Graduation Is Bittersweet as Sweet Briar College Is Likely to Close

The graduating seniors of Sweet Briar College paraded around the tree-covered courtyard on Saturday, their pink and green tassels swishing as they moved. A band of bagpipers and drummers set the rhythm of the commencement march, and parents and alumnae applauded the students as they passed. But the air of celebration and accomplishment was laced with melancholy, frustration and trepidation because the all-women’s college is set to close in August, probably making the class of 2015 the college’s last to graduate.