Smith College School for Social Work

Tiff Garcia, M.S.W. '26, was named the NASW Student of the Year. Nominators wrote that they bring love, political consciousness, and a sacred rage that takes on injustice into their work and their life.

Quoting activist Mariame Kaba, who wrote that love is a requirement of principled struggle, and that hope is a discipline, Tiff shared some of their perspective on hope, love and social work.

"I know I’m a good clinician because my field work is interwoven with my own lived experience, through the guidance of mentors, the holding of my communities and the teachings of the elements. Fighting injustice through love is part of the air that I breathe. Care is an epistemology, a way of knowing and being in relation.

At 21 years old I realized that giving in to hopelessness was a disservice to my very survival…Having hope is difficult; submitting to hopelessness is easy. Hope as a discipline means clutching it with every ounce of strength because our survival depends on our being able to see the good things in a sea of bad. Hope is a form of universal care— it entails valuing our hard work and believing a better day will come because of it.

This award is not just about what I did here on campus or what I do in my personal life— it’s about the work that needs to be done, should be done, has been done and is being done all around us; by community healers, caretakers, movement organizers, accomplices and comrades."

Ph.D. Class Speaker Cheryl Aguilar, Ph.D. '26 shared a compelling statement that hope is a daily practice of connection. She reminded graduates that justice demands self-reflection, and family and community can provide the strength and wisdom to navigate social work's challenges.

"As scholar Kaethe Weingarten teaches us, hope is something we actively do for and with each other. It is through mutual choosing and shared witnessing that hope becomes active. It requires those in despair to resist isolation, and those of us witnessing it to refuse indifference. I see this active hope in people who protest loudly in the streets and in those advocating behind closed doors like my former intern Lucy Haney, an M.S.W. graduate in the room, whose questions inspired our practice to rethink some of our policies.

To all of us, keep challenging the status quo, especially when the status quo is us.

We also bring something vital into the future: our lived experience and embodied knowledge. It is these deep-rooted truths that remind me of a powerful activist proverb: They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.

Graduates, as we continue fighting towards the world we know to be possible, there will be spaces that fail to see our worth, systems that resist our work, and moments that make us question whether we belong, during those times let’s continue to take roots in our values, helping one another and communities feel seen, while remaining our authentic selves yet open and brave enough to grow."

Photos by Shana Sureck Photography and Tracey Eller

M.S.W. Class Speaker Gabby Samaripa, M.S.W. '26, gave a powerful speech on community and land as teachers, and shared hopes for grads to stay creative, find joy and to use their privilege for good as they leave Smith.

"...what actually brought me here was the land that this campus resides on - a respected elder and home to the Nonotuck peoples. See, this land is powerful in its manifestation capabilities and it brought me here, it brought us here, because it was time to find each other. The land taught me that it IS time to learn, organize, serve, create, dream, grieve, scream, love - together. The land taught me that the journey to liberation, to our journey to liberation, is done within solidarity with one another and must be rooted in community, not within an institution for these are the very systems we advocate to revolutionize.

'If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.' - Lilla Watson

..A hope I’m holding for my fellow colleagues as we go out into the world and leave our little Smith bubble, is to stay creative when it comes to tending to our relationships. Please keep dancing. Please keep seeking to play with one another. Please keep finding the joy in the mundane. We will be entering various systems of oppression where we will have a ridiculous amount of privilege in, and with all that power comes with a whole heck of a lot of responsibility. So what are we doing with that power if not alchemizing it for the people? What are we doing with our privilege if not being bold in our discernment? What are we doing in this field if not working from a place of radical love?"

Celebrating the Class of 2026, their incredible work that will move social work forward, and everyone who helped them get to this moment.

Photos by Shana Sureck Photography and Tracey Eller.

Big congratulations to the M.S.W. Class of 2026– you made it! Tomorrow we will celebrate all your hard work and achievements at commencement.

Photo by Shana Sureck Photography

The recent annual Practicum Faculty Adviser (PFA) Conference was filled with connections, joy and focus on student learning and experiences. We welcomed 12 new PFAs and shared PFA wisdom from our senior advisers. Students met in-person with PFAs in preparation for the coming practicum year. Many PFAs are alumni— can you spot any?

A handful of moments from the 2026 Deepening Clinical Practice Conference last week. It was fun, focused and packed day that brought alums and social work practitioners together and sparked collaborations, new ideas and connections.

Shoutout to the Alumni Leadership Council (second photo) for providing excellent guidance and support before, during and after.

Photos by Shana Sureck Photography