President Valerie Smith's Charge to Marshall Curry '92

Marshall Curry, Swarthmore Class of 1992, is an Academy Award-winning director, producer, cinematographer, writer, and editor.  

He received an Oscar in 2020, winning in the category for Best Live Action Short for The Neighbors’ Window. He has been nominated for an Academy Award on three other occasions for his documentaries — in 2019 for A Night at The Garden, a film exploring the power of demagoguery and anti-Semitism in the United States; in 2012 for If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front; and in 2006, for Street Fight, chronicling the mayoral campaign of future U.S. Senator Cory Booker. 

Street Fight and two of Marshall's other films have been featured in the American Documentary Showcase, a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department, to share the art and practice of documentary filmmaking with the international community. Through the showcase, he has traveled to Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, and Ukraine to lead classes and discussions about documentary filmmaking.

The breadth of stories that Marshall tells in his filmmaking showcases his talent and his curiosity about people and the world.  

And now, Marshall Curry, 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.