Twentieth Century

1971

Jewel Plummer Cobb Speaks at Commencement

Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb, Dean of Connecticut College, speaks at Wheaton’s 136th commencement and is awarded an honorary degree. As a biologist and cancer researcher, Plummer Cobb spent much of her career studying the cure for melanoma. Dr. Cobb’s speech emphasizes the importance of civic action beyond graduation. She concludes her speech to the Class of 1971 by assuring them that democracy is the “last, best hope for mankind.”