Students connected to the Multicultural Student Services Center celebrated commencement in a ceremony Thursday.
Speakers told them to keep fighting against aggressions and misperceptions about their marginalized communities.
The ceremony, held in Lisner Auditorium, featured student speakers from various multicultural communities and organizations on campus.
Here are some of the highlights from the ceremony:
1. Student activism
Vanessa Perry, the interim vice provost for diversity and inclusion, told the graduates that she was proud of them for advocating for their communities on every level – at GW and on the national level, like after events on the University of Missouri’s campus.
She closed her speech telling students that “black lives matter.”
She also reminded graduates to be proud of themselves, especially because many of them were a part of communities from which people are less earn bachelor’s degrees.
2. The mark of leadership and relationship
Michael Tapscott, the director of the MSSC, gave the graduates guidelines for leadership.
“Have confidence – show up, show off and move on,” he said.
He also led the graduates through an exercise in which they spoke to five people in the room that they did not know, reminding them to build relationships throughout their careers.
“There is something to be said for lifelong relationships,” he said.
3. A home away from home
Tapscott reminded the graduates that no matter how far they ended up from D.C., the MSSC would always be there when they come back.
“Today, your undergrad legacy is established,” he said.
Ahana Das, a student speaker from the South Asian community, said that as an international student from Singapore, the MSSC gave her a home away from home.
“I’ll use the word that my name is often mixed up with – ‘Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind,’” she said.
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