Class of 2022 Earns Honors Distinctions from Commonwealth Honors College with In-Person Celebration of Excellence
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Commonwealth Honors College held its annual Celebration of Excellence on May 12, celebrating the Honors graduating class of 2022. This year's celebration was the first in-person event for graduating seniors held by the college since 2019. The celebration recognized the 718 graduates, representing 73 majors. Over 560 of these accomplished students chose to complete yearlong Honors Thesis projects and papers on multidisciplinary research.
As families took their seats in the Mullins Center, a slideshow preceded the event, followed by convocation messages from Commonwealth Honors College Dean Mari Castañeda, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, Provost John McCarthy, and student speaker Jaileen Baptista ’22.
Graduates, I congratulate you for the hard work, learning, and perseverance that got you here today. When you joined the Honors College, you began an intellectual journey and little did you (or we) know that a global pandemic would be part of your college experience.
- Dean Mari Castañeda
Castañeda added that the Class of 2022's experiences "helped you develop the skills to understand the complex problems of this world and to respond to society’s changing needs."
Chancellor Subbaswamy congratulated the Honors graduates, noting how much they had already overcome and achieved.
“As you conclude your undergraduate university experience and commence the next part of your life, I know the world is a challenging place — but I am filled with hope and faith in all of you,” Subbaswamy said to the audience.
He continued by highlighting a few research topics explored by Honors students in the graduating class, including: plant-based alternative foods, pediatric leukemia, connections between social networks with divisiveness and polarization, designing the next generation of computer chips, identifying chemicals found in drinking water and food, and advocating for health equity among underserved populations.
“By immersing yourself fully in the excellence of the university and Commonwealth Honors College, you’ve demonstrated a commitment to the greater good, and your accomplishments have garnered wide-ranging accolades,” Subbaswamy said. He continued by listing notable awards and scholarships garnered by graduating Honors students.
Student speaker Jaileen Baptista began her speech by congratulating all attendees, friends, and family. She continued with a special dedication to her mother:
"My mom was 19 when she put her own schooling on hold to raise me and support my education. She read me every book, sang me every song, and inspired me every day. Because of that, Momma I made it," she said.
Baptista's family, who didn't know she would be the featured student speaker at Celebration of Excellence, reacted with cheers at this acknowledgment. She continued with a reflection on the shared experience of students going through the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of their college years, with a flashback to 2020:
"Our two weeks at home became two years. Two years! We met on Zoom. We became Zoom experts: sharing screens for presentations, muting and unmuting, breakout rooms for club meetings, watching recorded lectures," Baptista noted.
Continuing this reflection on the unique experience of students during the pandemic, she added:
"I am so thankful for the support system within CHC for making that time feel a lot less remote. Then, come senior year, we experienced the whiplash of jumping right back into it. And we crushed that! The Honors College truly made it feel like coming back home."
Jaileen Baptista `22 speaks at a podium during the Celebration of Excellence at the University of Massachusetts
Everyone here, because they had the freedom and support to explore their truest passions, is leaving with an intrinsic curiosity and exposure to some of the world's greatest challenges and blessings. The Honors Community gave us the warm space to learn and create memories that we will never forget. So think of those lessons, those moments, those people.
- Jaileen Baptista `22
Provost John McCarthy remarked, "The one thing you all have in common as CHC graduates is the seminar called Ideas that Change the World. And that to me is fundamentally what the Honors College is all about."
"Each of you has your own intellectual passion and your individual creative or research projects, but the one thing you have in common is that seminar which is devoted to asking, 'What are the ideas that shape the modern world? Where did they come from? Why do they mean so much to us? Will they have enduring meaning in the future?'," he added.
"Celebrate your non-academic as well as your academic achievements and celebrate excellence in others. Thank you and congratulations on all your accomplishments and the many ways in which you embody excellence," McCarthy said at the conclusion of his remarks.
The celebration ended with graduates processing across the stage at Mullins Center, where each student was recognized by name and presented a gold stole to wear on their gowns.
"You have contributed to university life and now it is time to share your ideas and your talents with broader communities. It is your time to make the world better for all of us. You are an unstoppable force!," Dean Castañeda noted at the celebration's end.