The Graduate Division Commencement Ceremony took place on Sunday, June 17, on the Faculty Club Green. The event honored 475 UCSB students who have completed a graduate degree or credential program between Fall 2011 and Fall 2012 and who signed up to participate in the Commencement ceremony.
The featured speaker was Dr. Lisa Parks, a faculty member in the Film and Media Studies department at UCSB, and the student speaker was our own Indy Hurt. During her time as a graduate student at UCSB, Indy worked as the Graduate Division Academic Peer and as a GIS Research Analyst for three campus departments. Indy recently accepted a position as the iOS Research Coordinator – Geo Team for Apple.
Professor Keith Clarke described Indy’s commencement oration as “an excellent speech, beautifully delivered.” Here are Indy’s own comments:
“When the Graduate Division put out the call for the graduate student speaker, I knew that I wanted to share a positive message with our graduating class, but the idea for the speech came together over time. I started the process by searching YouTube commencement speeches and found interesting trends. Speakers wax poetically about achievements and the future, inevitably interjecting with suggestions on how to live your life. Perhaps this is the expected foundation for any commencement address, but I wanted to put my own spin on it. I also wanted my speech to be accessible with relatable references that could reach a broad multi-generational audience. With those goals in mind, I referenced the significance of introductions, the path between orientation and finally filing with Graduate Division, and a few choice stats like the fact that a mere 7.2% of the US population has a master’s degree, 1.9% have professional graduate degrees, and only 1.2% have obtained a doctoral degree. On Sunday, 248 graduates were hooded for doctoral degrees, all excited to be a part of that ‘one percent.’ I also referenced the importance of inspiring and mentoring others that are considering graduate education, particularly at a time when the rising cost of obtaining a graduate degree gives pause to many of those that hope to follow in our academic footsteps. This advocacy grew out of the numerous opportunities I have had to participate and become a part of a vibrant academic community of scholars.”
Geography Department grads who formally received their PhDs included Indy Hurt, Dayna Quick, and Nate Royal. While they have not quite finished their degrees but expect to do so in the next quarter, Carlos Baez (MA candidate) and PhD candidates Reggie Archer, Pam Dalal, Alan Glennon, and Justin Stohler were also hooded at the commencement ceremony. Kudos to Indy and the rest of Geography’s “1-7 percenters”!
Editor’s note: More photos of the ceremony can be seen here and here.
