Kenneth Bickers: Welcome to the spring 2020 political science commencement exercise and welcome to zoom our lives have been on zoom for the last two months as, as you know from
Kenneth Bickers: From your experience in the emergency response of the of the university. This is our chance to
Kenneth Bickers: Acknowledge the accomplishments of our graduates and to read the names of all of our graduates, both at the PhD and masters level as well as our undergraduate
Kenneth Bickers: Students, we're going to take a few moments to talk about the department in the University. My name is Ken Vickers I'm the chair of the political science department.
Kenneth Bickers: I'm joined today by Janet Donovan, who is our undergraduate director and will be trading off duties as we go through this. I'm sorry that we're not all together commencement is always one of the most fun activities of our of our year
Kenneth Bickers: It's not only to see all of the students gathered together and and see their faces, maybe for the first time for a year or two, since we've had them in class, but also to meet the parents the grandparents, aunts and uncles.
Kenneth Bickers: It's fun to be part of the larger family of the of the students that we've been spending some years with excuse me in our classroom so
Kenneth Bickers: I'm sorry that that's not going to happen right now for the spring 2020 graduates. We are inviting all of the 2020 graduates to come back.
Kenneth Bickers: In December, Warren may whichever works more easily for for for the families and for the new graduates to be part of the in person commencement celebrations.
Kenneth Bickers: In if those two points of time we're going to do something special for for the spring 2020 graduates. We don't know yet what
Kenneth Bickers: We're very much hopeful that we will have in person commencement exercises in December and may have this next upcoming year.
Kenneth Bickers: But we do want to meet you all in person. We want to congratulate you in person. We want to shake your hands and not just
Kenneth Bickers: Bump elbows with with one another. So we do look forward to that kind of an opportunity
Kenneth Bickers: I do want to talk a little bit before we start reading names about some bigger changes that have taken place at the university and particularly in the political science department over the time that that you have been with us.
Kenneth Bickers: All the attention has been on the emergency response moving classes from in person to remote and online and so forth. And all of that was
Kenneth Bickers: Was done. It was amazing political science that we moved well over 100 classes from in person to online and remote and that was a huge undertaking, some of it went smoothly. Some of it did not
Kenneth Bickers: We're still learning a lot about these how to how to do this on a large scale.
Kenneth Bickers: But I wanted to back away from that for for just a few moments and talk about some of the bigger picture things
Kenneth Bickers: That have happened over the last few years, one at the university level that may have had a pretty important impact on you and you may not have actually realized that it was happening.
Kenneth Bickers: The University changed the, the core curriculum requirements.
Kenneth Bickers: During the time that you've been here and radically simplified the core curriculum. And one of the one of the really cool things that that emerged from them and it was one of the intended goals.
Kenneth Bickers: Was to make it easier for our undergraduate students to do certificates that are cross disciplinary kinds of programs to minor in other
Kenneth Bickers: Majors in other departments to get double majors and a lot of you have certificates and minors.
Kenneth Bickers: And majors and that actually you may not realize it but that's actually a fairly new thing at CU, it was much more difficult.
Kenneth Bickers: To do those kinds of things under the old core curriculum that that was changed during the time that you've been here. And so that's how to had a really, I think,
Kenneth Bickers: positive effect on on the programs, not just for you. But for students that are following in your in your footsteps in the department.
Kenneth Bickers: There are a couple of notice notable changes that I think have
Kenneth Bickers: improved the quality of your education and promise to do that for students moving into the future. One of those is that we've really upped our game in terms of methodological training all of you that were required to take a
Kenneth Bickers: lower level research methods course of 2075. Some of you have good memories of that I'm sure some of you don't
Kenneth Bickers: But the idea was to to really make sure that students were learning the, the, the tools of the science part of political science we have added a an upper level methods requirement that will start kicking in for students that matriculated this last year.
Kenneth Bickers: And and so that will be a second methodological training class it there. It's a menu of choices about how students can do that. But part of what we're trying to do is to up our students game in terms of their statistical skills, their research design skills, their mythological
Kenneth Bickers: Ways of asking questions and the ability to bring these tools to bear on important societal kinds of
Kenneth Bickers: issues and problems.
Kenneth Bickers: The other big exciting thing that we've done is to formally adopted a philosophy of learning by doing, which is the idea of experiential learning
Kenneth Bickers: And we are encouraging.
Kenneth Bickers: With lots of different in lots of different kinds of ways faculty to embed experiential learning into more and more of their classes and this
Kenneth Bickers: This is something that many of you experienced where you were doing research projects with original data going out and collecting information doing survey.
Kenneth Bickers: Data Analysis maybe gathering polling results writing longer more critical papers experiential learning is the idea that we are involving you
Kenneth Bickers: In the kinds of things that we do as professional political scientists. And I think that that's that's a tremendous kind of innovation, it's
Kenneth Bickers: Something that we did as a department. It's not a campus wide initiative, though, I hope, at some point, it gets adopted.
Kenneth Bickers: at a larger scale across the College of Arts and Sciences and the campus, but it's something that we're really, really proud of. We're still working on it. We're still growing it out to more and more classes.
Kenneth Bickers: Still learning how to do experiential learning activities and different types of classes. And so this is, this has been a challenge. It's also
Kenneth Bickers: A wonderful opportunity and it's energizing for those of us who have been teaching a while to to approach classes in new and innovative kinds of ways and evolve students in
Kenneth Bickers: In that research process. One of the nicest parts of that I think is to help students see that what we're doing is looking at institutions government policies.
Kenneth Bickers: As hypotheses and and to really expand the idea of hypotheses as as our best guesses for how things are going to work, and then to bring in a rigorous systematic way.
Kenneth Bickers: Evidence to to look at those hypotheses to see if they are confirmed in practice. One of the things I
Kenneth Bickers: Communicate to all my students is that that all policies and government institutions, our institutions are policies they are hypotheses that we test in practice. And so it's our job.
Kenneth Bickers: To learn to do that in a systematic way. That's part of the critical thinking that we are trying to instill across all of our
Kenneth Bickers: Classes and to bring to all of our students that's been going on. We are committed to doing that.
Kenneth Bickers: Moving into the future, whether whether it means next fall is is hybrid remote online in person.
Kenneth Bickers: This is something that we're committed to doing regardless of the these short term disruptions and it's one of the more exciting kinds of things that
Kenneth Bickers: Is happening in this this political science department, which is a growing department, we have well over 1000 majors.
Kenneth Bickers: There are more than 180 of you who are graduating with undergraduate degrees this week and and we have lots of graduate students 49 PhD students
Kenneth Bickers: Several that have finished up this year and will be reading their names as well. Let me turn back to Janet and give her the zoom microphone for for a few moments.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Thank you, Ken. So for those of you who don't know me, my name is Gina Donovan. I am I'm here because I'm the Director of Undergraduate Studies
Janet Lynn Donavan: But it's for those of you who do know me, you probably know me from classes and that is of course the coolest part of my job is the part where I get to teach you in class.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And so I just want to say a few words about the last, you know, how many years you've been here with us.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And and then I'll turn it back over to Dr Baker's after that. And so first of all, I'm joining you from in front of catch him Hall.
Janet Lynn Donavan: But of course, not really. I'm joining you like we have been for so long. No from zoom and so yeah here we are. We got. And so obviously this is not exactly what we wanted.
Janet Lynn Donavan: In terms of graduation, but I think, you know, we can definitely make the best of it and also highlight some of the kind of positive things
Janet Lynn Donavan: That have come out, not just in the last few weeks have been out of your time here at CU
Janet Lynn Donavan: And so again, as someone who's really focused on our undergraduates as part of my job and I've had the privilege of teaching. So many of you from 11 to one to upper division classes.
Janet Lynn Donavan: To participating in our internship program back before Dr took it over so well and then also this year with our honors thesis program.
Janet Lynn Donavan: You know I know about the students. And so, as a parent, I know that many of you are probably worried about your students.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And so I just want to tell you that I think they're going to be fine. And I want to tell the students that I think you're going to be fine as well.
Janet Lynn Donavan: So I think you've got three things going for you at least. And so I want to kind of point those things out here. The first of all
Janet Lynn Donavan: Resilience and so clearly that has been tested in the last few weeks here and I've just been really amazed.
Janet Lynn Donavan: With how well everyone has adapted to the move online, especially you know when this was your last semester and you really wanted to be here.
Janet Lynn Donavan: But the resilience actually started a lot earlier than that. And so whether you joined us as a freshman, or whether you transferred in learning to navigate a large university like see you
Janet Lynn Donavan: Is difficult and you did it. And those are some of the skills that you'll take with you in life that have helped you at the end here and
Janet Lynn Donavan: You are resilient. We know you've been through a lot and you've come through it and you have graduated
Janet Lynn Donavan: Okay, so another thing that you have going for you that Dr Baker's talked about as well is that you know how to think like a social scientist. And so that's what we've really been trying to help you with
Janet Lynn Donavan: And we've enjoyed watching you grow and learn over these past few years, whether it's in our lecture classes or in our experiential learning
Janet Lynn Donavan: Or in doing projects with faculty. We hope that you have learned to think like a social scientist. So some of the aspects of thing like a social scientists that I believe are going to make you successful and do well out there in the world.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Being able to identify the ideals of a good society. And so you have run all kinds of ideas about how society should be ordered and you've learned how to identify the ideals and values.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Of you've also learned to understand the political systems and the political behavior in both the United States and around the world.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And so you actually know why some of these things are happening right you have an understanding of
Janet Lynn Donavan: how people make decisions, you have an understanding of the way institutions are set up. And so you have this understanding
Janet Lynn Donavan: Of political systems and political behavior and that are really important for understanding what's going on in the world today, right now.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And and so you know some of the things I'd like to ask you to do with this knowledge of thinking like a social scientist.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Is I like you, and I hope and I know that you will go out there into the world and ask some questions.
Janet Lynn Donavan: So one of those would be, what are the good ideas institutions and values that we want to keep and strengthen so you have the tools to do this, what is important for us to preserve and how do we do that.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Secondly, I hope you ask the question of what needs to change. And so after all of your studies here.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And applying that to the world out there. I think that many of us can probably see some things that we would like to change, and I hope that you have the tools to identify those
Janet Lynn Donavan: And then finally, I'd like you to use your ability to think of the social sciences as in order to figure out what kind of information can help us make these decisions.
Janet Lynn Donavan: So being able to evaluate information understanding how knowledge is produced understanding how research is done and figuring out how to decide which information.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Is the information that we should use is a really important skill that you've learned as part of this thinking like a social scientist.
Janet Lynn Donavan: So these are things that you have going for you going out into the world.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And then finally, in terms of the things that you have going for you going out into the world. I'm your boss right your political science bus and so you've got all of us behind you.
Janet Lynn Donavan: You've got a community out there that spans the world of political science above that, that you can be a part of. Now, and so screw ups.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And those are, you know, some of the reasons why I think parents, you don't have to worry so much about your students, although of course parents always do.
Janet Lynn Donavan: So just, you know, to wrap this little part up here. I just wanted to. Congratulations again I do so wish that I were able to meet a families and I really do hope that some of your able to come back and see us in person.
Janet Lynn Donavan: In either fall or spring of next year. And so I will turn it back over to Ken. Thanks.
Kenneth Bickers: Thanks, Janet. Um, well, let me
Kenneth Bickers: Get started with reading names. And I want to start with one of the awards that political science.
Kenneth Bickers: Users to honor its most outstanding teachers. We have some fine fine teachers in the department. But, and so every year. It's kind of a struggle to determine who should be the, the winner of the Teacher of the Year award.
Kenneth Bickers: This is somebody who
Kenneth Bickers: Teaches. Well, both inside the classroom. The walls of classrooms, but also outside the walls of classroom through mentoring and working with students on research projects, providing advising to students and and so it's it's really quite an honor to be named the Teacher of the Year.
Kenneth Bickers: And this year's award goes to Michelle Ferguson, who you would you would see on the stage if there were a stage if we were doing this and we would all be applauding her her gifts as a teacher and all of the work that she puts into it.
Kenneth Bickers: I want to turn to our PhD students, the ones that have completed a rigorous graduate program. These are people who started off, generally speaking with a bachelor's degree.
Kenneth Bickers: Most of the time, a PhD takes around six years to complete it involves taking lots and lots of
Kenneth Bickers: Advanced seminars typically three years of seminars and then another two to three years or so of of working on a very substantial original research.
Kenneth Bickers: Project called the dissertation and if we were all together, what you would see is, I would be inviting up the, the, the students
Kenneth Bickers: Advisor their mentor the chair of their dissertation committee that person, they would be saying something about the dissertation and that person and then we would go through what's called a hunting exercise and that's this
Kenneth Bickers: The peacock feathers that I have on my back and Janet has on hers, and they would be coming up wearing a gown, just like the undergraduates, would the differences that on their gown.
Kenneth Bickers: I don't know if you can see it here, there would be three stripes three stripes indicating a doctorate of flow. That's a little easier to see on Janet's
Kenneth Bickers: Gowns and then on mine.
Kenneth Bickers: In the hooding is the ceremonial act of saying, You are now a scholar in your own right, you're ready to go out and profess to be a
Kenneth Bickers: Professor, and so we have several students that have completed this process, and I'm going to read their names, the title of their dissertation and who their chair is
Kenneth Bickers: The first is Anna daily her dissertation title was power in the politics of madness mental illness at the intersection of state and society or chair was Michelle Ferguson. Our awardee of the Teacher of the Year.
Kenneth Bickers: Honor.
Kenneth Bickers: Second is Roger mo. Himes his dissertation titled is science and an intergenerational democracy is chair Steven van or Haydn.
Kenneth Bickers: The third person is z may Velasco Chawla
Kenneth Bickers: Protesting for more corruption democracy in the making of demands are chair is kuru bolding
Kenneth Bickers: Alex Palmer.
Kenneth Bickers: The unresponsive court than the diminishing influence of public opinion on the US Supreme Court or chairs Vanessa Bayer
Kenneth Bickers: Em Shapiro, the public's relationship with political misinformation how citizens identify deception place blame and choose what they trust his chair is on and soucie
Kenneth Bickers: Terry Stapleton why so angry, understanding the influences of elite anger on the American electorate ins chair is Jennifer Wallach
Kenneth Bickers: Jocelyn Williams, the different political worlds of women and men Jocelyn chair is on in soucie
Kenneth Bickers: I also want to read the names of people who have completed Masters of Arts in our program Masters of Arts are generally speaking, a at
Kenneth Bickers: A degree that people get along the way to getting their PhD, but we still honor people when they do that because it's still an accomplishment. And so we have several of those that received Masters of Arts this spring at max turn off Zoe moss Morgan NAT out hit on some
Kenneth Bickers: Alexander Jensen, those are masters of arts students, I'll turn this back over and Janet is going to talk about the honor students for just a moment.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Thank you. So another cool things that I get to do. I got through this year was to be a part of the journey of our political science honors thesis students
Janet Lynn Donavan: are choosing to do an honors thesis is something that really goes above and beyond what is called for in terms of
Janet Lynn Donavan: graduating from college, even with a, you know, high GPA and so I am very proud of our honors thesis students
Janet Lynn Donavan: This year I do want to say very much, congratulations and thank you for sharing part of your journey with me.
Janet Lynn Donavan: To our honors thesis students all 13 of our honors thesis students successfully completed their research projects with their advisors and defended with flying colors all of them, but one over zoom
Janet Lynn Donavan: Their Honors Theses and so the challenge of an honors thesis is always a big deal. Every year, it was a bigger deal this year and so trying to finish it at
Janet Lynn Donavan: The end was quite a challenge and everyone really rose to the occasion and so we will be reading the last honors designations of the of the undergraduate students when we go through
Janet Lynn Donavan: Graduation names, but at this point I just really want to say thank you so much to the advisors who stuck with the students through this process.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Thank you to the parents, friends and family members who supported our honors thesis students along their way. And again, thank you to the students. And so you created remarkable
Janet Lynn Donavan: Projects this this year and you did so in a really challenging time. So congratulations to our honors thesis Latin honors recipients
Kenneth Bickers: All right, I'm going to start reading the names, Janet, and I will alternate. This is where we would be queuing you up.
Kenneth Bickers: The, the staff and the advisors would be would be getting rows of students up and they would be coming around to walk up across the stage and they'd be receiving a adult diploma packet and shaking the hands of
Kenneth Bickers: The person reading their names and so forth and pictures would be taken and there would be people jumping up and down. So you'll have to do that on your own in a virtual sort of way will will know that that's what's going on inside your hearts is is
Kenneth Bickers: Celebrating the accomplishments of the students, one of the things that we do in that process. And I just want to warn you in advance is the students, all right out on an index card in a phonetic.
Kenneth Bickers: Spelling, the pronunciation of their names, and I don't have that because I'm in my study and nobody's walking through WERE MAINTAINING more than the six foot distance. And so I may mispronounced some names. Janet may miss pronounce some names and and
Kenneth Bickers: I'm sorry.
Kenneth Bickers: I'll apologize in advance, but
Kenneth Bickers: We are pleased to be able to read the names of all of the students. So I will start out, Timmy in our radius.
Kenneth Bickers: Alexa Alexis all top
Kenneth Bickers: Zachary Allman
Kenneth Bickers: Ethan Anderson.
Kenneth Bickers: Matthew Armin.
Kenneth Bickers: Christie Addison.
Kenneth Bickers: JC neighbor.
Kenneth Bickers: Blake maker.
Kenneth Bickers: Rachel Baldwin.
Kenneth Bickers: Belen Ross.
Kenneth Bickers: Joseph Beckham.
Kenneth Bickers: James belts.
Kenneth Bickers: Cole Berman.
Kenneth Bickers: Bowman viscera.
Kenneth Bickers: Sophia bakari
Kenneth Bickers: Sandra Bullock.
Kenneth Bickers: Jacob Bradley.
Kenneth Bickers: Christopher bridges.
Kenneth Bickers: Tyler Britain.
Kenneth Bickers: Grace brown
Kenneth Bickers: Zoe buyers.
Kenneth Bickers: Alejandro Camargo
Kenneth Bickers: Andrew Carver.
Kenneth Bickers: Matthew tropic
Kenneth Bickers: Austin, Chris.
Kenneth Bickers: Jacob Clark magnet cloudy.
Kenneth Bickers: David Clarke.
Kenneth Bickers: Natasha Clark.
Kenneth Bickers: Tanner Clayton
Kenneth Bickers: Todd Conklin Jr.
Kenneth Bickers: Why couldn't
Kenneth Bickers: Kevin cry Lee.
Kenneth Bickers: Kane, Daniel.
Kenneth Bickers: Carson, the murals.
Kenneth Bickers: Jillian Dempsey
Kenneth Bickers: Jacques de winter.
Kenneth Bickers: Say them thielen de pollo.
Kenneth Bickers: Benjamin dicker
Kenneth Bickers: William deeds.
Kenneth Bickers: All when Doyle Suma cloudy.
Kenneth Bickers: No dreamin
Kenneth Bickers: Isabel the sharks.
Kenneth Bickers: Brian Avenger.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Lauren ECHO.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Healy Evo half
Janet Lynn Donavan: Austin Fisher.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Jane Fleetwood
Janet Lynn Donavan: Hudson, but
Janet Lynn Donavan: Aaron Orman,
Janet Lynn Donavan: Simon Fernie
Janet Lynn Donavan: Christopher gains.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Alexander fever.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Zachary Glasser
Janet Lynn Donavan: Eva Goldblatt
Janet Lynn Donavan: Natalie Gonzalez
Janet Lynn Donavan: Michael Green.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Preston gribbin
Janet Lynn Donavan: Hunter.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Jessica on z.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Michael Hartley
Janet Lynn Donavan: Andrew Harvey.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Kristen hazy.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Stephen Hickox
Janet Lynn Donavan: Kevin off center.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Ladies, whoa, Conan
Janet Lynn Donavan: Sean homestead.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Ellie. How's worth
Janet Lynn Donavan: Zachariah Huey
Janet Lynn Donavan: Landon Jackie known magna cum laude
Janet Lynn Donavan: Aubrey Jana with
Janet Lynn Donavan: Eric Jensen.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Amanda Johnson.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Reagan Jones summa cum laude
Janet Lynn Donavan: Sarah chi.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Aron Heller
Janet Lynn Donavan: Edward Kent.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Riley Carrick
Janet Lynn Donavan: Omer con
Janet Lynn Donavan: Dylan Kingsbury
Janet Lynn Donavan: Nicholas kip
Janet Lynn Donavan: Thomas Kersey
Janet Lynn Donavan: Haley koeppen
Janet Lynn Donavan: Lindsay Conrad.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Gavin Lang Charles Liam.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Avery Larson Tennessee Lee.
Kenneth Bickers: Sarah Libby.
Kenneth Bickers: Alexis live chat.
Kenneth Bickers: Benjamin 11
Kenneth Bickers: Mr levy magnet cool cloudy.
Kenneth Bickers: Nolan Lewis.
Kenneth Bickers: Daniel Longworth
Kenneth Bickers: Grant look singer.
Kenneth Bickers: Kathleen Mars.
Kenneth Bickers: Duncan Martin Carolyn Martin Suma cloudy.
Kenneth Bickers: Jessica Martinez Jessica Mason.
Kenneth Bickers: Sean McCarthy.
Kenneth Bickers: Matthew McCarthy.
Kenneth Bickers: Michaela Mac Hazlitt
Kenneth Bickers: Olson McKenna.
Kenneth Bickers: Connor McKinsey
Kenneth Bickers: Elena McNerney
Kenneth Bickers: Michaela reasoner
Kenneth Bickers: novia Mendoza.
Kenneth Bickers: James Messer
Kenneth Bickers: Sarah mills.
Kenneth Bickers: Jonathan Miranda
Kenneth Bickers: Stephen Mitchell.
Kenneth Bickers: Mason Mitchell.
Kenneth Bickers: Alley Miyazaki summa cum cloudy.
Kenneth Bickers: David multiple mayor Salinas.
Kenneth Bickers: Marcus Morris.
Kenneth Bickers: Milan Malia Vasquez
Kenneth Bickers: Molly Mullen.
Kenneth Bickers: Caitlin Oakley.
Kenneth Bickers: Jacob Oliver Suma Kumasi
Kenneth Bickers: Nathan Palmer.
Kenneth Bickers: Sabrina monogamous.
Kenneth Bickers: Hannah Panzer Alessandro hear us.
Kenneth Bickers: Kayla Porco
Kenneth Bickers: Christopher Pritchard
Kenneth Bickers: Chris Emily products.
Kenneth Bickers: Nathaniel Korten
Kenneth Bickers: David christenberry
Kenneth Bickers: Dominique cantata
Kenneth Bickers: Jacob Reagan Summa commodity and Rhodes Scholar.
Kenneth Bickers: Parker read
Janet Lynn Donavan: Christian rice back Amanda Rio Santiago.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Adam Rivera.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Mo Roche
Janet Lynn Donavan: Just send up Romo
Janet Lynn Donavan: Dylan rose
Janet Lynn Donavan: Sarah sable
Janet Lynn Donavan: Anna Salazar
Janet Lynn Donavan: Who wording Sanchez.
Janet Lynn Donavan: And mascherano magnitude Martin.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Taylor soak.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Joseph Scheidler
Janet Lynn Donavan: Benjamin sports.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Cameron surly
Janet Lynn Donavan: livan seller.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Michael Cena
Janet Lynn Donavan: John Simpson.
Janet Lynn Donavan: George slower.
Janet Lynn Donavan: alia Sandow
Janet Lynn Donavan: Catherine solotaroff
Janet Lynn Donavan: Eleni police medical model.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Briana self.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Hydro Souza,
Janet Lynn Donavan: Tiara Stephen
Janet Lynn Donavan: Alexandra styles.
Janet Lynn Donavan: THOMAS SULLIVAN.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Austin Swanson.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Hadley Swartz
Janet Lynn Donavan: Brittany Tanner.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Alyssa turtle ng
Janet Lynn Donavan: Ryan turns it
Janet Lynn Donavan: So I on to South Bay.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Nicholas Thomas
Janet Lynn Donavan: Justin trop
Janet Lynn Donavan: Zachary true so
Janet Lynn Donavan: bonito to Hilo
Janet Lynn Donavan: Jaden to mom.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Jolie times
Janet Lynn Donavan: redone.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Huge philosophy.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Anastasia maladies.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Hunter Vance hunter bone.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Matthias bonds air.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Harley Weber.
Janet Lynn Donavan: Jacob vitamin
Janet Lynn Donavan: Gabrielle West
Janet Lynn Donavan: Kyle winkers so we're doing wooden
Janet Lynn Donavan: And Ricardo Orci summa cum laude. Yay.
Kenneth Bickers: Congratulations to all of you at this point in a virtual sort of way you'd be taking your tassel
Kenneth Bickers: And moving it, but actually in a real way in a virtual way you'll just have to pretend like I am to move the tassel
Kenneth Bickers: On your motherboard from right over to the left, signifying that you are now a a holder of a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado in the major
Kenneth Bickers: Department of Political Science congratulations to all of you. I'm not going to say much more. I will say,
Kenneth Bickers: This is, in some ways, really, for the parents the grandparents, the friends and so forth. We're really sorry that we're not with you.
Kenneth Bickers: Doing that we would have a great big cake. You'd be enjoying that. I do want you to come in December, or may it'll be a fresh cake at that point. It's not one that was baked for for this May and
Kenneth Bickers: And and you can have an opportunity to have that and to have your picture taken with faculty members that were part of your students lives over the last several years. It's a wonderful thing to be graduated
Kenneth Bickers: I won't make any jokes about living in your parents basement, because you're already doing that now we want to see you get out of the basement and and and get those jobs and move on with your careers. We want you to stay in touch with us.
Kenneth Bickers: The, the advancement team of the university, no doubt we'll be in touch with you, but we want to hear how you're doing along the way and
Kenneth Bickers: And major milestones in your lives, and so forth. We wish you well.
Kenneth Bickers: We've enjoyed having you in our classes. We've enjoyed getting to know you. We've enjoyed getting to watch you grow up, because there's a pretty big difference from when
Kenneth Bickers: You were an 18 year old in your first year to the to the way you are now and that maturation process. It's been our pleasure. Sometimes our, our great hope that it would that it would happen even more quickly. We. We love having you. It's part of what
Kenneth Bickers: Gives Us Meaning as teachers and faculty members. We really do enjoy having you in our classes and getting to know you and I'm sorry we're not doing that in a in a personal way, but we are delighted that we can do it in this virtual
Kenneth Bickers: Remote way which is somehow fitting for the end of this very, very strange spring 2020 so thank you and congratulations.
