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The University of Massachusetts Amherst Graduate School conferred doctoral degrees to 377 recipients during a ceremony held this morning at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center before more than 3,000 assembled family, friends and faculty members. UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier A. Reyes presided over the celebration and called upon the Doctoral Class of 2025 – representing the 51 doctoral degree programs offered by the university – to continue their unwavering commitment to advancing knowledge, innovation and discovery that moves the world forward.

The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony was the first of many special events marking the university’s 155^th Commencement this weekend, which will include Undergraduate Commencement, the Stockbridge School of Agriculture ceremony, school and college Senior Recognition ceremonies and the Master’s and Education Specialists Commencement ceremony.

In her opening remarks, Jacqueline Urla, dean of the Graduate School and professor of anthropology, expressed the faculty’s pride in the accomplishments of the degree recipients.

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“One of the great pleasures of being Dean is the opportunity it gives me to observe and learn about some of the truly outstanding work our doctoral students do in the sciences, creative arts, health, social sciences and much more under the guidance of their faculty mentors,” Urla said. “Despite the increasingly competitive landscape, our doctoral students continue to perform at the top of their class, publishing, and winning highly prestigious fellowships and awards, winning this year alone $2 million in grants and fellowships from external organizations. From cutting edge work in environmental conservation and cancer treatments, to addressing health disparities, innovative projects in building community resilience, or how we can push forward goals of social justice in education, our graduates are advancing knowledge, challenging conventional wisdom, bringing to light hidden histories and leading the way in community engaged research.”

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“At a time when some are questioning the value and purpose of higher education, your unwavering commitment to advancing knowledge, innovation and discovery that moves the world forward is a shining example of the power and promise of higher education,” Chancellor Reyes said in his address. “With ongoing changes in national and global landscapes and rapid advancements in technology, our everyday realities are evolving in real time. Geopolitical dynamics are driving changes that impact the very fabric of our pursuit of knowledge – at institutions of higher education like UMass Amherst and as individuals as you pursued your degrees. Your specialized knowledge and skills are needed now more than ever. I encourage you to lean into all that you have learned during your time here at UMass Amherst and use it to shape the future that you want to see.”

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“Science, engineering, philosophy, music, literature and so many more – all of these disciplines that you now join as producers of knowledge, seekers of the truth, are what made this nation what it is and are the pillars to continuing to make this nation successful and prosperous, to guard our liberal democracy,” Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, told the degree recipients. “UMass prepared you. Now you are ready to take on the most challenging and perplexing questions, to find answers and generate new insights, to help us all move forward in every aspect of the human condition. You are most needed in the world right now, maybe more than ever. That’s why your programs and the work that you do is so important here at UMass, why your mentors are so honored to have worked with you over these past few years – because we understand your enormous impact on our futures.”

Ann-Marie Sylvia, a doctoral graduate in kinesiology from New Bedford, Mass., who also completed a Master of Public Health in epidemiology during the first two-and-a-half years of her program, was selected as student speaker for the ceremony. Sylvia has accepted a faculty position at UMass Amherst and will be joining the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, where she will be teaching and conducting small-scale research.

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“Today we celebrate as one in our matching regalia – our doctoral regalia,” Sylvia said to her fellow degree recipients. “We are wearing black and maroon gowns with very trendy bell-shaped sleeves decorated with chevrons to represent our school’s colors. An eight-sided tam with a gold tassel to represent that we have achieved the highest degree possible in our fields. And finally, our hoods – our luxurious silk hoods represent our transition from student to scholar. But what I think they really represent is our ability to commit to doing very hard things over a long period of time. At the very moment that you get hooded today, I want you to stop, take a breath and solidify a core memory – a core memory to represent that you can do hard things.”

Prior to the conferment of degrees, two awards were presented to exceptionally accomplished recipients.

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Katie Rose Billings, of Rumford, Maine, was the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award, given annually since 1961 to instructors who demonstrate exemplary teaching at the highest institutional level. The awardees are chosen from representatives of every department on campus and have been widely praised by students and alumni for their abilities to communicate, motivate and inspire. Billings, who previously earned a Master of Arts in Sociology from UMass Amherst and was hooded as a doctor of sociology at the ceremony, was bestowed the award for addressing issues of social justice and equity in mental healthcare access. She will begin her career as an assistant professor in Skidmore College’s sociology department this fall and is currently working on a book project based on her doctoral dissertation, titled “Surviving Suicide,” which examines how social inequalities shape suicide survival.

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Imani Wallace, an international award-winning spoken-word poet from the Bronx who performs under the stage name Lyrical Faith, was presented with the Commitment to Diversity Award, which recognizes one graduate student for their outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion within the UMass Amherst graduate student body. Wallace, whose doctoral research in social justice education examines Black youth literacies at the intersection of poetry and activism through hip-hop pedagogy, has curated various cultural programs and has fostered deep connections with the campus community and beyond. She is the founder and director of the annual UMass Black Artistic Freedom Conference, a two-day experience merging education and activism through the arts. 

For complete coverage of UMass Amherst Commencement Weekend, including livestreams of the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony and the Master’s and Education Specialists Commencement ceremony visit www.umass.edu/commencement.