Carleton 2025–26 academic year begins with Opening Convocation featuring Raul Raymundo ’87
As the 2025–26 school year kicked off at Carleton, new students attended their first convocation address.
Under a late summer sun and the traditional Carleton cloud of bubbles, Carleton’s Class of 2029 attended their first convocation on September 15, 2025, alongside the rest of the Carleton community, with Raul Raymundo ’87 delivering the guest address. As tradition dictates, Opening Convocation is held on the first day of classes of the new academic year and exposes new students to the exceptional educational opportunity that the convocation series brings to Carleton. The event also honors students on the Dean’s List.
College Chaplain Schuyler Vogel ’07 began the remarks with a reflection on Carleton’s values, which the College’s convocation series represents. Vogel defined convocation as the embodiment of “not only the idea of togetherness, but the importance of bringing different voices together. Convocation is a weekly occurrence that reflects our strong commitment to academic inquiry and to learning and community.”
When Carleton President Alison Byerly took to the podium, she offered the audience advice on intentionality when learning, as well as practicing mindfulness around AI and with peers.
“You as students have within your control the two most important skills that you will bring to your education: attention and effort,” she said.
As Byerly ushered guest speaker Raul Raymundo ’87 to the podium, her pride in the accomplished alum matched her pride in her newest students.
A pioneer in many ways, Raymundo was a champion of the small Latine community on Carleton’s campus during his time, and his advocacy for his community now ranges far beyond Northfield, Minnesota. A proud Mexican immigrant, Raymundo spent most of his childhood in one Chicago neighborhood, where he returned after graduating from Carleton. Raymundo’s career in grassroots organizing has been staggeringly impactful — over years of work, Raymundo managed to leverage an initial $30,000 into over $800 million in community investment through his nonprofit The Resurrection Project (TRP), which has impacted thousands of individuals and families through housing, immigration, education, and economic mobility in Chicago’s southwest side, primarily Latine neighborhoods, and western suburbs. In the words of his Carleton classmates, as reported by Byerly, Raymundo is a “community-minded risk-taker with a passion to propel others towards active civic participation.”
For his part, Raymundo spoke directly to the Class of 2029, honestly accounting his academic low points as well as his successes. Raymundo reflected that his time at Carleton had impacted his roadmap of life in ways that he didn’t fully understand until decades later.
“Do strive to get on the dean’s list, but don’t let it consume you,” Raymundo said. “Twenty years later, it’s what you do with your life and your degree that matters the most.”
A self-described “perennial optimist,” Raymundo emphasized the importance of community in his convocation address, saying that “things will get better, especially if we work together.” According to Raymundo, tackling systemic problems starts with identifying specific, manageable issues within the greater problem and addressing those first. Grassroots activism, Raymundo advises, is no solitary task, and he aptly reminded those in attendance of the importance of diversity, not just in education but in race, religious identity, socioeconomic background, and more.
“I’m honored and humbled to stand here today and address not only the incoming Class of 2029, but really the next generation of leaders that I see out there,” Raymundo said. “… Buena suerte, good luck in building your own roadmap. I have faith in your values, taking action, and making a difference.”
As Vogel ended this year’s Opening Convocation, he left every Carleton student with one more reminder:
“This is not just a college, it is a community,” he said. “Remember that no matter the challenges around us, we can learn and grow together, we can be resilient together, and we can work to build the world we dream about together.”
Byerly’s full written remarks are on the President’s Office website, and a complete recording of Opening Convocation is archived on the Carleton Convocations website.