Commencement 2021 About Touro University California Touro University California (TUC) is a Jewish nonprofit, independent graduate institution of higher learning that was founded in 1997 on three Judaic values: social justice, the pursuit of knowledge, and service to humanity. TUC’s vision is to be a place of inspirational teaching and scholarship, transformative leadership, and exemplary service. Today, the university is organized into three colleges: the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Education and Health Sciences. Home to over 1,500 students, TUC is deeply committed to its mission of offering distinguished professional programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant studies, public health, nursing, and education. The TUC learning experience is student-centered, enriched by research and scholarship, and prepares professionals for rewarding lives in service to others both locally and around the globe. Touro College and University System Touro University California is part of the Touro College and University System (TCUS), which is composed of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. • Touro College was established in 1970 with the mission to educate, to serve, to perpetuate, and to enrich the historic Jewish tradition of tolerance and dignity. Created as an independent institution that would support and strengthen the Jewish community, Touro has remained steadfast in its commitment to Jewish continuity and more broadly, to humankind. • TCUS has grown to serve a widely diverse population of over 19,000 students across 35 schools in four countries and is uniquely attuned to the importance of an education that accommodates students from all backgrounds and circumstances. • Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide, are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. History of the Campus Touro University California faces the Napa River on historic Mare Island where in 1854, the first permanent Navy installation on the West Coast was established. Naval operations at that time ensured the flow of gold and U.S. mail to and across Panama and protected American whalers in the South Pacific. Under the leadership of Commander David G. Farragut, Mare Island began a long history of shipbuilding. The first U.S. warship built on the West Coast was launched at Mare Island in 1859, and the first dry-dock on the West Coast was completed in 1891. The Mare Island Base Hospital, a National Historic Landmark, was constructed in 1899 on the foundation of an even older Navy hospital. The only U.S. battleship ever built on the West Coast, the Californian, was launched from here in 1919. Other historic milestones include the building of a platform on the vessel Pennsylvania, which permitted the first carrier landing of an airplane, and converting the Navy’s first vessel to run on oil rather than coal. During World War II, Mare Island produced almost 400 vessels and in 1958 launched the first of 17 nuclear submarines. tu.edu 1 Congratulations Graduates! It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Touro University California’s Spring 2021 Commencement. On behalf of the entire university leadership team and our faculty and staff, we are thrilled to have you here remotely for this wonderful celebration. I offer a special welcome and thank you to the family and friends of our graduates. They could not have completed this journey without your steadfast support. Graduates – your commencement marks a pivotal and important day for you, Touro, and most of all, the communities and people that you will go on to serve. Today, after persevering through long days of studying, lectures, and labs while learning at the side of our expert faculty and community partners, you can walk with your heads held high as well-prepared professionals in your field. You will be joining a distinguished group of alumni who are outstanding doctors, pharmacists, educators, physician assistants, nurses, family nurse practitioners, public health practitioners, and health science professionals. You are now fully prepared to meet the same challenges and make an important impact on those that look to you for help and counsel. As the newest alumni of the university, I encourage you to remain closely connected to Touro University California. You are now the leaders and mentors for future generations of Touro students. Congratulations on your achievement under the most challenging of circumstances. You are joining a battle against a difficult pandemic that has altered our lives in immeasurable ways and will continue to have a grip on our society for some time – even after our lives return to “normal.” Your presence here is proof that you don’t back away from challenges, and as Touro graduates, be confident in yourself, as I am of each and every one of you, that you have it within you to meet not only this challenge, but the challenges of the future we have not yet discovered. Shelley Berkley, JD, CEO and Senior Provost Touro Western Division Touro University California Graduates of 2021, your commitment to social justice has created transformational changes in our community even in the midst of a pandemic. Despite the limitations placed upon you by a global pandemic, you have still found ways to serve your communities that were not insignificant. Many of you have served in communities across the globe to create and implement meaningful public health interventions. The educators among you have adapted to circumstances few other educators have had to face en masse and for such a long period of time, giving your heart and soul to your students no matter the obstacles. In your own ways, each of you have stood up to the challenge of COVID-19 that has altered the way we live. You responded with grace in the call to shelter-in-place, to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, and when volunteers were needed in various capacities, so many of you didn’t hesitate to raise a hand and say, “Send me.” You have continued to serve by supporting our communities and each other in the midst of great challenges from sewing masks, to caring for the homeless, to staffing drive through testing centers, providing remote education for K-12 students, and working at mass vaccination clinics in Solano County, throughout California and across the nation. Today you stand ready to meet our community’s most essential needs in an unprecedented time. Your perseverance in these times reminds me of The Little Engine That Could and the growth from “I think I can” to success ending in “I thought I could.” Use your experience to live a life of great impact while continually upholding these values: respect for the inherent value and dignity of each individual, acceptance and appreciation of diversity, and compassion and service to society. We, your faculty and staff, know you will continue to create positive change in our world. Sarah Sweitzer, PhD, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Touro University California 2 College of Osteopathic Medicine Sunday, May 23, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. THE NATIONAL ANTHEM WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION Alan Kadish, MD Shelley Berkley, JD Sarah Sweitzer, PhD Michael Clearfield, DO, President of Touro Chief Executive Officer Provost and Chief MACOI, FACP College and University and Senior Provost of Academic Officer of Touro Dean of the College of System & New York Touro University University California Osteopathic Medicine Medical College Western Division CLASS OF 2021 STUDENT SPEAKERS Zoë Lehman and Gregory Weygandt KEYNOTE SPEAKER Michael Clearfield, DO, MACOI, FACP Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine CONFERRAL OF DEGREES Shelley Berkley, JD and Sarah Sweitzer, PhD PRESENTATION OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE DEGREE CANDIDATES READING OF NAMES Gail Feinberg, DO, M Ed, FACOFP, M dist, Walter Hartwig, PhD, Tami Hendriksz, DO, FACOP, FAAP, and Kimberly Wolf, DO, FACOP, FAAP RECITATION OF THE OSTEOPATHIC OATH Michael Clearfield, DO, MACOI, FACP RECITATION OF THE COMMISSIONING OATH Natalie Nevins, DO, MSHPE, COL US ARMY ALUMNI WELCOME Tami Hendriksz, DO, FACOP, FAAP BLOWING OF THE SHOFAR Bruce Silverman, MS CONGRATULATIONS AND CLOSING Michael Clearfield, DO, MACOI, FACP College of Osteopathic Medicine Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine California (“TUCOM”), founded in 1996, moved from San Francisco in 1999 to its current location, now occupying 44 acres on the historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. Since our first graduating class of 2001, TUCOM alumni are practicing throughout the United States and globally, from large urban cores to rural enclaves and serve honorably in all branches of the United States military and public health services. The mission of TUCOM is to prepare students to become outstanding osteopathic physicians who uphold the values, philosophy and practice of osteopathic medicine. These fundamental tenets emphasize the care of the whole individual and promote wellness of our diverse communities. TUCOM is distinguished by an innovative, student-centered, systems-based curriculum with robust educational outcomes. The traditional four-year medical school education includes threads that emphasize global and public health, osteopathic manipulative medicine, obesity, hand-held ultrasonagraphy, interprofessionalism, and empathy. Clinical, basic science and translational research, funded by a variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health,