CAMERON PLATT '12
NAMED VALEDICTORIAN OF
PRINCETON’S CLASS OF 2016
Cameron Platt has been incredibly busy since leaving Laguna,
and it appears she plans to stay that way! Cameron studied
at Laguna from seventh to twelfth grade and went on to
study both English and theater at Princeton University. This
past spring, she was named valedictorian for the Princeton
University Class of 2016. On May 31, she delivered a moving
speech at the university’s 269
th
commencement ceremony
in which she shared the story of her grandfather who left
the family because he was gay. He died of AIDS in 1986—
something she did not know about until she was a university
sophomore. She implored members of her class to keep the
voices of the marginalized top of mind as they moved on to
their next chapters.
“Any conversation about free speech must acknowledge the
relentless pressures that keep suppressed the voices of those
already disenfranchised,” she said. “When it comes to free
speech, we do not start with a level playing field.”
Cameron applauded students who spoke out during recent
race protests at the school, thanking them for showing her “the
most urgent purpose of speech: to make audible the inaudible,
to hold up the hurts that history has left unheard.”
In fall 2016, Cameron will attend the University of Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar, studying English literature and history.
Only 32 Rhodes Scholarships are offered worldwide each
year. Before heading to Oxford, Cameron spent the summer
working on Cyrano: A Love Letter to a Friendship, an original
play inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac and presented at the
Hollywood and New York Fringe Festivals.
ALUMNI S
POTLIGHT
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