President Valerie Smith's Charge to Njideka Akunyili Crosby ’04

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, a member of Swarthmore College’s Class of 2004 is one of the most important visual artists of our time. Njideka uses collage, drawing, painting, printing, and photo transfers to explore the tensions that naturally arise from an increasingly globalized world, encouraging her audience to question and consider how culture circulates and evolves across time and space.

Her work has garnered international attention  and has been showcased by major institutions such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Tate Modern in London; Zeitz MOCCA, Cape Town; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art in NY; and the Pérez Museum, in Miami.

Njideka has contributed to the beauty, complexity and power  of our shared visual language by illuminating the nuance and intersections of globalization, identity, and culture. In so doing, she reflects the depth and reach of her Swarthmore education. 

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, upon the recommendation of the faculty, and by the power vested in me by the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I have the honor to bestow upon you the degree of Doctor of Arts.