News Hartwick Names Sally Griffiths Herbert ’88, H’19 as 2022 Commencement Speaker
Hartwick College will welcome entrepreneur, equestrian, volunteer, and philanthropist Sarah “Sally” Griffiths Herbert ’88, H’19 as this year’s
Commencement speaker. Herbert will address the Class of 2022, their families, and the Hartwick College community on Saturday, May 21, 2022, in a ceremony that is expected to be held in person and on campus.
Herbert has maintained strong ties to her alma mater since graduating in 1988 with departmental distinction in anthropology. A current Hartwick College trustee, Herbert served on the Board from 2009 to 2018, and was reelected in 2019. She has chaired both the Facilities and Student Affairs Committees and she and her husband Tim co-chaired the successful Campaign for Hartwick Students: It’s Personal.
“If there is a playbook for how to live a good and authentic life, Sally has written it,” says Hartwick President Margaret L. Drugovich. “She can speak to our new graduates about how to carry social capital forward from this college experience to create both professional success and a fulfilling personal life. I admire Sally; she is the perfect speaker for this special Commencement as we celebrate out 225th anniversary.”
“This invitation to speak at Hartwick’s Commencement is a once in a lifetime opportunity and such an honor,” Herbert says. “I’m excited to be able to look this class in the eye and tell them about all the good things to come.”
Herbert put her Hartwick degree to work as a field archaeologist for the Office of Public Archeology at Boston University on the “Big Dig” Project of Boston and later at two independent dig sites in the Upper Valley where she lives. She and her husband, Tim, became small business partners soon after, first as the owners of Ski Whaleback, Ltd. Resort in New Hampshire, and now of their 320-acre Ring Brook Farm where they own and board horses. She is director and instructor of horse management for the Kimball Union Academy Equestrian Program, which she runs from their farm.
Herbert is a District Commissioner for the United States Pony Club (USPC); a 19-year District Commissioner for Shaker Valley Pony Club; and both the Horse Management Organizer and the Championships Coordinator for the White Mountain Region within USPC, among other leadership responsibilities. She was a founding officer of the Upper Valley Ski Snowboard Association and a founder of the Hartwick College Ski Club in 1985.
Extraordinarily generous, Herbert’s gifts to her alma mater are guided by her experiences as a student, alumna, and trustee. Inspired by her two life-changing J Term experiences as a student, she and her husband endowed The Sarah Griffiths Herbert ’88 and Timothy Herbert Endowed J Term Scholarship in the last campaign. Remembering the life-saving classes – and life advice – she received from Swim Coach Dale Rothenberger, the Herberts made major gifts to renovate the pool and locker rooms; the College recognized this by naming the Sally Griffiths Herbert ’88 Aquatic Center. When the Hartwick community recently formalized its commitment to innovation, the Herberts made an endowment gift to name the Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation in honor of her father, Jim Griffiths.
Griffiths Herbert was presented with an honorary doctor of letters degree as part of Hartwick’s 2019 Commencement exercises. At that time, President Drugovich recognized Herbert for her “devotion to what is most human – fidelity in friendship, investment in the growth of others, and thoughtful, future-focused generosity.”
For additional information on Hartwick’s 2022 Commencement ceremony, contact Executive Director of Campus Vibrancy and Commencement Coordinator Paul Habernig at 607-431-4874 or commencementinfo@hartwick.edu.