(orchestral music) - It is our pleasure to join with one another this evening to celebrate the graduation of the 13th entering class of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

If you're able and willing, all please rise for the singing of "America the Beautiful," a solo with Sarah Whitaker, music performance senior accompanied by the MSU Jazz Orchestra II under the direction of Randall Napoleon.

(orchestral music) ♪ Oh beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ For amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ For purple mountain majesties ♪ ♪ Above the fruited plain ♪ ♪ America sweet America ♪ ♪ God done shed his grace on thee ♪ ♪ He crowned thy good in brotherhood ♪ ♪ From sea to shining sea ♪ (audience applauding) - Thank you, Sarah, please be seated.

Let me begin by acknowledging that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabe peoples, the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi.

In particular, the university resides on land seated in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw.

On behalf of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, we recognize support and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan's 12 federally recognize indigenous nations, for historic indigenous communities in Michigan, for indigenous individuals and communities who live here now and for those who are forcibly removed from their homelands.

By offering this land acknowledgement has become increasingly more common, we affirm indigenous sovereignty and the complicated history of the university's land grant.

Now let me ask the class of 2023 if they're able to please rise and turn towards caregivers, parents, family members, either chosen or or given, and important loved ones.

The support of these individuals has enabled your success, let's thank them.

(audience applauding) Next, let me ask the class of 2023 to remain standing again if they're able and turn back towards the main stage and the RCAH faculty and staff who have guided you on your journey.

As you look on this group of RCAH leaders, I hope that you have many memorable thoughts about your time in the college.

Each of these individuals, each of us up here, has committed ourselves to the excellence of an undergraduate education in making RCAH the place it is today.

Please join me in thanking them for their support in your respective collective journey.

(audience applauding) You may be seated.

Please reserve your applause until the end as I recognize the platform party.

Our university official, the honorable Rema Vassar, Chairperson of the MSU Board of Trustees, and if you could stand there, thank you, and if the platform party could stand and wait until the applause, that would be great as well.

RCAH Director of Student Success and Advising, Marissa King, alumni representative, Gus Navarro, class of 2014, RCAH's faculty and academic staff and attendance, John Aerni-Flessner, Steve Baibak, Guillermo Delgado, Vincent Delgado, Tama Hamilton-Wray, David McCarthy, Laura MacDonald, India Plough, Lauren Russell, David Sheridan, Sitara Thobani, Estrella Torrez, and Scot Yoder.

And I'd also like to recognize the current RCAH faculty unable to attend, Eric Aronoff, Steve Esquith, Marsha McDowell, and Terese Monberg.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) Next, I'd like to publicly recognize our community partners, RCAH grad fellows, mentors, friends and supporters in the audience.

I would also like to take a minute to recognize RCAH staff, Moe Arvoy, Alyssa Briones, Marcus Fields, Allison Fox, Laurie Hollinger, Andrew Midgley, Pam Newsted, Kristin Phillips, and Rugelio Ramereiz.

Finally, I would like to thank Andrea Cliver and her colleagues for providing the captioning for our ceremony today, and I would also like to recognize the Wharton Center staff for hosting us on this important day.

(audience applauding) Today we bring together our graduates, along with their families and friends to honor you and your accomplishments.

We gather today while being mindful that our community is still mourning the violence experienced on February 13th.

It may be uncomfortable to celebrate while that occasion still consumes so much of our thoughts and feelings.

We are dedicated to supporting everyone who has been impacted by this event, including the students who were injured, witnesses to the violence, and families of those who were injured, who have passed.

As we begin to shift to a celebration such as today for your respective accomplishments, let us pause for a moment of silence to consider how we can live our lives in a way that honors all those Spartans, including those who are no longer with us.

I would now like to introduce the honorable Dr. Rema Vassar, Chairperson of the MSU Board of Trustees.

In addition to her role on the Board of Trustees, trustee Vassar also serves as professor in the College of Education at Wayne State University.

She earned her doctorate from UCLA and focuses her research on issues of equity, justice, access, and inclusion in education for minoritized communities.

We thank Trustee Vassar for her work on the board.

Trustee Vassar will greet the graduates and their guests.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Dean Miner.

It's really my honor to be here, my pleasure, I'm so happy that they invited me to come, I'm super happy.

On behalf of the MSU Board of Trustees, I welcome all the graduates, families and friends who are with us for this evening's undergraduate commencement.

Under the Michigan Constitution, the board of trustees is the governing body of the university by whose authority all of these degrees are awarded.

Today's ceremony represents the culmination of discipline, intellectual hard work, and creative imagination that has happened your entire time here at MSU.

This is no small accomplishment today, particularly given all that we've been through, some named by Dean Miner, others that we don't even know about that you've gone through, and I don't have time to enumerate all the ones that I do know in detail the many challenges you face and overcome, but you've gone through them, those are the key words, you've gone through, and now you're on the other side of this.

This class of 2023, there's never been one like it.

You're the most unique graduating class to ever walk the stage.

You've navigated trials, thrived through tribulations, aced tests that you were not prepared for, and those charged with your development who are here to give you guidance were positioned as learners alongside you.

We learned from you.

We're still learning what perseverance looks like, what compassion and grace feel like, and the incredibleness of Spartan's will, as you supported one another this year and all the years that you've been here.

You've been battle-tested and Spartan-approved.

This class gives me so much hope for the future.

I'm excited about the ways you will show up and change spaces for the better.

I'm looking forward to the more just equitable and loving world you will create through your intentional transformative leadership as you take your positions in life.

For you and your families here today, the sacrifices have been great.

This degree you have earned acknowledges your success and honors those who have encouraged it, and I just wanna take a moment to honor the mothers in this space.

All the people who have done any mothering, this is your weekend as well, happy Mother's Day to you.

(audience applauding) The Board of Trustees, our wish is that you'll always be leaders who generously use your intelligence and your knowledge to improve the quality of life for our communities, to advance the common good, and to renew hope in the human spirit.

I would also like to take this moment to recognize an RCAH graduate who received the Board of Trustees award, having achieved a 4.0 GPA at the end of their undergraduate career here at Michigan State University.

Congratulations, Ellie Stanislav, did I say that right?

Yay, nicely done.

(audience applauding) Our staff, faculty, administrators, and the trustees are all so very proud of each and every one of you, and each and every one of you, please accept our warmest congratulations.

Thank you so much for having us share in your special day, and best wishes, go green.

(audience applauding) - Congratulations, Ellie, and thanks Dr. Rema.

I would now like to recognize the following students.

So students who have participated in and fulfilled the requirement of the Honors College by completing enriched programs of study are identified as graduating with Honors College distinction.

These graduates wear a white-collar stole with the HC designation.

All RCAH students who are graduating as members of the Honors College, please stand and accept our congratulations.

(audience applauding) Thank you, please be seated.

Students who obtain a grade point average of 3.95 and higher are awarded University High Honor.

University Honor is awarded to students who have earned grade point averages of 3.81 to 3.94.

These honors are designated by the Gold Court added to the academic robes.

All students who are graduating with High Honor and with Honor, please stand and accept our congratulations.

(audience applauding) Thank you.

In recognition of Michigan State University's ongoing international commitment to study abroad and study away, I ask all graduates who have participated or are participating in a study abroad program or study away program while at MSU, please stand so that we may recognize you.

(audience applauding) I would also like to recognize those students who, in addition to earning their degrees in the arts and humanities, are also earning an additional major or second degree.

Would those students please rise?

(audience cheering and applauding) And finally, as you all know, community engagement is an important aspect of the student's experience in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

And I would ask that all students who have participated in a community engagement activity during their education in the college, please stand.

(audience applauding) Thank you, all.

I would now like to introduce Daniel Bayer, Jazz studies and instrumental soloist on the trombone performing "Doxy," composed by Sunny Rollins, and I'm ad-libbing here, but I think this was made famous by Miles Davis, and so Daniel Bayer will present this for your enjoyment.

(orchestral music) (audience cheering and applauding) Thank you, Daniel, and the entire jazz orchestra II for performing "Doxy" composed by Sunny Rollins and known by Miles Davis.

At this time, I'd like to introduce our first senior class speaker, Kimberly Guerra.

(audience cheering and applauding) (audience applauding) - So good evening, family, friends, and fellow graduates.

My name is Kimberly Guerra, and I'm honored to be here with you all today.

First off, I would like to congratulate the rest of the graduating class of 2023, we did it, woo!

(cheering) The day has come for us to rejoice in all the hard work that got us this far.

We can take a look back to the first time we stepped foot on this campus and reflect on all the challenging times we all share together.

I can say we have had so many obstacles come our way, and yet have more to come, but each time we show that together as a community, we have and will prevail.

I personally would like to thank God for this moment and giving me the strength to continue this journey.

I would like to thank my support system which has consisted of faculty, family, friends, and sorority sisters.

Without their support, I know that I would not have been able to be where I am today.

Because of them, I have been pushed to my fullest potential and have always had an unconditional love surrounding me.

I am a first-generation Latina, and I know that due to the sacrifices my parents have made, I was given the opportunity to pursue many things that they didn't within this country.

This degree is not only for me, but for them as well.

(audience applauding) (speaking in foreign language) Being in college has given me a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am sure it has been for so many of you as well.

We can take a look back at so many memories where we have come together in order to show love, unity, and determination for one another.

I would like to take a look back over the course of the last four years.

We started off with an amazing environment, all excited to make new friends, excited to learn more about the campus, and looking forward to being independent to a certain extent.

Halfway in mid-March of 2020, most of us were sent home due to COVID-19 our freshman year.

Eventually, we all had to come up with quick alternatives and became Zoom University, as many mentioned during our sophomore year.

We came back to campus as juniors and all covered up with mess, so it was an odd feeling because we all had to remain distanced.

Many things happened within those years, but most of us actually liked how convenient it was to not walk 15 minutes or get on the bus to go to class or liked how comfortable it was to turn on the laptop and log on from bed.

Our last year comes and the unimaginable happens.

Due to gun violence, we lost lives and students were injured.

I would like to take a quick moment of silence for those who are no longer with us.

We can't forget all that has happened, how challenging it has been for most of us, but it has brought us all together and made us value everything that we have in our lives.

Although it takes time for us to grasp, there was immense support from all around for every Spartan.

Despite the challenges we faced, it has brought us here today and made us more passionate to keep fighting for the change that is necessary.

After these years that have passed, we may ask ourselves what is going to happen next or feel that uncertainty, but it is empowering to know that all of us will do amazing things out in the real world, whether that be a full-time job, traveling, more schooling, et cetera, every option is another opportunity to keep learning more about ourselves.

We know that college has taught many of us to be on our own, to learn a few things about ourselves in many ways, and that will continue on throughout our lives.

Whichever path we choose, we can all agree that MSU and RCAH have a special place in our hearts and will be a big factor that help us pave the way for those to come.

We always have to keep in mind that we put in the work to get here, even through tough times, we didn't quit.

As I close out, I would like to leave a reminder, which is one of my favorite quotes by Michael Josephson that says, "Take pride in how far you've come, "and have faith in how far you can go."

(speaking in foreign language) Once again, congratulations, and go green!

(audience applauding) - (speaking in foreign language) Thanks, Kim, for your words.

I would now like to welcome our second senior class speaker to this stage, Margaret Lupton.

(audience applauding) (audience applauding) - That was wonderful, Kim, thank you.

Hello to my friends, faculty, and staff, and surprise to my family, to whom I've desperately tried to keep a secret that I'm speaking today.

Mom, does my hair look okay?

(chuckling) To my fellow members of the class of 2023, congratulations.

We made it, Spartans!

(audience applauding) We made it to the stage, gown on, I am so proud of us.

I know our college career did not go how any of us planned it.

Some things happened that none of us could have predicted.

I know I did not expect a global pandemic to hit and for us to have over a year of classes completely online.

I did not expect us to have to run, hide, fight, and mourn.

I did not expect to go through so many university presidents, (audience laughing) but then again, I did not expect that I would have a class where I sewed a duck out of recycled dorm bedsheets.

Shout out, Baibak.

(chuckling) I did not expect to be offered a class reading poetry with incarcerated individuals.

I did not expect to be so welcomed in my college community, so at home, I have really made myself at home in this residential college, as I have been a resident assistant in Snyder-Phillips for the last two years.

I lived in Sny-Phi my freshman year on one of the RCAH floors, of course, and just never left.

I was given the opportunity as an RA to foster community and act as a resource to my first and second-year students, many of them being RCAH majors.

Living on the same floor as a 22-year-old that you moved into as an 18-year-old is weird.

I walk down the same hallway every day, and it can feel like no time has passed.

I look into the same mirror of my same community bathroom, and I half expect it to be my 18-year-old self looking back at me.

Of course, it's not, it's this, a 22-year-old student who has withstood the unimaginable, but also a student who has survived Zoom classes, and mug nights at Louhas, humanities lecturers, and hundreds of hours in the LMC.

I know that my 18-year-old self would be so proud.

People, especially students, run on hope, the hope that you get that internship, the hope that you make it to class on time, the hope that you're not the only person in your class that didn't do the reading.

Don't worry, you weren't.

It's important to remind ourselves that's what has to keep us going, hope.

As we start this next chapter in our lives, this new season with new characters and plot twists, we'll face many hardships with the only way out through some pretty creative solutions.

I believe that through our education in the arts and humanities, we are ready for whatever challenges may be thrown at us.

We are equipped with an understanding of the world around us that is intersectional and multifaceted.

We graduate from this college with a comprehension of our surroundings that no other students can match.

We have the paint stains on our screen-printed t-shirts to prove it.

Our college experience was like no other.

Although we are all graduating with the same degree, no two RCAH students are alike.

Of course, we all follow one of the pathways within the colleges, but our interests and aspirations vary widely.

Alex Reeves is pursuing graphic design.

(audience applauding) Vanessa Thompson has an interest in meter production.

Marshall Smith is going to become an advisor and mentor to you.

(audience applauding) I am hoping to incorporate the lessons that RCAH has instilled in me into the films I make in the future, yay.

(audience applauding) This college has brought together a group of individuals with a passion for knowledge and a drive to carry the arts and humanities with them wherever life may lead.

This was a tough year.

I remember when the pandemic first hit, and we were all sent home grieving the freshman year experience that everyone else got to have.

While I was lamenting my freshman year, my sister was mourning this moment on stage, which she did not get to have when she graduated from MSU in 2020.

(audience applauding) Shout-out, Emily, I am up here for her.

Countless people told me, "At least, you will have your senior year."

What a senior year this has been.

I would like to take a moment to recognize and remember the students who will never have the chance to make it to their senior year and walk across the stage, Alexandria Verner, Brian Frazser, and Arielle Anderson.

Our lives will forever change that February day, but one thing shall remain constant.

We will always be Spartans.

As I am almost at the end of my speech, I have to confess something.

I started being an RCAH ambassador my first year, and I have consistently advocated for this college through my entire time at MSU.

I'm an RCAH stan at the end of the day, but I have to come clean.

Up until about three months ago, I have been calling us the Residential College of Arts and Humanities, not the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

My resume, every cover letter, every student and peer I have ever spoken to about this college has been misled.

Please find it in your hearts to forgive me.

(chuckling) Of or in, I will always have the arts and humanities with me.

Our professors made sure not to send us out into the world beyond college empty-handed.

As we embark into the real world, we are armed with creativity, understanding, and hope.

18-year-old me did not expect to be standing on the stage talking to you all.

She did not expect to meet her best friends right down the hall.

She did not to expect to form connections with professors and faculty that made this place feel like such a beacon of light during the darkest of times.

But that's what happened, and this is just the beginning.

Congratulations and happy graduation, class of 2023.

I will end my speech the way nearly every single speech on this campus has ended for generations, go green, thank you.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Maggie, and I must say I was the one that blew her clandestine cover and accidentally let her parents know that she was speaking this evening.

So at this point, I'd like to introduce our alumni speaker, Gus Navarro, class of 2014.

After graduating from RCAH in 2014, Gus moved to Detroit to teach in a high school on the east side as part of the AmeriCorps program, City Year.

Gus then moved to Bahia, Brazil, and taught English.

In 2016, he returned to Detroit to pursue a master's degree in communication from Wayne State University.

Since 2019, Gus has worked for ESPN in multiple capacities, first at ESPN Radio in Connecticut and then as a producer for ESPN films and "30 for 30" in New York City.

And with that, I'd like to welcome Gus.

(audience applauding) I want to start today acknowledging Dean Miner, the RCAH faculty, my family, and the friends and peers I have for my time here.

I'm incredibly honored to be speaking today and I wouldn't be without all of them.

And now, hello class of 2023.

(audience applauding) If you're anything like my classmates and I were on our graduation day, there's probably some mixed feelings, some excitement, I hope so.

Graduating from college is a big deal, perhaps a touch of existential dread.

That's understandable too.

You're all about to start the next chapter of your lives, and that can be stressful.

And if you're feeling like you're not even sure what this whole RCAH thing was even about, I hope sharing some of my journey will help you make sense of it.

Most of my childhood was spent right here in East Lansing, and let me tell you, the one thing I was obsessed with was the MSU Drumline.

I didn't exactly have a college plan, but I knew I wanted to be a snare drummer in the Spartan marching band.

Thankfully, I was accepted to MSU and eventually made the Drumline, which was all clearly very exciting.

There were, however, still some things to figure out, like what was my major actually going to be.

When I was applying to MSU in high school, my academic counselor told me about this relatively new major called the Residential College of Arts and Humanities.

She told me about how RCAH students live in Sny-Phi, which back then had the most recently renovated calf, and make their own path choosing classes based on their interests.

At the time, this sounded like a great way to declare a major without really declaring a major, like political science, communication, or pre-med.

Plus, I could always switch majors if I wasn't feeling it.

Once I started at RCAH, which I quickly learned is the preferred acronym, I pretty much knew this was the place for me.

Over the three-and-a-half years I was in undergrad, I was exposed to so many new ideas and concepts.

I learned about indigenous ways of knowing and self-determination, Afrocentrism in education, the concept of praxis, how feminism has evolved over the last century, and the staying power of blaxploitation films.

I also had the opportunity to do a lot of things like interview community members in a Lansing neighborhood that became part of a multimedia performance, collaborate with MSU's camp program to publish a book with fourth graders in Lansing, and spend Saturdays hosting students from Detroit on campus as part of the My Brother's Keeper program.

I suspect all of you may have had similar kinds of opportunities.

Looking back, RCAH was truly a formative time for me.

I was learning a lot and I knew how important the experience was, but I couldn't always articulate it to people on the outside.

In the nine years since MSU, this is what I've landed on.

I graduated from RCAH with a liberal arts degree centered around social justice and civic engagement.

So what does that mean?

To me, that means being equipped with a worldview that will be with me for the rest of my life.

That worldview is about entering a room and maybe not being the first to speak.

It's about thinking critically and asking thoughtful questions.

It's about offering your perspective because you've taken the time to do the research and to be informed.

It's also about understanding that social justice isn't some lofty pie in the sky ideal to belittle or make fun of.

Instead, social justice is the foundation, the roots of who we should be as people.

When I first graduated from RCAH, my plan was to work for an education nonprofit.

After a few years, I went back to school to pursue a master's degree in communication, which eventually led to becoming a producer for ESPN films.

At ESPN, my RCAH experiences, that worldview I'm talking about, guide me when I do things like prepare for and conduct interviews, give notes on rough cuts, and pitch story ideas.

That worldview is now something you all have from being in RCAH and will be with you in your own careers, in social situations, and even interactions with your family.

With that, I want to express the admiration I have for all of you graduating today.

Your class has been through so much, too much really, and heartbreakingly, some of that has been right here on campus.

It is a major accomplishment to be in these seats after pushing through a pandemic, protesting for black lives, setting voting records in Michigan, adapting to the repeal of Roe versus Wade, and navigating an absurd level of gun violence, all while completing your studies.

I'm constantly in awe of the levels of leadership and resilience on display from you and your peers.

Given all of this, I hope everyone graduating today feels a sense of confidence in the worldview you've cultivated from being in RCAH and at Michigan State, the friends you've made, the conversations you've had, the classes you've taken, and the core memories you've created will serve you well.

It might not feel like it quite yet, but you're ready for what lies ahead.

Congratulations to the RCAH class of 2023.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Gus, and how about another round of applause for Gus, Kim, and Maggie.

(audience applauding) And so I think now is the time you've all been waiting for, and if I could, at this time, have poet and professor, Lauren Russell, who will announce the names of the graduates.

I asked the new graduates be escorted to the platform.

(audience cheering and applauding) Audience members, please remain seated, and if faculty could please rise.

- Kimberly Guerra, (audience cheering and applauding) Margaret Lupton, (audience cheering and applauding) Vanessa Thompson, (audience cheering and applauding) Alexandra Reeves, (audience cheering and applauding) Marshall Smith, (audience cheering and applauding) Michael Consal, (audience cheering and applauding) Casey Christy, (audience cheering and applauding) Gwendolyn Winsted, (audience applauding) Thomas Warden, (audience applauding) (indistinct) (audience cheering and applauding) Zaria Marteiza Myles, (audience cheering and applauding) Addison Walton, (audience cheering and applauding) Rachel Eyre, (audience cheering and applauding) Maegan Jankowski, (audience cheering and applauding) Sophie Parks, (audience cheering and applauding) Nicole Damon, (audience applauding) Lauren House, (audience applauding) Ellie Stanislav, (audience cheering and applauding) Ezra Pompos, (audience cheering and applauding) Maya Miller.

(audience cheering and applauding) - On behalf the president who has delegated to her the authority of the state of Michigan vested in the board of trustees, I confer upon all of the degrees for which you have been recommended with all the rights and distinctions to which they entitle you.

According to custom, you may now move your tassels from the right side of your caps to the left.

Congratulations, RCAH alumni.

(audience cheering and applauding) This act represents the conclusion of a great achievement and marks the beginning of a lifetime of dedicated service to your community.

It is an achievement worthy of celebration.

And we are here this evening to celebrate the fact that you are now joining over 500 scholars, artists, and advocates who have completed the academic program in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

One more round of applause.

(audience cheering and applauding) Faculty and academic staff, please be seated.

Earlier today at the college dessert, I shared a few words from Harry Belafonte, and allow me to close this evening by reminding us that we're here to honor the accomplishments of our graduating students, as well as to recognize all of those who made the accomplishments possible.

In this particular moment, I'm drawn to the words and actions of Dr. Grace Lee Boggs, the brilliant Detroit-based activist who passed away at the age of 100 in 2015.

Grace Lee Boggs reminds us that, "We are beginning to understand "that the world is always being made fresh "and never finished, "that activism can be the journey rather than the arrival, "that struggle doesn't always have to be confrontational, "but can take the form of reaching out to find common ground "with the many others in our society."

As you transition into the next phase of your journey, remember as Dr. Boggs reminds us, that you play an active role in the building of a new world.

And just as the world is never finished, so too will you always be learning.

Your journey may likewise change course.

I hope that your time in RCAH was but a small moment in our collective and shared journey to make the world a better and more just place.

We are confident, all of us, as part of RCAH and Michigan State University, we are confident that as you walk out of Wharton Center this evening, that you too will continue to transform the world.

Congratulations, graduates!

(audience cheering and applauding) I now invite all of you to rise and sing the alma mater, followed by the "MSU Fight Song."

Audience, please remain at your seats until all graduates have recessed and join us for refreshments afterwards.

Everyone rise.

(orchestral music) (audience cheering and applauding)