In November, Leslie Gould ’15 sat at a table in Balfour-Hood with markers, methodically coloring a white paper bag with wide stripes of purple, green and orange. It was a simple decorative act, but it carried a powerful message: Wheaton is about diversity, community and acceptance of all.

The bag was one of 1,200 luminarias used to line the campus for the annual Vespers concert. Each year, Student Activities, Involvement & Leadership and Residential Life collaborate to place luminarias for the evening event.

In the past, the bags have been plain white. However, an incident last semester in which anti-Semitic graffiti was written at the Jewish Life House prompted resident advisors to add value to the luminaria experience this year by initiating a community-centered response.

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Nancy Gertner, a former U.S. federal judge, to be keynote speaker.

Gertner was appointed to the federal bench of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton in 1994. She retired from the bench in 2011 and now is a professor of practice at Harvard Law School, a position given to outstanding individuals whose teaching is informed by extensive expertise in law practice, the judiciary, policy and governance. She also taught at the Yale Law School while a judge.

Named one of “The Most Influential Lawyers of the Past 25 Years” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Judge Gertner has written and spoken throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. She has published widely on sentencing, discrimination, and forensic evidence; women’s rights; and the jury system. Her autobiography, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, was published in 2011.

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