New York, NY — Barnard College announced today that Shabana Basij-Rasikh, Afghan education advocate and co-founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), will deliver the keynote address at the College’s 133rd Commencement ceremony on May 20, 2025, at Radio City Music Hall.
Basij-Rasikh will also receive the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the College’s highest honor, alongside three extraordinary Barnard alumnae who have shaped the fields of science, history, and the arts:
- Helen Berman ’64, pioneering scientist and founding force in structural biology and computational chemistry;
- Dr. Judith Weisenfeld ’86, acclaimed scholar of African American religious history whose work has reshaped the study of race and religion in American life;
- Jeanine Tesori ’83, visionary composer and the most awarded woman composer in Broadway history.
“We are honored to welcome Shabana Basij-Rasikh to Barnard, and to welcome Helen, Judith, and Jeanine home,” said Barnard President Laura Rosenbury. “Each of these women has kept going long after others might have stopped, and shown the Class of 2025 what’s possible when women lead. Together, they reflect the best of Barnard: bold ideas, fierce resolve, and an unshakable belief in the power of women’s education.”
“I am deeply honored to join Barnard College in celebrating its remarkable Class of 2025,” said Basij-Rasikh. “These scholars are and always will be a part of something profoundly transformative: they are members of a global sisterhood that crosses borders and generations. I’m honored to speak to them as they embark on their professional lives.”
Basij-Rasikh has devoted her life to one powerful belief: that educating girls transforms societies. As a young girl in Kabul, she disguised herself as a boy just to go to school. Later, she founded SOLA, the first and only boarding school for Afghan girls, to give them a future their country often denied them. She orchestrated the evacuation of her students and school community from Kabul, ultimately relocating SOLA’s operations to Rwanda. Today, the school continues its bold mission to educate a rising generation of Afghan girls, ensuring that young women have the opportunity to pursue their dreams in safety and with dignity.
Basij-Rasikh is a magna cum laude graduate of Middlebury College and holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Oxford. She has earned global acclaim for her tireless efforts to expand access to education and opportunity. She was named one of Newsweek’s 150 Women Who Shake the World and was the recipient of the National Geographic Society’s Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year award. She was also named an inaugural Carnegie Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University’s newly launched Institute of Global Politics. Her work is a beacon of hope in regions where girls’ education is under constant threat.
Together, these honorees embody the power of women’s education and the lifelong community that connects generations of Barnard graduates.
Barnard’s 133rd Commencement ceremony will take place on Tuesday, May 20, at 4 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The ceremony will be livestreamed at barnard.edu/commencement.
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