Award-winning screenwriter Shonda Rhimes ’91 will deliver this year’s Commencement address. Creator, head writer and executive producer of television shows “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” Rhimes will be the 11th woman to address a graduating class as the featured speaker since the start of the 20th century. The Dartmouth talked to Rhimes about her memories of Dartmouth, her advice for graduating seniors and her plans for her trip to Hanover.
Do you have any particular meals or activities planned for your time in Hanover?
I plan to eat at EBAs, because you have to have some EBAs while you’re there. I was talking to my freshman year roommate, and she was reminding me that the fries were particularly good, so I’m going to go have fries.
I’m going to go check out my old dorms — freshman and sophomore year I was in the River cluster. I spent a lot of time in the Hop, because I did a lot of theater stuff, and I spent a lot of time in the library, in Baker at Sanborn because I was an English major, so I might go hang out there for a while.
How did you react when you were invited to speak?
I think my first thought was horror and dismay, just because I am not a person who likes to speak in public for any reason. I like to write things and make other people say them — I’ve made a living doing that. But I kind of like the challenge of it, and I feel like I actually have something to say. And when the College President calls and asks you directly, it’s fairly hard to say no, although I was tempted. But I went ahead and said yes just because I felt like speaking in public is not my favorite thing to do, but it is Dartmouth — I probably wouldn’t do it anyplace else — and I feel like I actually have learned some relevant things that hopefully will be helpful.
What are your clearest memories of your time at the College?
I was really happy at Dartmouth. I remember being very, very cold a lot, and I live in California now, so that might be a reaction to that. I remember spending a lot of time at the Hop until 2 a.m., hanging out and painting sets and doing plays together, which was really fun. I remember being in the basements of some fraternities until 2 a.m. as well. Mostly I just remember the friends I made and the people I met and the experiences that I had.
You’ll be the 11th woman to ever address a Commencement gathering as a featured speaker since the start of the 20th century. What does that mean to you?
That feels very Dartmouth to me, in its own Dartmouthy way. Dartmouth always has a lot of catching up to do in the chick department. It keeps making efforts and strides — there have been a lot of women in recent history. When I graduated Elizabeth Dole was our speaker. And there’ve been a lot of women since that period of time. So it feels like there’s been a big effort being made, so that’s a good thing.
What was your experience on campus as a woman of color? And what does it mean to you to be a role model for so many students of color on campus right now?
I always have a problem with being asked that question, and I will tell you why. I can’t tell you what my experience on campus was as anybody else. I couldn’t tell you what my experience was like as a white man because I wasn’t a white man. My experience on campus as a woman of color was just what my experience was. I had a great time at college. I made a lot of great friends — I had a really diverse group of friends. It worked for me.
In a weird way, and I joke about this, the culture of the College, which at the time felt very male and a little bit more conservative than I was used to, absolutely contributed to my ability to be able to step into any room of conservative guys from the East Coast or conservative guys from anywhere and feel completely comfortable. Which helps me in working environments all the time. I was never uncomfortable standing in a room full of men and telling them what I thought. I was never uncomfortable being the black woman in the room telling a bunch of people what I thought, so in a weird way my experience on campus was very helpful.
How did your academic and extracurricular work at the College help prepare you for the work you do now?
I wrote for The Dartmouth for a little bit, and what I discovered was that I wasn’t that interested in the truth. I remember writing for the paper, and I said, “this is really fun, but it would be so much more fun if I could make some stuff up.” The facts are fairly boring. So I stopped writing for the paper, because obviously you don’t want to be the person who’s plagiarizing in the paper.
I did a lot of acting, which is the opposite of who I am, and I think I did it because I felt like I was a shy person and it was going to be hard for me.
I thought college was the time to try all the stuff that you’re never going to try in the real world. I took a bunch of art classes and drawing classes. I’m a terrible artist. I had the best time doing it. Coming out into the world having spent my time in college exploring everything I wanted to, taking classes because they were new to me, taking every astronomy class that was offered just because I thought astronomy was interesting, meant that when I got out I felt very well rounded. I knew a lot about stuff, and I felt confident diving into something new. I’ve never been afraid to try something.
What was it like going out for that first acting audition?
It was fairly terrifying. For all the acting groups, there were always the senior people, who had been there forever. And there was always the sense of, you’re somebody new coming in. I don’t even know what I was thinking when I showed up. But it felt fun and it felt different. And none of my friends were doing it, which was even stranger. It wasn’t like I went with a bunch of my friends from my dorm who I knew. Your skin feels like it’s on fire and you’re terrified, and that’s how you know you’re supposed to be doing it.
What do you remember about your own senior week?
I remember very little. Here’s why. I was very unhappy with the fact that I was graduating. I was the mopiest, most pathetic girl on campus. Mainly because I did not know what I was going to do next.
I was always the person with the plan, and I didn’t have one at the time. I decided I didn’t want to go to graduate school. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I was very unclear as to how that was going to happen. Mostly I remember spending all the time I could with friends. And then sitting sullenly in my dorm room watching my parents pack up my stuff while I refused to help them because I didn’t want to leave. I behaved like a 2-year-old. I was so unhappy.
What advice would you offer for soon-to-be graduates who may be in the same shoes?
Get out of your parents’ house as soon as possible. Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, get a job and do something. It’s a paralyzing place to be. No matter how wonderful your parents are and how supportive they are, get out and start doing something.
How can you tell when you are writing authentically?
You get a hum in your brain. If you’re not a writer, this will sound crazy to you, and maybe this will sound crazy to you anyway, but I can’t explain it any other way. It is in a weird way why writing is a drug. If you don’t write for that feeling, I don’t know why people write. Because there’s nothing like it. A lot of what’s happening when you’re starting out as a writer is getting out of the way of everything that clouds that voice.
How much has your Dartmouth experience influenced your writing and your shows?
I think a lot of it. I would say not so much in Scandal. Olivia Pope is much more of the grown-up me, the me that runs a company and has people working for her. But Meredith Grey and Christina Yang are definitely those girls who drank tequila and sit at a bar and work really hard and are trying to learn something. That was just me in college in so many ways. They’re very much, even though Christina didn’t go to Dartmouth — Meredith did — they’re very much Dartmouth girls. That is who they are. Their attitudes and perceptions of the world are filtered through that.
Any sneak peeks of the upcoming episodes of Scandal or Grey’s?
No. Nice try.
This interview has been edited and condensed. For additional questions, see Dartbeat.com.
