Ferguson Mayor Jones delivered a hopeful commencement address at her alma mater
The University of Missouri-St. Louis celebrated more than 2,700 graduates on Dec. 19 in virtual commencement ceremonies, recognizing all students who earned degrees in May, August and December of 2020.
The university conferred more than 1,000 degrees to students this semester, while honoring 1,231 who earned degrees in May and 495 who did so in August. Spring commencement ceremonies were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“All of these graduates deserve praise for their resilience as they have faced the challenges of this unprecedented time and continued to thrive while earning their degrees,” UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik said before the ceremonies.
“Though we are not able to gather in person as originally planned, we are no less excited to celebrate them and all they have achieved while expanding their knowledge and unlocking opportunities for the future. We congratulate them and are eager to watch their success in the years ahead.”
The Dec. 19 celebration included virtual ceremonies for each college with streaming broadcasts featuring speeches, the conferral of degrees and the presentation of UMSL’s 2020 graduates. Each participating graduate was given individual, on-screen recognition, including an information slide with a photo as their name was announced.
Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones recorded a commencement keynote address which was incorporated into each ceremony. Jones made history in June when she became the first woman and the first Black resident to be elected mayor in the St. Louis County municipality.
Before Jones entered politics, she enjoyed a long career as a chemist with a degree she earned at UMSL in 1986.
The 2014 shooting of Michael Brown and the civil unrest in its aftermath helped motivate her to seek elected office, first as a member of the city council before this year’s mayoral run.
Along the way, she returned to UMSL for training in municipal leadership at the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life. Since taking office, she’s been looking to empower her constituents and working with the Urban League on a housing initiative in Ferguson.
Dec. 19 ceremonies were for the following schools:
· College of Arts and Sciences
· College of Business Administration
· College of Education/SUCCEED
· College of Nursing
· School of Social Work
· UMSL/Washington University Joint Engineering Program
Here is a small sample of the students who graduated this semester at the University of Missouri–St. Louis:
Hannah Williams was among 95 December graduates in the College of Nursing. Williams, who graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, was chosen to be a student marshal for the commencement ceremony. But that was only part of an unforgettable day for Williams, who was also married on Dec. 19.
Kei Pang, the CEO and vice chairman of Nidec Motor Corporation, was among 12 students making up the first cohort to complete their Doctor of Business Administration degrees at UMSL. The terminal business degree is tailor-made to help experienced business professionals research answers to real-world problems that impact businesses’ daily operations, crossing lines between disciplines in order to find solutions.
Carmen Palencia, a native of Colombia, earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration eight years after moving to the United States with limited knowledge of English. She took ESL classes at St. Louis Community College before enrolling at UMSL. She currently has an internship with the Boeing Company and will begin pursuing her MBA at UMSL in January.
Brian Fogarty graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology and is currently applying to medical school. Fogarty had been planning to become a fire fighter when he finished high school at North County Christian School but discovered his interest in health care during EMT training. He went to St. Louis Community College to become a paramedic and later enrolled at UMSL to get his bachelor’s degree on his way to becoming a physician.
Lindsey Gevers graduated with a degree in elementary education, a special education certificate and a Pierre Laclede Honors College certificate in just 3½ years with a GPA of over 3.95. In addition to semesters of up to 21 credit hours, Gevers has kept busy working at the NASA/Challenger Learning Center and the Kiddie Academy of O’Fallon. She also coaches cross country and track and field in the Wentzville School District, volunteers for Girls on the Run and has run three marathons and seven half marathons.
Zaymon Harris graduated with a Bachelor of Educational Studies degree with an emphasis in youth and adult development. During his time at UMSL, Harris interned with Beyond Housing’s youth programs, and this summer, he conducted a virtual summer camp. He is also trained in the Children’s Defense Fund curriculum and has applied it in his work as a camp counselor.
John Gentilini graduated with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering. A nontraditional student, Gentilini never planned on attending college. After high school, he enlisted with the United States Army, became a combat engineer and served for six years. Afterward, he became a police officer until a broken finger sidelined him. Watching hours of Science Channel programming, he decided to change his life. Now he’s graduated with a job at Civil Design, Inc. on its site development team after working his way through school with four jobs.
