2013 Fall Commencement Metropolitan State University of Denver
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2013 FALL COMMENCEMENT METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2013 2013 FALL COMMENCEMENT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2013 Letter from the President .......................... 2 Program ...................................................... 3 President’s Award Recipient ..................... 4 MSU Denver: Lives Transformed ............. 5 Commencement Speaker, Faculty Marshals ................................... 6, 7 Commencement Planning Committee, Retirees, Emeritus, In Memoriam, MSU Denver Board of Trustees ........... 7 Academic Attire ......................................... 8 Academic Colors ......................................... 9 Honor Societies ........................................... 9 Fall 2013 Graduation Candidates ........... 10 Summer 2013 Graduates ......................... 20 Seating Diagram ...................................... 24 1 DEAR 2013 FALL GRADUATION CANDIDATES: Greetings and congratulations to today’s graduates and to the families and friends who’ve gathered here today to help you celebrate the remarkable achievement of earning your degree from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Completing this stage of your education represents a transformation: you now can present yourself to the world as a university graduate—someone who has spent hundreds of hours in study, researched paper topics late into the night, persevered through difficult courses and dared to dream of a better life. Transforming Higher Education, Transforming Lives, Transforming Communities—the theme of MSU Denver’s new marketing and branding effort—carries a powerful message. It outlines a complete cycle of transformation with three distinct components. MSU Denver is transforming higher education by enhancing traditional academics with useful career preparation and improved accessibility. With the most diverse student body of any four-year institution in Colorado, MSU Denver reflects most accurately the future population of our country. One of America’s strengths has always been its ability to recognize individual potential, develop that potential through education and then charge those who have benefitted from it to extend the same opportunity to others. As graduates, your lives will continue to be transformed by taking what you have learned here and using it to achieve professional success and stability. Your education has equipped you to meet future challenges with both wonder and realism, to take risks fearlessly but not foolhardily, and to enjoy success with generosity. You have the ability to fulfill your potential and transform your communities by using your MSU Denver education to improve your communities—sharing your abilities and energy with others, and thereby completing the cycle. As you head off to embrace your future, please remember that MSU Denver is here for you. You are graduates, but education is a lifelong process and you are always welcome back to refresh your knowledge and skills, or simply to learn for your own interest and enjoyment. After all, the cycle of transformation depends on constant renewal. Wishing you the best, Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D. President, Metropolitan State University of Denver 2 PROGRAM Processional Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39, No. 1 .............................................................................. Sir Edgar Elgar (Please stand for the Procession) The Denver Municipal Band Mr. Gerald Endsley, Affiliate Music Faculty, Conductor Star-Spangled Banner...........................................................................................................Francis Scott Key Ms. Sarah Baker, Soprano, Graduating Voice Performance Major The Denver Municipal Band Brass Ensemble Dr. Michael J. Kornelsen, Associate Dean of the Arts Dr. Walter L. Barr, Emeritus Professor of Music, Arranger Amazing Grace ...............................................................................................................................John Newton Matthew Morrisette, Tenor Saxophone, Music Education Major Call to Order ....................................................................................................................... Dr. Kamran Sahami President, Faculty Senate Presidential Greetings ..................................................................................................Dr. Stephen M. Jordan President, Metropolitan State University of Denver Introduction of the Outstanding Fall Graduate Award Recipient .................................Dr. Joan L. Foster Dean, Letters, Arts and Sciences Remarks from the Fall Class of 2013 ...............................................................................Katherine M. Miller Outstanding Fall Graduate Award Recipient Address ................................................................................................................................... Dr. Ann Williams U.S. Professor of the Year Professor of Modern Languages – French, Metropolitan State University of Denver Presentation of Candidates .................................................................................................... Dr. Vicki Golich Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Conferring of Master’s Degrees ..................................................................................Dr. Stephen M. Jordan Presentation of Diplomas School of Business ................................................................Dr. Clayton Daughtrey, Associate Dean School of Letters, Arts and Sciences ............................................................Dr. Joan L. Foster, Dean School of Professional Studies ....................................................................Dr. Sandra Haynes, Dean Conferring of Bachelor’s Degrees ..............................................................................Dr. Stephen M. Jordan Conferring of Posthumous Honorary Bachelor of Arts, English Degree for Ryan Riley........................................................................................................................Dr. Stephen M. Jordan Dr. Joan L. Foster, Dean of Letters, Arts and Sciences Presentation of Diplomas School of Business ................................................................Dr. Clayton Daughtrey, Associate Dean School of Letters, Arts and Sciences ............................................................Dr. Joan L. Foster, Dean School of Professional Studies ....................................................................Dr. Sandra Haynes, Dean Introduction of Candidates ................................................................................................ Mr. Scott Lubinski Assistant Professor of Theatre Ms. Marilyn Hetzel Chair, Department of Theatre Dr. Brandon Matthews Assistant Professor, Department of Music Dr. Bradley Thompson Assistant Professor, Department of Music Tassel Ceremony ............................................................................................................Dr. Stephen M. Jordan Closing Ceremony ............................................................................................................. Dr. Kamran Sahami Recessional Interpreters for the Deaf: Leora Rosenbaum, Michele Gardner and Anne Marie Morgan 3 PRESIDENT’S AWARD RECIPIENT: Katherine M. Miller Bachelor of Arts in women’s studies Bachelor of Arts in psychology Bachelor of Arts in history Katherine M. Miller, this year’s President’s Award recipient, gives true meaning to MSU Denver’s tagline: Lives Transformed. Her first attempt at college was riddled with failing grades, an abusive relationship, debilitating depression and alcohol abuse. “I never understood how lost I was until I found myself broke, unemployed, evicted from my apartment and nowhere left to go but home,” Miller says. “It took my parents a long year to get me back on my feet. It took me another year to decide that I wanted something better for myself.” Earning her bachelor’s degree in three disciplines with a GPA of 3.94 was something she never dreamed possible. Not until she arrived at MSU Denver and found the community that would soon feel like family. “I was terrified most of my first semester. My abusers’ words lingered; I still believed his voice in my mind when it told me I was stupid, worthless and incapable,” Miller says. But all that changed near the end of her first semester on the day her history professor handed back a paper: “Imagine my shock to turn to see ‘100%, best paper I’ve read on this subject by a student.’ I stayed after class to make sure it wasn’t a mistake,” Miller says. “Those words changed my life. I am so thankful that he saw goodness in me, so that I was able to see it for myself.” It was during her second semester that Miller became passionate about psychology and was asked to be a research and teaching assistant. “She truly embodies everything that is MSU Denver,” says Travis Heath, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Katherine returned to MSU Denver with a Ph.D. and became one of my colleagues. She is that good.” And then Miller discovered women’s studies: “Within the first two weeks of my intro class, I knew I had found my community, my space to belong, my identity,” Miller says. For the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services (IWSS) alone, she helped found and establish the Clinical and Counseling Club, won a Student Leadership Award directing “The Vagina Monologues,” served as support staff for Feminist First Fridays, and completed an independent study that transformed the way IWSS supports teaching assistants.