Avant-garde composer, singer, and filmmaker Meredith Monk delivered the commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College in 1985, speaking as both an alumna and one of the most innovative artists of her generation. Monk had spent two decades pushing the boundaries of vocal performance, creating works that defied categorization and challenged audiences to experience art in entirely new ways. Her call to resistance was rooted in her experience as an artist who had repeatedly been told that what she wanted to create was impossible, unmarketable, or incomprehensible. She urged graduates to reject the narrowing of possibilities that society imposes — not just in art but in all areas of life. The phrase 'without a fight' was key: Monk was not counseling passive resistance but active, creative opposition to limitations.