Recognizing our Graduates

Student success is about recruiting, retaining, developing, and graduating students. We want our students to spend their best learning years at our institutions even as we gently remind them that they should graduate on time. Commencement celebrations make this rite of passage come to life. They mark the end of one journey and the start of the next. One of the most enjoyable parts of my role as chancellor is participating in celebration events, shaking hands with students, and listening to student speakers inspire us with their stories.

Nothing will compare to my first commencement season at IU Indianapolis. I have had the honor of attending ceremonies starting last week with our international and study abroad students, and every day this week: IU Fort Wayne on Sunday, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi-Americans on Monday, IU Columbus and the Lavender Graduation on Tuesday, the Celebration of Black Graduates, and our campus-wide commencement ceremony yesterday evening. I only wish I could be in two places at once so that I could attend even more of these very special occasions.

The campus-wide celebration had something for everyone: family, friends, cheering, and fireworks. From my walk-through in the morning to the sound check with the student speakers and singers to the procession into Carroll Stadium, all led up to the most powerful and important moment: the conferral of degrees. Thousands of students, with the support of their families and friends, braved the cloudy weather to join the festivities, marking this important milestone in their lives.

All told, this May more than 6,400 students are graduating with the majority of those students—around 3,500—earning bachelor’s degrees. Nearly 3,000 are receiving their master’s or doctoral degrees. Nearly a third of our graduates are first-generation students, nearly a quarter are underrepresented students of Color, and more than 11% are international students. All of this reflects both the diversity and achievement that we foster at IU Indianapolis.

Fun facts about the class:

• A total of 351 students—from associate’s degree recipients to doctorates—earned a 4.0 GPA.
• We have 9 sets of twins graduating and 1 set of triplets.
• Our oldest student graduating is 77.
• Our youngest graduate is 19.

I want to offer a special word of thanks to our commencement speakers, Faith Odiete and Kidy Yasin. Faith is earning her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Kidy is earning her doctoral degree from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Both shared stories of challenges they faced and overcame at different stages of their educational journeys. I couldn’t agree more with Kidy’s advice that graduates should remember that their collective efforts can tackle the most difficult challenges and create a more inclusive, supportive, and compassionate world.

My advice to our graduates: stay in touch, and tell us where your journey takes you. And no matter where you are in the world, we will be there cheering you on.

Congratulations to our graduates.

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor