As I exit the Lang cafe with The New School’s 2016 student commencement speaker, Colin Bedell, he’s stopped by a student who beams, explaining that having Colin as a tour guide is what made him decide to commit to attending The New School.
With a dramatic hand gesture, Bedell assures me this wasn’t planned.
We had just wrapped up a two hour interview, initially planned for twenty minutes. After spending time with Bedell listening to his anecdotes about Long Island, astrology, and his love for The New School and its community, I am not at all surprised by this student and compliments.
Bedell received his BA from Eugene Lang College in 2014, majoring in Literary Studies with a concentration in NonFiction writing. He remained at The New School, transitioning to Parsons School of Design where he will graduate from this spring as a Provost’s Scholar in the Fashion Studies Masters program.
He took a great deal of time during our interview to explain the ways his education at The New School has enriched his perceptions of himself as an academic, mentioning astrology, forensic science, law, fashion, photography and writing as topics that he has passionately explored.
“The New School was really the first place I would say proactively saluted an academic intelligence within me.” Bedell said. “I feel like the Lang student doesn’t need to go to a school that everyone hears of. I don’t need to go here to impress you.”
Bedell is so vibrant and magnetic, it is difficult to formally interview him. He has a fabulous Long Island twang, which he is quite proud of, and like many who speak of him, I was intrigued by his ability to put others at ease.
Tansy Stowell, a close friend and graduate student majoring in fashion studies with Bedell says
“Walking around with him you know in sort of like this area it’s like walking around with almost like a mini celebrity, even before he was made commencement speaker.”
Students who applied around mid-February to be this year’s commencement speaker needed to have at least a 3.75 GPA, two recommendations from professors attesting to their public speaking skills, and a plan of written work that demonstrated the arch of the speech they wished to give.
Bedell received the news that he had been chosen out of 27 applicants via a phone call while walking down Fifth Avenue and begn crying immediately upon getting the news.
“I assumed she [Rachael Ritchie,Director of Student Success] was calling me to tell me I didn’t get it because her tone was so serious!” he said.
Bedell’s older brother Brandon was not at all surprised to hear he was chosen to speak. “I often find myself calling him Oprah.” he said.
Though his brother was not shocked, Bedell thought it would never happen.
“This is crazy, It’s nuts!” he says. “I was never a good student. I did terribly on the SAT’s, I was like in the lower graduating class, I got rejected from all the schools I applied to. I was never a top student.”
Francesca Granata, Director of the Fashion Studies Masters program, professor, and primary thesis advisor to Bedell says, “Colin is not only a very strong student, but he has also always been incredibly generous and supportive of his peers and the greater Parsons community within and outside the classroom.”
Bedell tells me about his hopes for his career before we part ways, which he alluded to earlier when he watched me shuffle through my notebook to find my questions and said, “I’m glad you came prepared. What’s your sign?”
“The best case scenario is that I get to build an astrology brand for queer audiences because there is no official platform for them to understand the way that astrology expresses itself” Bedell said.
He is the most animated when I ask him about having to give the speech, which he tells me was handed in about a week late. “I’m gonna be a nervous wreck until, and then the minute I have to go up there, I’m gonna find the strength I never knew I had.” We both agree that the comment and his dramatic delivery was very “Long Island,” though I also presume, this is just Colin.