Students From All Colleges Unite to Celebrate
as UCSD Revives Tradition of All-Campus Graduation
By Ioana Patringenaru | June 23, 2008
This year's new All Campus Graduation Celebration concluded with fireworks above RIMAC Field.
It all started with the low rumble of Japanese taiko drums and an audience of students, parents and alumni clapping and cheering to the rhythm of the beat. Then students, both undergraduate and graduate, got some advice from UC San Diego top administrators about life after college. Finally, bouquets of fireworks lit up the night, much to the delight of the celebrating crowd.
UCSD revived its all-campus graduation tradition Thursday evening at RIMAC Field and 500 members of the campus community turned out for the occasion. About 1,000 also enjoyed a Bear Garden reception held after the event.
“UC San Diego has a way of creating new traditions and this is one of the best,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said Thursday.
The goal of the All Campus Graduation Celebration was to provide seniors with an opportunity to get together and celebrate with friends from other colleges, said Gary Ratcliff, assistant vice chancellor of Student Life. The idea for the event came out of the 2005 Undergraduate Student Experience and Satisfaction report. In recent years, each college held their own graduation ceremony, but no campuswide event took place.
“Students really wanted a time where they could come together as an entire university and have a large-scale event that was worthy of their hard work at UCSD,” said Emma Sandoe, who co-chaired the committee that planned the celebration.
For senior Cristina Otegui, a Thurgood Marshall student, the all-campus event was an opportunity to celebrate with her boyfriend, who hails from Muir. “We all have our own college graduations, but we’re all one school,” she said. “So getting together is a great experience.”
Sally “Sundae” Smith and Stacey Hills, both from Sixth College, had come in hopes of reuniting with fellow theater majors from other colleges. “I think it’s a great idea,” Smith said. “We have a lot of classmates who are not from Sixth College. Once we leave campus, we could never see them again.”
Outstanding Students
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox gave the
keynote address during Thursday's event.
The all-campus event also brought about the creation of two awards to recognize an Outstanding Senior and an Outstanding Graduate Student. The inaugural senior award went to all campus graduation organizer Sandoe. During the past five years at UCSD, she has led the university’s Student Foundation and co-chaired UCSD Cares. She also has served on the Associated Students and on the Revelle Assembly. She was so focused on rewriting the Student Foundation’s bylaws that she spent much of her free time last summer working on them. She will head this fall to George Washington University to pursue a master's degree in public health policy.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Sandoe said after receiving a trophy, a $1,000 check and a lifetime membership in the Alumni Association.
This year’s Outstanding Graduate Student, Serena Moseman, also is headed for the East Coast. After graduating with a doctorate in oceanography from UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, she will complete a post-doctoral fellowship at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Moseman is the first in her family to graduate from a four-year university and has been a tireless advocate for diversity on campus. A Filipina and Chicana, she is a founding member of the Raza Graduate Student Association. She comes from a long line of single mothers, for whom getting an education has always been a challenge, she explained. Her mother has always been a strong advocate for pursuing an education precisely because of these obstacles, Moseman added.
Moseman’s mother recently went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Diego State University the weekend before her daughter defended her doctoral dissertation. “It’s been a great time our in our family,” Moseman said. Thursday night, she posed with family for pictures. “I was a little nervous at first,” she confided. “This is nice.”
Advice for graduates
About 500 members of the UCSD community, including students, parents and alumni, turned out.
But some of those who attended the ceremony said they were disappointed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled his appearance as the event’s keynote speaker. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees asked Kennedy not to speak at UCSD. The union has also asked commencement speakers at other UC campuses to cancel their scheduled speeches, including former President Bill Clinton's appearance at UCLA's College of Letters and Sciences.
Just as UCLA Chancellor Gene Block stepped in after President Clinton canceled, Chancellor Fox delivered the keynote address Thursday here. She said she had personally met in recent days with union members, as well as supporters of the Student Worker Collective at UCSD and the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. “I have great sympathy for the workers,” she said.
Fox went on to say she would do her best to fill in for Kennedy. She pointed out that this probably was not the first commencement for most audience members. But they also probably don’t remember most of the advice dispensed at other ceremonies, she added. “So this might be your last chance,” she said jokingly.
Fox advised graduates to hang on to their personal curiosity. “It’s the doorway to truth,” she said. She also urged them to stick to the work ethic they acquired during their years at UCSD. Finally, she warned them to be prepared for adversity and failure in their quest for the truth. “If you leave here carrying the joyful burdens of unbridled curiosity, a strong, disciplined work ethic in pursuit of truth and full freedom of inquiry, you are bound to succeed,” Fox said.
Serena Moseman salutes the audience after receiving the Outstanding Graduate Student Award during Thursday's all-campus celebration.
After Fox’s speech, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Penny Rue also shared words of advice with the audience. She reminded graduates that it’s okay to make mistakes and learn from them. “Don’t be a perfectionist,” Rue urged. “But instead lap it up when someone is willing to give you pointers.” In the next decade, many of the students in the audience will be working to define who they are; what they want to do; and who they love, she predicted.
“Your lives have been so structured, the stakes so high,” Rue said. “It’s time to get yourself free and follow a script you write yourself.”
Also speaking at the event were Marco Murillo, the 2007-08 Associated Students president; Doug Jorgensen, the 2007-08 Graduate Student Association president; Jim Posakony, the outgoing Academic Senate chair; Sarah Chang, president-elect of the Student Foundation and graduating senior Nishma Doshi.
Fireworks and food
Japanese taiko drummers performed at the beginning of the ceremony.
After the celebration, many students could mull over speakers’ advice at a Bear Garden set up at RIMAC Field. They could also fill up on hot dogs, spicy chicken wings, nachos, cookies, brownies and drinks. As dusk descended on La Jolla, they watched as red, white, green, gold and blue fireworks filled the sky.
“It was a really nice ceremony,” said April Deibert, a Muir graduate. “A lot of people were disappointed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t come, but it turned out fine.” Deibert and Tiffany Ford, a graduate student, both said they enjoyed Vice Chancellor’s Rue speech. “I think she represents UCSD very well,” Ford said. “I am just very impressed with her.”
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