The Class of 2024 Class Day chairs have announced that actor Sam Waterston, known for his role in NBC’s “Law & Order,” will be the 2024 Class Day speaker. In the video message announcing their pick, the Class Day chairs highlighted Waterston’s creative career and connections.
Waterston follows in the tradition of previous Class Day speakers, who have included filmmakers, actors, and public servants. The speakers come to “entertain and advise the class,” according to the Princeton Class of 2024 webpage. Class Day takes place the day before Princeton’s Commencement and will include speeches by students and an awards presentation.
In a written comment, the Class Day Committee wrote, "We’re very excited to welcome Mr. Waterston to campus and look forward to hearing from him. He’s a talented actor with a multigenerational appeal, captivating audiences on and off screen for decades.”
For the past 18 years, Waterston has played “Law & Order” district attorney Jack McCoy, for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award. He announced in February that he would be leaving the role on the television show, which the Class Day chairs likened to the experience of graduating seniors.
“After 18 years [as] students, we’re also on the verge of transitions and new adventures, and we look forward to sharing this moment with Mr. Waterston,” co-chair Julie Levey ’24 said in the video. This year’s other co-chairs include Aisha Chebbi, Brian Li, and Class of 2024 President Sydney Johnson.
Waterston graduated from Yale University in 1962 and made his debut on Broadway that same year. Throughout his career, he has received a Primetime Emmy Award, multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild award nominations, and two BAFTA award nominations for his other roles. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as journalist Sydney Schanberg in the 1984 film “The Killing Fields.” In addition, he has made appearances in “Grace and Frankie,” Saturday Night Live, “The Dropout,” and “Family Guy.”
The video announcement also highlighted Waterston’s connections to Princeton. Waterson played the role of Princetonian F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character Nick Carraway in the 1974 film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for this performance. In the 1980 BBC miniseries “Oppenheimer,” he portrayed Princeton physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of the Oppenheimer Project and director of the Institute for Advanced Study.
“[Waterston’s] commitment to his craft and various art forms is especially inspiring as we each follow our own paths,” Levey said in the video.
The video also mentioned Waterston’s activism for climate action and ocean preservation. In 2019, NBC News reported that Waterston was arrested for “alleged unlawful demonstration” while protesting the Trump administration’s climate change policies outside of the U.S. Capitol. He also serves on the board of directors for Oceana, an international advocacy organization focused on ocean conservation.
Waterston is also a Board Member Emeritus for Refugees International and earned the Goodermote Humanitarian Award from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Waterston will address the Class of 2024 on Cannon Green during the Class Day Ceremony on Monday, May 27.
Elisabeth Stewart is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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