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Good evening. Good evening. This is a happy and loud crowd.

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I love it. I love it. Absolutely love it. Please be seated.

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Good evening. I'm Cindy fan. I'm UCLA, Vice Provost for the International Institute. On behalf of the Regents of the University of California, I welcome you all to the 2025 commencement ceremony for the UCLA International Institute

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as a land grant institution. The International Institute at UCLA acknowledges the Gabrielino Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of tovanga. We come here tonight to recognize and honor our undergraduate and graduate degree recipients, to celebrate their commitment and effort in reaching the important academic milestone of becoming our newest graduating class.

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Graduates, we're immensely proud of you, not only for your academic achievement, but also because of your resilience and resolve to overcome so many challenges of our times,

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periods of great uncertainty remind us of the vital importance of educating culturally aware, globally engaged citizens, connecting across borders, having a deep understanding of diverse peoples and cultures and places in the world, and knowing the importance of a global perspective, are precisely the educational goals of the UCLA International Institute, graduates of the International Institute, you are ready to be leaders, because you possess the tools to bridge the gaps that separate nations and cultures, and you have the skills to promote global and local engagement toward finding solutions for issues such as global climate change, systemic racism, political conflicts, social inequality and injustice, global health threats, violence and human suffering.

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Your intercultural skills and experience and your humility, and let me emphasize your humility to appreciate diverse opinions and your courage, and I emphasize that as well, your courage to question your own views are needed now more than ever in a world that demands collaborative solutions to complex, shared problems,

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the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts programs of the International Institute are intentionally multidisciplinary, designed to foster deeper understanding of the world and cultivate informed, thoughtful and active global citizens. You you

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as the next generation of world leaders ready to shape the future.

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This day marks the end of a long chapter, longer for some than others in the academic careers of these students, and academic success is built upon the support of many people, including our world class professors and university leaders. And I would like to acknowledge all of the faculty members and leaders in attendance today, when your name is called, please stand

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first of all Professor falicia Marie null, who's also going to be our keynote speaker, Professor null,

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Associate Vice Chancellor Julie sinner, also Chief of Staff of UCLA. I Professor David Kim, Associate Vice Provost of the International Institute.

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Professor Harold Torrens, Chair of African Studies. He.

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And Professor Bill Marotti, Chair of East Asian Studies.

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Professor Mike fees, Associate Vice Provost of the International Institute,

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and Professor Jennifer Cheung, Chair of international development staff.

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I know you love your professors,

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but of course, the support from friends and family and from different cultures and traditions is indispensable. Many of you have traveled long distance and make important sacrifice to be here. So on behalf of the students and my colleagues, I would like to thank you all the friends and family of our graduates. You are the emotional, moral and material support who have made possible the accomplishments of our students and graduates. So thank you all the

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UCLA International Institute is honored to have as our keynote speaker Dr Fauci Marie null. Dr null is the associate of the chancellor at UCLA, a distinguished professor of medicine and a senior advisor to both the dean of UCLA, David Geffen School of medical medicine and the president of UCLA health. She's internationally recognized for her transformative research in global health, health systems and health economics before coming to UCLA, Dr null served as director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and Director of the Office of hemispheric and Global Affairs at the University of Miami, and was a professor at the university's Leonard Miller School of Medicine. Dr null previously served as director of the Harvard global equity initiative and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She earned a Master's and PhD, PhD in economics from Harvard University, and her Bachelor's is in international development studies from the University of

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Toronto. Dr null maintains an active presence in Mexico, where she serves as president of tomatello apacho, the nonprofit she founded.

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Tomatello apacho originally focused on breast cancer, but has now expanded its mandate to include women's health and health system strengthening. She has published two books chronicling her own cancer journey, and she just gave me one of those posts an hour ago. So thank you. Dr null, she is an elected member of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine, inducted fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and she has served on several Lancet commissions, and currently co chairs two commissions on violence against women and children and cancer and health systems. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Dr Fauci Marie no

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i

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Congratulations, UCLA, International Institute class of 2025 congratulations to you. Congratulations to your families and to everyone who helped to get to this exciting day, I hope you feel a well deserved and a deep sense of pride in your work, in your perseverance and accomplishments, and maybe a bit of relief at reaching this milestone. I am very honored to celebrate this moment with you. Indeed. It is particularly special since this is my first commencement address. Thank you, Vice Provost Van for inviting me to do this

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as a Canadian and British citizen with residents in Mexico whose career has been in low and middle income countries and now living and working in the United States. Your areas of study speak to me in very profound ways. Let us think back to the year before most of you started working on your undergraduate degree. In the past five years, we have experienced a global pandemic, mass migrations, wars and the continuing impacts of climate change, all things that have ripple effects in every corner of our globe. Our world needs people with the skills you have acquired at UCLA. Our world needs all of you.

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The times we live in are challenging. What has transpired in Los Angeles this past week?

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And the global and local events of this past year may well be clouding your today, your graduation day, a day that is designed and designated for only celebration I hold in my heart and I hold in my thoughts all of those among you and your loved ones who are fearful and in pain over the events of today and over the events of this past week that plague our city. I know that some of you are here without your loved ones, people who sacrificed to make your degree possible, people who should be here. I want to acknowledge their absence and hope that you can celebrate with them later this evening

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for this great city that has been home to you for several years and is now also my home and for all Angelinos, I pray for a peaceful path toward healing and toward safety.

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The disruptions and uncertainties of our community and our world must be taken as chasms that can conjure positive change,

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embraced as opportunities that you can seize to improve the world in which we live. Because crises continually shake our world, but also force it to better equilibria. So whatever News Channel, paper or social media feed you may happen to follow whatever your political views, ethnic background, family history or socioeconomic status, there will be local, national or global events that shake you deeply, that affect the people about whom you care the most put at risk, the life aspirations you have and The ideals that you uphold. The question before you is how to emerge and what you can draw from the traumatic experiences that we all endure,

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cognizant of our shared moment in history, I want to focus on four messages of inspiration and hope this evening. First, the conviction that kindness to strangers is a powerful remedy. Second, finding inspiration in times of challenge and from their pathways to create a future for yourself and a better world. Third, knowing that knowledge and discovery have can and will continue to improve lives. And fourth, that you through the Witten word, your voice and your actions, can harness the knowledge you have derived from your time here and become catalysts and implementers of change.

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I want to start going over these four

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with by sharing a story of kindness to strangers for one of the darkest moments in human history.

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My father, sigma Nall, survived from age 15 to 19 internment in Nazi concentration camps branded in Birkenau. His parents, my grandparents and family were murdered in Auschwitz after five years and only days before liberation by the allied forces, he was forced on a death march from Dachau concentration camp. My father chose to make a run for his life, evading the SS officers that were hunting him, cold, emaciated and forlorn, he fell asleep in a forest now, rather than recount second hand, allow me to share a few passages of prose, of his prose, and what he wrote.

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And he wrote exhausted, I came to a crawl and I fell to the ground. There was no use. A man came running. He tilted his head gently towards me, and he said, I know who you are, and I am not here to harm me to harm you. Believe me

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with gentle humanity, he said, I promise to fetch you just as soon as I can. My father wrote, I was alone. I wondered, Is this man an angel or a devil? Is he sent by God or by Himmler, doubt began to eat at me. He

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wrote, I have seen the Germans feeding children candies and gently pushing them into the crematoria. I have heard the best chamber music being played, Beethoven's number five easing the steps of those that entered the portals of the fire billowing furnace in the infamous Auschwitz, and he asked, How can I trust a strange German in the face of all of these atrocities? Then he wrote, one part of me urged me to run from the uncertain future and not entrusting my fate in the hands of this stranger. The second voice reminded me of my mission to tell a tale, and that I should tell it tonight before perhaps I expired, yet unable to trust. I hid behind a thick bush, and I prayed what appeared a very long time passed, and then I saw him, and he said, Come boy, come gently. He urged me Yes.

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Yes, they spoke as softly and gently when they cremated my father and my mother, my grandparents, my uncles, his brothers and his friends. But the man said, my name is Sepi, what is yours? Boy? And he said, lovely, goodbye, my friend, believe me, I will be back. My father had nowhere to go. He was without an ounce of strength left to resist the inevitable. So he writes, I fell into a deep sleep. It must have been past midnight when I awakened and heard his footsteps. Do not be afraid. They are gone. Come boy, come my sisters are waiting for you. Father, a weakness overcame me, and terror took its toll. I was unable to walk. Sepi carried me like a baby in his arms. After all, I was only 90 pounds, and then he wrote, just as I will never forget the atrocities, so I will always remember the human kindness. Two angels descended from heaven that night and attended to me. I was gently stripped of my filthy shirt that I must have worn for the better part of one year, my boots with wooden soles undone and thrown into the garbage. Gentle women folk washed my sore back and attended to my many boils and sores. I was fed real food, small doses at a time, yet I was disoriented, but I knew by now that I was safe, and so I fell into a deep sleep, the kind of which I had not known for five years. I was embarked on the journey to freedom, surrounded for the first time since I had been uprooted from my home with kindness and love,

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father of two women and one man, Germans did not that night, vindicate the entire nation, but did open the portholes of trust and let be by my hand, past the countless graves into the fluffy green meadow among the living my father titles his book quo vadi swear to in 1946 age 20, with No family, his health destroyed few years of education, likely only primary school. I imagine he had no idea where he was going, where having survived life would take him. It was, in fact, a scholarship for survivors of Auschwitz to the University of Toronto that allowed him safe passage and offered him hope of a new home as an immigrant, and there in Canada, strangers became friends, and though he spoke no English, helped him to complete his undergraduate degree. My father found a new life through his determination to go to university. His story is testament to the myriad values of higher education, to the power of universities like this one to big, build bridges and to heal divides.

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I still marvel at how my father got his undergraduate degree. His graduation day was surely a lonely one. He had no family, but it was one of triumph. I lost him to cancer when he was only 60, and I was but 18, he was never able to join any of my graduations in person only in spirit. Yet his story has inspired me through many challenges to create new pathways when I feel bereft of my own Quo Vadis, indeed, my most poignant where to moment came when I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at age 41 I needed chemotherapy to survive, but I was deeply, deeply afraid, and my fear paralyzed me into rejecting treatment for months. One day on a long and solitary walk, miserable and filled with self pity, it dawned on me that I was blessed with choices. Unlike the majority of the women with whom I worked in Mexico too poor to afford medication they desperately needed. I had the privilege of access, and I had another huge advantage, a truly supportive partner who saw beauty in his mastectomized wife and would care and protect our two daughters, age three and 11, while I struggled through treatment and beyond. Side note fun that supportive partner is your chancellor, Dr Julio Frank.

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He is pretty terrific.

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Now, back to Cuernavaca, Mexico and my long and fruitful walk that day in 2007

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so an idea began to cook in my brain. My cancer gave me the blessing of a powerful voice to combine with my research skills, I could live to tell my story and to inspire better access to care for the many women who did not have the fortune that I had, and suddenly I was transformed by inspiration. And I mean that it was sudden, and it was like a huge relief. I found meaning in my suffering and the will to go through more than a year of chemotherapy alongside many surgeries, I went from paralyzed, cancer victim to.

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Passionate advocate, plying the tools I had learned in my own university education and in 2008

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Cindy mentioned we created a program in a foundation in Mexico called tomato Petro. Take it to heart. We have trained 1000s of community and primary health workers on breast health, early detection, improving access to treatment and easing suffering. We catalyzed a global cancer Task Force, and we now work on many aspects of women's and community health. Unexpectedly, what began as my health tragedy catalyzed my professional life.

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Amazingly, my cancer survival is also inextricably linked to what is now your alma mater, the medication that helped save my life, Herceptin, or trastuzumab, was discovered right here at UCLA just a Few years before I was diagnosed.

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My connection to UCLA, my bond with this great institution, my gratitude for the science and knowledge that it creates goes back 18 years, because this year 2025, alongside your graduation, I get to celebrate my 18th year since my cancer diagnosis. You

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you so UCLA and I are tethered together, as are you now, to this wonderful and truly global Bruin community, and now I'm blessed and empowered also by the opportunity to serve the university, the medical school and the health system that made the discovery that helped save my life.

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Scientific Discoveries do indeed save lives. You all know this firsthand. The COVID vaccine was developed and deployed in record time, saving countless millions. But medicines without access do not save lives. Medicines without access divide people into the haves and the have nots. That is why I have dedicated almost four decades of my life to championing global health equity.

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Still, I often doubted my chosen fields of international development studies. This is important for those of you who studied International Development Studies and Economics. Should I have become a doctor or maybe a lawyer? I doubted my academic choices until I had the opportunity to do the project about which I am most proud. It was 2004

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working for the Ministry of Education of Mexico, and I identified a gap hospitalized children could not exercise the right to go to school. So I designed and I implemented an inter institutional, interdisciplinary program called sigamos aprendiendo en el hospital. I built that program, the sigamos program, using the skills I learned as a student of international development studies at the University of Toronto and from the doctoral thesis I did for Harvard University, the program grew and we established schools in every tertiary children's hospital unit in the country, guaranteeing education to children with cancer, burn victims and transplant patients, among others. For many of these children, education gave them the will to live and fight their disease to this day, when I have the opportunity, as I often do, to visit hospitals in Mexico, I stopped by the sigamos schools, and I marvel that the program has miraculously withstood the test of time, including changes of government and ruling political figures at odds with the government I served so proudly in Mexico, despite national and global financial crises and despite even a pandemic, that program persists. Building successful programs that change lives for the better requires collaboration from policy makers, advocates, donors, academics and change makers from diverse backgrounds, and here we come back to you, because you can be the thought leaders that glue these people together, transform your ideas and convictions into action. Practice as a Bruin Fiat Lux, learn from these dark times and illuminate the world with your creativity and with your moral compass. The knowledge that you have received in your time here at UCLA, the interdisciplinary education on how to approach, decipher and find solutions for local and global crises and challenges, is like the secret sauce that bridges the cruel divides of poverty, inequity and injustice.

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In the years ahead, you will be tested in ways you never expected. You will be continually confronted with global challenges that defy ready made solutions. In those moments, you must find the inspiration to apply your skills and discover possibilities others might miss as students of interest.

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National studies, you already have a heightened ability to break down barriers. Think of how necessary that is in a time of so much polarization and alienation, your skills are needed now people with your passion, your insight, your commitment, do matter, do better and you do good as Bruins, you are optimists, so if your faith in the world is shaken, now, have faith in yourself.

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Think about what you feel the world needs, and meet those needs as best you can. Class of 2520 25 I salute you, and I, thank you forward and for all you are going to achieve and all you are going to contribute to our world. So go Bruins, you

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Good evening. I'm David Kim, Associate Vice Provost of the International Institute. First of all, thank you, Dr Fauci Marie Knoll, for the deeply inspiring and self reflective keynote speech. At this time, I would like to recognize our Master of Arts students with the assistance of the chairs of the Graduate Academic Programs, students will soon be asked to come to the front of the stage in order of their academic program. Each student will then be called individually by name. I ask that all guests please remain in their seats during this part of the ceremony. Professional photographers are here today to help help you commemorate this event in pictures. So you are asked not to leave your seats to take pictures. Thank you.

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The first group of international Institute students to be recognized will be those receiving the Master of Arts degree in African Studies.

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And here to introduce those students is Professor Harold Torrence, thank you.

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Since its inception, 59 years ago, the African Studies interdepartmental program, efficiently known as mas, has served as an intellectual home for students wishing to focus on Africa from a wide variety of perspectives. So the study of Africa is central to a deeper understanding of our world. It is important in today's global age, a time that for better or for worse, we are all much more interdependent on each other. So my students program of study puts them in a position to face the challenges and opportunities presented by an interconnected globe where deep knowledge of region is critical. Mas students integrate the perspectives of the humanities sciences, social sciences and arts into their research with an eye towards both producing new knowledge and deepening our understanding of the everyday, lived complexity of Africa.

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Graduates of moss are leaders in in their fields today and have significant impacts in education and the public and private sectors in the US and across Africa and our current crop of masters, Masters graduates continue this legacy of excellence with wide ranging intellectual pursuits that will help shape our future, our shared future. So with that said, will the graduate students who are receiving a master's degree in African Studies, please rise and approach the podium.

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Esther Apia, applause.

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Oluwatosin atta.

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Oh would now like to welcome Professor William Moradi, who will present the East Asian Studies master students as well as our master students in Latin American Studies.

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I'm I'm William muratti, and it's my pleasure to introduce and commend this year's graduates of our interdepartmental master's program in East Asian Studies. You did it, and I'm really happy to see you here tonight and to celebrate all your achievements. People can find their passions after a lot of trial and error when those passions relate to the study of East Asian.

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Asia, there are particular challenges. The difficulty of the languages can be a real barrier to advancement, finding appropriate expertise, or even the freedom to pursue certain paths of inquiry can be a challenge as well. And here in Los Angeles, deep connections to East Asia are abundant in our history and our everyday lives, and at UCLA, we are especially proud to be the means by which members of our diverse community can take those connections in new and vibrant directions. In our program, students can find a way forward acquiring language and disciplinary skills in ways that meet their individual needs, and they interact with doctoral student cohorts and with over 60 East Asia focused faculty members across the University, students tailor their programs to emphasize particularly methodological or disciplinary even interdisciplinary approaches. This individual tailoring allows us to accommodate wild, wide range of student goals and needs, and thankfully, we have the superb support of our staff, especially Yumi Kenosha, our Counselor who keeps everything running as smoothly as possible? You

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You

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contributed your own unique voice and broadening our understanding of the world from your perspective, now augmented with new analytical skills, it's been a pleasure watching you refine your work and deepen your interests and discover your own ability to communicate effectively at a professional level. Some of you are going on to doctoral studies here and abroad. Some will be joining the workforce and bringing your new skills, and you're ready for all so the recognition of your many achievements, I want to express my heartfelt congratulations and thank you for doing your part to strengthen our program and our scholarly community with your distinguished work, and looking forward for making the most of your new knowledge. Been a pleasure having you here, and we hope and trust and you'll keep in touch with news of your further achievements. So on behalf of the faculty, staff and students of East Asian Studies, I wish you all the best your future endeavors. Will the graduate students receiving a master's degree in East Jason studies, please rise and approach the voting.

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Jenny Fahey,

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Jeff Tom, who is as a departmental scholar getting both his undergraduate degree and his master's degree. Simulator. You

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and Rachel, think

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I'm staying up here for a second.

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So I'm pinch hitting for chair Bonnie Taub for the Latin American Studies program, and she has prepared some remarks that I'll I'll read for you tonight. You want to send the people up. We'll go,

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I'm still William Moradi, but the following remarks are from chair bonita, who regrets that she could not be here this evening. Welcome faculty, students and families. I'm very happy to share my words of celebration with you on the occasion of your commencement. The Latin American Studies MA program is interdisciplinary, and students select two or three study subjects of study. They take courses with our esteemed faculty and write research papers or a thesis about the region, which includes Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. They study languages such as Portuguese, Spanish and indigenous languages, including the.

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And Quechua

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today, we celebrate the achievements of our students who approach their studies with curiosity, academic rigor and passion, which are reflected in their capstone paper and thesis topics, topics focused on anthropology, public health, sociology, geography, history, Spanish and Portuguese literature and Political Science, among others. Some Capstone paper and thesis topics of this year's graduates include agricultural technology in 20th century Brazil, women witchcraft and animals in colonial Mexico, public and policy responses to HIV and AIDS in Brazil, United States and Mexico, politics of water and the teal industry.

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Latin America, art history and museum curating and Mexican national identity and education.

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Our 2025 graduates plan to continue their studies in doctoral programs or work in educational government or business sectors or with non profit organizations, our graduates have grown in scholars and people, and through this rite of passage today, we comme we commemorate your immense accomplishments, the faculty and I and Bonnie are proud to be your professors and mentors, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Congratulations to you and your families as we celebrate you the class of 2025,

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so will the graduate students receiving a master's degree in Latin American Studies, please rise and approach the podium.

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Adela Elizabeth Arriola,

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Dolce Lopez Gonzalez, I

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Sarah Olympia rotkin,

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Abigail Weinberg, hello,

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Caitlin, Josephine, zurawick,

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Luca matiazi, Martins, you

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at this time, I would like to recognize our Bachelor of Arts students with the assistance of the chairs of the undergraduate academic programs. I would now like to welcome Professor Michael tees to the podium to present our undergraduates who are majoring in International and Area Studies programs, as well as our undergraduates who are majoring in Global Studies.

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My Thank you, David.

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I'm glad some time has passed since the keynote speech, because that was so good I'd have wanted to follow it immediately

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before I introduce the programs that I chair and the

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students who have completed them, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank some very important people, our Student Affairs staff, and I know all of my colleagues you know, echo what I'm about to say about them. First one, most of you probably haven't met, but has been very important behind the scenes, not least in organizing this ceremony. Gabby Solomon, Dorian, Director of Student Affairs, as I said, commencement impresario, Gabby also manages the alumni database for our graduates, so please communicate with her to keep us apprised of your post. UCLA exploits so that we can brag about you put your future fortunes to good use

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for International and Area Studies, Bill already mentioned, Professor marati already mentioned, Yumi Kinoshita and also Karina bearer, are the essays for the area studies majors and minors, as well as our global health, a big, very big global health minor in the International Institute. And then finally, the essays for both the Global Studies Program, which I'll introduce in a moment, and for the international development studies program which my colleague, Professor Chun will introduce, are Sandy valdive So and Liz Alvarez.

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Every.

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Academic Department at UCLA employs student affairs officers who take charge of the counseling of students throughout their time at UCLA. And in my experience, most of the essays and most of the departments on campus are very hard working and dedicated, but our team are unbelievable, which is good, because they have to be the International Institute. This is more for the parents, I think the students know this. The International Institute is not a proper department, like sociology or English or biology. All of our programs we call interdepartmental programs. This multiplies the challenges for the students, and especially for Yumi, Karina Sandy and Liz in at least two important ways. First, it means that most of the classes that our students take are not classes that we actually teach ourselves in the International Institute. Instead, instead, students have to knit together their academic paths by choosing from classes in other departments. Now we give them nice, long lists of courses to choose from. We say any of these 30 courses will fulfill this requirement, here's 20 that will fulfill that requirement. But they found out pretty quickly that most of those courses are not actually available to them,

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because the departments that teach them reserve all the seats for their own majors. So it's a little bit of a bait and switch. So our counselors spend an enormous amount of time helping nearly every one of the several 100 students in our in our programs to find alternative classes, persuading students to try something new and non obvious, and lobbying the faculty chairs us to accept courses that are not already on our list as fulfilling requirements for our various majors and minors. So the per student effort that our student affairs officers put in is, I'm just guessing, 100 times greater than for their counterparts in other departments.

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So second, working with as the only staff person for an interdepartmental program means dealing single handedly with a rotating and, let us say, administratively challenged cast of faculty chairs. We all look good in the robes. I'm sure you agree, but I got to tell you, whatever expertise we have in the subjects that we teach, we are not expert administrators, and so is the SAOs who held us by the hand and help us to actually run these programs. When I say help us to run these programs, I mean run these programs and give us credit for it, so we thank Sandy, you, me, Liz and Karina, for carrying us for each year and for caring, helping these students to negotiate what's really a challenging set of programs to go through without your efficiency, your brilliance and your bottomless empathy with the students and patience with the faculty. These programs could not possibly survive. You're the best.

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Okay, now on to business. Sorry, that was a little self indulgent, but I thought it was important the International and Area Studies interdepartmental program. That's a shell sort of name for this set of programs consists of four majors and seven minors that focus on world regions. So these are the undergraduate counterparts to the master's programs you just heard about. The four majors are African and Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies, European Studies and Latin American Studies, the International and Area Studies majors in these four majors attract diverse and sorry the majors attract a diverse and endlessly interesting group of students, including many international students, who bring their personal stories to the academic study of the regions in which they were raised. Students in area studies must combine courses in the social sciences, with courses in the arts and humanities, they focus on contemporary issues across the world region, with attention to politics, development, language, culture, history and even Diaspora Studies, a deep focus on a single region is balanced by conceptual and theoretical courses that show students how many of the themes and issues that might seem unique to One place in time are, in fact, quite common, albeit with local variations and flavors,

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such challenges as poverty, insurgency, economic growth, education, disease, ethnic conflict and issues related to gender or sexuality characterize all regions of the world. Students are encouraged to travel to the reasons they study, and many go on to careers working in or at least with countries and societies they studied while at UCLA. So let us introduce those two, the subset of those students who are here with us tonight, 2025, graduates

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in East in sorry Asian Studies, African and Middle Eastern Studies, Latin American Studies, European Studies, will the students graduating in any of those majors? Take your pick. Please stand and approach the podium. You.

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Yining Chen

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Logan, London, musikant.

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Zichuan Sun

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seima Mogi.

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Rachel Rodarte,

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this year, I also had the privilege of serving as the chair of the Global Studies program. Global Studies is an interdepartmental disciplinary program. Our aim is to produce, or at least propel the global citizens of the future. Students must take courses covering what we call the three pillars of globalization, markets and resources, the flow of goods, services, finance and people across borders, and the integration of national economies into a global economy,

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governance and conflict, the promise and peril of supranational governance institutions such as the UN IMF and World Bank, international law, regional trade agreements, and such challenges as international terrorism, refugees and crime and culture and society, the transmission of arts, music, literature and other cultural assets and practices across borders, as well as the study and impact of global flows of local cultures on local cultures and societies.

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Now the idea of global citizens has taken a bit of a beating of light for some people, that sounds like it's got a lot of letters in it, but it's a four letter word. Letter word, even before the start of the pandemic, nationalist populist demagogues have begun to rise to power across the globe, appealing to the fears and disappointments of voters who are sometimes referred to as the losers of globalization.

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Their diagnosis has some truth to it, while the globalization of markets and cultures has been overall a tremendous force for good, it is undoubtedly true that the benefits have been distributed unequally, and the COVID pandemic itself was an unintended but foreseeable and in fact, foreseen consequence of globalization.

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But while the diagnosis of the downsides of globalization may be somewhat correct. The prescriptions of these demagogues are misguided, retrograde and defeatist, closing borders, centralizing power, spurning international cooperation and framing xenophobia as somehow Noble or even sacred. These are the roads to economic ruin for developed and developing countries alike, and possibly probably to war

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as the newest Global Studies degree holders and as global citizens, we hope that you will lead the charge in rejecting the false promise of anti globalist Chauvin chauvinism and push push instead for a refresh and fair version of globalization to echo our keynote speaker, we need you,

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and we know you can do it. So without further ado with the students graduating with a BA in Global Studies, please stand and approach the podium.

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Angel Alexander Pippins, Lopez,

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Sophia, karampoorna,

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Sophie Schrock, she's graduating cum laude.

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Aaron, Philip Kaplan I

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Lauren, Elizabeth, Houlihan,

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Kashish Makar, departmental, highest honors,

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Riley tongberg cum laude you.

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Sophia Portillo,

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yuechu Chen, magna cum Laude Bucha,

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Amari, Elise Ford,

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Juliet Alvarado,

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yeah. Emily Cifuentes, I

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knew there'd be a traffic jam at some Point.

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It's la after all,

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Luz, Maria Lopez,

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Hannah Tran

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Abigail, Galang, manalise,

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Emma, Tam,

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hansica, nats

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Layla chidic department, highest honors,

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Yasmin Jafari,

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UCLA Moore,

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Oh, sorry, summa cum laude and departmental Highest Honors. You.

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Maher, honey, Salah cum laude,

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Malia, Kenny I

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Angelina, Garcia,

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Brooke, Gianna, Sanchez, you

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Anna blocker,

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Sophie, Cosette, kellalia, magna cum laude and departmental Highest Honors.

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Dylan song, summa cum laude, departmental, highest honors. Standing

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by Janie Rutter,

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Vivian you mcdivid

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Anastasia Holland department, highest honors,

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Irene hung

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Kaylene Tran a Ichi outside

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Candace.

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Lee

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and Devin Bres law you

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and for final program here to present the students majoring in international development studies is Professor Jennifer Chun you,

Unknown Speaker 55:48

Cool, good evening, and welcome to the parents, family, friends and many loved ones who've supported our incredible students throughout their journey at UCLA. It is my great honor and pleasure to say a few words about the international development studies. Major

Unknown Speaker 56:06

international development studies, or IDs, as we like to call it, is the largest undergraduate program in the International Institute, with almost 200 majors. And one of my favorite things to do

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every year is to close out this program with our incredible IDs students.

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Our program's academic rigor is anchored in the strength of our diverse faculty, who hail from anthropology, area and ethnic studies, economics, history, political science and sociology, among other fields, as an interdisciplinary major, we task our students with taking a wide range of lower and upper division courses that equip them with the analytical skills and empirical knowledge to investigate the complex interplay between theory and history, culture and Power, politics and the economy and colonialism and capitalism,

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I often say that we attract the very best and brightest students at UCLA, although I might be a little bit biased

Unknown Speaker 57:15

ideas students do not hesitate to rise to the challenge of trying to make sense of and find solutions to the world's most intractable problems, and we've heard a lot about them tonight.

Unknown Speaker 57:28

In fact, IDs students dive head first into examining the causes and consequences of persistent global poverty, intensifying inequality, extreme human suffering and deprivation, war and genocide and social and ecological disaster, all in the midst of the prevalence of social and economic prosperity, of rising levels of industrial productivity, of unprecedented scientific and technological innovation. Yet still, these problems persist, and our IDs students put their minds to the task of trying to figure out, how do we solve these challenges before us

Unknown Speaker 58:13

to do this this past year, IDs students, you took senior capstone courses, and some of you spent the entire year writing ambitious honors thesis theses that challenged you to take your learning to the next level right doing independent research, analyzing that novel data sets, and immersing yourself in the nuts and bolts of doing applied, community based research. Some of you also took the initiative to

Unknown Speaker 58:41

study abroad, to do internships with community organizations and international and domestic NGOs, and participate in the vibrant Global Development Lab, which is training the next generation of young people to be leaders of global innovation and social and economic judge justice. And you did this while surmounting so many barriers and obstacles these past four years, and also tremendously to our transfer students to do it all in two years, and you do it with such grace, intelligence, resilience and passion, something that IDs students have an abundance of

Unknown Speaker 59:19

As we face a future filled with uncertainty and change. We hope that you think of your time as an IDS student often, and think of yourself in really good company. Dr Fauci null talked about just the tradition that international development studies has brought her and so many other generations of students who have pursued this major, and that you bring your experiences, your memories of UCLA, the knowledge, skills and training that you gain to bear as you fulfill your pursuits and your passions, both here in Los Angeles and around the world. So congratulations, class of 2020.

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Five.

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Will the undergraduate students majoring in international development studies, please rise and approach the podium. You

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You Sana Kaur minhas.

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Minjung son

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Madison petterond, cum laude,

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Savannah Kirkpatrick,

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Anatole Felson,

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Cisco Pro,

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Ethan Cortez.

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Amanda, Rachel Alarcon,

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Miku Wakabayashi, You

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hejung, Hwang,

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Ray, Wang Yi,

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Ethan Chang,

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Q Yun Chen,

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Claire Thornycroft,

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Alexandra day Mong magna cum laude,

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Nicole Johnson,

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Marley, Hernandez,

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Laura Aquino,

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Sujana Sridhar, Summa, cum laude,

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Ryan Clark,

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Haiti Tapia,

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Olivia Boyce,

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Rue Ruja Zhou.

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Yuji Shah.

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Emily Mirza Khan,

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Celia kebe,

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Carolina calvalconti Carvalho,

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On davas.

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Suraj Sharma,

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Jolie Anderson, magna cum laude, you

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Kida, Taka Tsubaki,

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Haruki Matsushita,

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The how Quang,

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Kennedy, McIntyre, you

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Amber, Nicole Rosa, Dennis,

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Lillian Celeste, Buckley

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Cooper, Dutton, magna cum laude, departmental, highest honors. You

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Alex Guan

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Riley, lebros, magna cum laude You

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Cynthia, Aragon, Alvarado,

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Liam crainman i Ye Tang Yu

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Andrew Dong,

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Joseph Delgado, I

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Natalia, Rojas,

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Kayla sadagiani,

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Alejandra, Garcia Torres,

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Isabel Germain,

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Rose Aguilar.

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Jeanette, Arteaga,

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Kelly, Sanchez,

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Ariana, Amanda Esqueda. Esqueda,

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Ida East, Jessica Pacheco Mendez,

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Victoria Hernandez,

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Melina, Urias, you

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Karen, Elizabeth, Espana,

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Michaela, maharis,

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I met Georgina Valladares Guzman. I

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Anisha MENA cum laude, departmental, highest honors. You

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sitlali, Xiomara, Zuniga gross

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Aiden Renee Arauz,

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if I said that wrong, I

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Roberto Gutierrez,

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Jose arvisu,

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Hilda Sanchez, you

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Ruiz hinato, tabahonda burlangan,

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Kristen Chen,

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Jiaming, Zhang, Yu

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Abigail siroc tesfa, Michael

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two Tegan, Alexandra, Cal Claire, Galloway, IDs, academic award.

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Patty rose Allen bolino, Magna Cum Laude.

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Daniel Lorenzo Lopez, you.

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Yeah.

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Asyle Mendez, Osuna,

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Maria Aguirre Posadas,

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leonela, Vanessa Villalobos, Cum laude you

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annexes Hernandez, Carillo,

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Valentina Thurber, you

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Raul Jesus Aguilera, you

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ANNA U van Jesta,

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Kayla, Michelle Hankins,

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Lily Zhang, magna cum Laude,

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Gregorio, Martinez,

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Anani, peralez, you

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Roberto Lopez,

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Maggie Messer, IDs, activist award.

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Jessica Noel Ronson, Magna Cum Laude. You

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Clara brideau, cum laude, departmental highest honors,

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Joaquin, Garcia, Barajas,

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Grace Harris, magna cum laude, departmental, highest honors, IDs, activist award you.

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Stefan, Kim,

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chi, Lee, HS,

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Joe way Chang

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you

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oluwata, Damilola, sujeve Salami, cum laude, departmental, highest honors, IDs, academic award.

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So I'm Kalei onuha onu, 1

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million.

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Over oluwa, damilami, oyabolo, departmental, highest honors, IDs, academic award,

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odalis de la Cruz

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Andre Andres Tapia, partida, departmental Highest Honors.

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Nathaniel Sam, Scott,

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Chris, Christina pennosian cum laude

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and Emma may Tosh, You

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Well, what do you Think about our graduates? I

Unknown Speaker 1:22:05

you well, family and friends, family and friends and loved ones, I think you did very well tonight too.

Unknown Speaker 1:22:16

Before we conclude tonight's ceremony, I wish to once again extend my appreciation to all of you who have contributed to the success of our students and helped to make this event possible. I would like to thank our faculty and leaders, and especially the entire commencement staff, as Professor Michael

Unknown Speaker 1:22:38

these have has already mentioned, but also including our truly wonderful external relations, multimedia communications, administrative staff, and in particular, once again, our academic counselors, our SAOs from the International Institute, as well as the Amazing Royce Hall staff. So thank you very much.

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Special. Thanks also to Christoph bull tonight's amazing organist for the wonderful music he provided for this ceremony. You

Unknown Speaker 1:23:26

and finally, I'd like to thank Dr Fauci Marie no again for your wonderful, personal and professionally inspiring speech. You

Unknown Speaker 1:23:46

before we end the ceremony, I would like to ask that family and friends to continue to remain in your seats until the recessional has completed and all graduates have exited Royce Hall. At this time, I would like to ask our students to once again stand you.

Unknown Speaker 1:24:31

As we know,

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as we know, these students could not have made it thus far without the unwavering support of their friends and family and loved ones. So graduates, please acknowledge your guests here tonight with a big round of applause in appreciation. You.

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And now, to signify your status as a graduate of the UCLA International Institute, please move the tassel on your cap from the right side to the left side. You

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best wishes to you all. Congratulations once again, and

Unknown Speaker 1:25:42

you are forever part of UCLA, so please come back to visit us and let us know how you're doing. Congratulations. You

Transcribed by https://otter.ai