Author: Dan White
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Crossing and Zooming: A joyful 2021 commencement
This year’s UC Santa Cruz commencement festivities blended online ceremonies with jovial, in-person gatherings, including “Slug Crossings,” a chance for graduates to cross a stage on campus with their caps, gowns, and tassels while loved ones cheered them on.
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Jonah Gertz
Jonah Gertz tried to choose between his two academic passions: intensive history and music. But, he said, the choice was impossible since he was surrounded by so many different opportunities to grow as both a historian and musician.
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Katharina Pierini
The qualities of patience, perseverance, focus, hard work, and striving to achieve an elusive goal helped Katharina Pierini hold the course toward a UC Santa Cruz diploma, an educational path she completed in spite of a 27-year-long delay and a devastating wildfire.
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Nabeela Ariqat
Nabeela Ariqat, a first-generation college student, hoped for a new beginning at UC Santa Cruz, which she attended in part because “I felt like I could be who I was,” she said.
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Vaishnavi Dornadula
Vaishnavi Dornadula was a leader in creating the first-ever Baskin Day celebration, which launched in February 2020. Since then, it has turned into a popular campus tradition, with students from across the disciplines, as well as off-campus visitors.
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Montserrat Lopez
Montserrat Lopez dedicated her college career to art, outreach, activism, and giving back to the communities that have sustained her. With her far-ranging goals and ambitious course of study, Lopez had not a minute to lose when she transferred to UC Santa Cruz last year.
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David Sanchez Godinez
David Sanchez Godinez arrived at UC Santa Cruz with a passion for scientific exploration. Taking a full load of science classes and getting hands-on learning honed his scientific knowledge—especially his experience working as an undergraduate researcher.
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Found in translation
Marine scientist Stacy Jupiter, the 2020 Alumni Achievement Award winner, translates science and analysis in ways that inspire people to change behaviors.
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Legendary oceanography professor has made sea changes in students’ lives
Devoted professor and beloved mentor Gary Griggs has no plans to step down—or even slow down—after 53 years of teaching, advising, and advocating for the environment.
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A day to Baskin the glory
Student Vaishnavi Dornadula played a leadership role in launching the popular Baskin Day celebration, which invites the community to learn about the achievements of Baskin School of Engineering faculty and students
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Science to the people
Four years ago, alumnus George Kraw launched the Kraw Lectures, an impassioned defense for scientific inquiry. Free and open to the public, the series covers topics ranging from the Antarctic in a time of climate change to the possibility of self-driving cars creating future gridlock.
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Bearing witness to COVID at UC Santa Cruz
Stories of resilience and loss are preserved in The Empty Year: An Oral History of the Pandemic(s) of 2020 at UC Santa Cruz, an immersive project that includes a 540-page published book