Celebrating the Class of 2025 at the HFA Senior Recognition Ceremony
Content
The College of Humanities and Fine Arts honored the Class of 2025 at its annual Senior Recognition Ceremony on Saturday, May 17, at the UMass Recreation Center. Friends, family, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate graduates from across the college.
Dean Maria del Guadalupe (Lupe) Davidson opened the ceremony by thanking students’ families and faculty mentors for their support and guidance. “Class of 2025, I want you to be proud of your accomplishments,” she said. “You are equipped to handle the ups and downs of this world… I wish you abundant joy. I wish you love and acceptance. I wish you success — however you define it.”
Speeches from department chairs followed, offering reflections and encouragement. In her remarks to graduates in art, Chair Jenny Vogel said, “You chose the path they warned you about—the ‘impractical’ major, the ‘risky’ dream. You chose it anyway. That takes guts… Art isn’t just a career path — it’s a way of seeing, questioning, and moving through the world.”
Addressing students in music and dance, Chair Matthew Westgate noted, “For as long as humans have been on Earth, they have recorded their experiences through literature, art, music, philosophy, language, and other subjects. You have spent the last four years (or more) studying and immersing yourself in the human experience, and now you are about to become the people in society that can help everyone else make sense of the world and our place in it.”
Chair of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies Yolanda Covington-Ward emphasized the importance of community and purpose: “Many of our students are drawn to our department because of their interest in social justice. And today, right now, we need more people than ever who are willing to fight for a more just society… We are inspired to see the leaders that you all have become and look forward to bragging about your future achievements.”
Congratulations to all of our graduates!