Commencement
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Celebrating the Class of 2025: Innovators, advocates, and future leaders
Highlighting a handful of graduates who are ready to make a difference
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Encouraging remote work during commencement and call for volunteers
Wherever it is operationally feasible, we encourage working from home. Some employees are needed on campus and are not able to perform their work remotely. Check with your manager or supervisor to discuss your options.
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Become a Commencement ambassadors needed
Over 4,000 Slugs will cross the stage June 13–16. We need ambassadors to help make sure everything runs smoothly during commencement. We’re hoping you’ll sign up!
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Rent regalia for free by May 10
Regalia rental for all faculty members and lecturers is available for free.
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Joy and perseverance
Commencement week was a grand celebration that included Slug Crossings, heartfelt speeches, cap tossing, photo ops, and accessorized cap-and-gown outfits. Graduates spoke of the challenges they faced on the way, savored time with their families, and discussed future plans.
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Amanda Quirk
Amanda Quirk’s research on galaxy mergers showed evidence that the Andromeda galaxy had some kind of major galactic collision in the past 4 billion years, and survived—which has implications for our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
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Benny Mosqueira
Benny Mosqueira felt driven to make something of himself, and he arrived on campus intending to become a medical doctor. Instead, the first-generation college student was captivated by the research opportunities he found at UC Santa Cruz and decided to pursue biomedical research as a career.
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Brittany Caldwell
Brittany Caldwell, a scholar focused on the impact of early-grade math instruction, has pulled off an impressive feat: earning her Ph.D. in math education and teaching hundreds of students in seminars, all while raising three children.
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Candy Martinez
The daughter of Oaxacan migrants, Candy Martinez has found a meaningful way to reconnect with her roots, investigating the ways in which Indigenous communities process and heal grief and trauma.
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Chailen August
Chailen August’s time at UC Santa Cruz put him on a path he never expected. Not only did he embark on a study of drill rap and its interpretation in Ghana, Africa, but, as part of a study-abroad program, he also had a visceral experience of what his enslaved ancestors may have endured.
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Maxwell Ward
Maxwell Ward always wanted to be an archeologist, following tales of adventure like the search for the tomb of Genghis Khan. But he realizes now that treasure hunting is the smallest part of being an archaeologist. The biggest part today is ethics, and helping make the discipline accessible to native people who have been historically…
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Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
Being half Latinx and half white, Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga always felt like she didn’t quite fit into either group. So she created her own community with her fall senior art show.