Anonymous
By Shelley Leachman, UC Santa Barbara
And away they go — 6,867 of them. That’s the combined number of students, both undergraduate and graduate, set to earn degrees from UC Santa Barbara in 2019. Their accomplishments will be celebrated in nine official commencement ceremonies to be held on campus over eight days in June.
Starting June 9 and concluding June 16, the ceremonies are organized by college, level of degree and field of study. Chancellor Henry T. Yang will shake the hand of every student graduating from the College of Creative Studies, the College of Engineering, the College of Letters and Science, the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Graduate Division.
The College of Creative Studies will lead off with its ceremony Sunday, June 9, at 11 a.m. in Campbell Hall. Two ceremonies will be conducted Friday, June 14, starting with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at 9 a.m. in the Bren Hall Courtyard, followed at 1 p.m. by Graduate Division on the Commencement Green fronting the campus lagoon.
Commencement Green also is the site of the remaining six ceremonies, all being held the weekend of Saturday, June 15, and Sunday, June 16, with three each day.
All nine ceremonies will be webcast live. Over June 15-16, web coverage will be continuous, beginning at 8:30 a.m., running through and between the 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. events. The live stream can be accessed via the commencement website.
A listing of ceremonies and guest speakers follows. Complete biographical information on all guest speakers also is available on the commencement website.
Sunday, June 9, Campbell Hall
11 a.m. — College of Creative Studies
Guest Speaker — Kenny Broad ’89, professor, University of Miami; explorer, National Geographic
Friday, June 14, Bren Hall Courtyard
9 a.m. — Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
Guest Speaker — Steve McCormick, managing director, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
1 p.m. — Graduate Division
Guest Speaker — Nicolasa Sandoval ’07 (Ph.D.), education director, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians; member, California State Board of Education
Student Speaker — Liliana Rodriguez, Ph.D., sociology
Saturday, June 15, Commencement Green
9 a.m. — Mathematical, Life & Physical Sciences I
Guest Speaker — Brenton Taylor ’03, founder, executive vice president, Inogen, Inc.
Student Speaker — Chinmayee Balachandra, biopsychology
1 p.m. — Mathematical, Life & Physical Sciences II
Guest Speaker — Deb Callahan ’81, founder, president, North Star Strategy
Student Speaker — Eduardo Cardenas-Torres, statistical science
4 p.m. — College of Engineering
Guest Speaker — Ali Bauerlein ’03, founder, chief financial officer, executive vice president of finance, Inogen, Inc.
Student Speaker —Dana Michelle Yuen, mechanical engineering
Sunday, June 16, Commencement Green
9 a.m. — Social Sciences I
Guest Speaker —Puoy Premsrirut ’96, attorney, partner, Brown Brown & Premsrirut
Student Speaker — Kuvimbanashe Chikukwa, political science
1 p.m. — Social Sciences II
Guest Speaker — Reverend Nancy A. Frausto, associate rector, Luke’s Episcopal Church
Student Speaker — Zenzile Riddick, sociology, Black studies
4 p.m. — Humanities & Fine Arts
Guest Speaker — Rick Rosen ’75, head of television, broadcast and sports, WME Talent Agency
Student Speaker — Jingyan Zhang, comparative literature, linguistics
6000 UCSB grads who don’t want to leave, won’t have any job skills, but will demand “affordable housing” so they don’t have to leave. Next year, 6000 more. And we still have the 6000 from last year. City council, you will never be able to build out the demand for “affordable housing” with 6000 new UCSB grads in the pipeline every year.
Not true at all. I know many grads that left town as soon as they possibly could. They aren’t stupid, and do know that it’s very expensive to live here and hard to get a job. Yes, there was ONE student who stayed in town because SHE HAD A JOB here.
It isn’t the grads that are making the most noise for affordable housing. It’s the thousands of UCSB employees that currently live in Ventura and Lompoc. Have you seen the southbound 217/101 junction at 5pm?
It is the best job environment in years – but what skills do they have to offer local employers? They have to go to where the jobs match one’s skill set, not park where they want to live and demand employers come to them. Just saw two “now hiring” signs on some State Street motels. And one on a local plumber’s office. There are jobs in this town.