10:00 am on the varsity soccer field. There was also a simulcast in the Alexander Twilight Theatre lobby. If you could not make it to the Lyndon campus, however, a livestream of commencement can be found online at NorthernVermont.edu/Live.
Feature Photo courtesy of Rep. Becca Balint