Schools

49 Stratford Residents Among 4,000 UConn Graduates

Several graduation ceremonies were held throughout the Storrs campus this weekend, including the largest, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, on Sunday afternoon.

The University of Connecticut conferred degrees on its first group of undergraduates in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, graduating about 1,500 students from across the state, country and world.

The commencement ceremony moved smoothly and briskly. Star student athletes Maya Moore and Kemba Walker led the procession of  CLAS students into Gampel Pavilion, followed by university faculty and staff. Only 90 minutes later the seniors had finished their undergraduate careers and were moving on to smaller celebrations and the next stage of their lives. The group had to disperse from the center of campus before thousands more arrived to commence their graduation in the second such ceremony of the day.

Political Science Professor and Associate Dean Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh, a last-minute replacement, gave the featured commencement address in which he encouraged graduates to reflect on their past and take the best of what they've learned with them as they leave the Storrs campus.

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The address, called “Visions of Scholars,” and enjoyed by nearly all, focused on Zirakzadeh’s own upbringing and experiences in college at Michigan. He connected themes he found in his own history to the rows of students flanking him.

Zirakzadeh pointed out the visions being seen in the building as he spoke, as families and friends watched their loved ones reap the reward of undergraduate labor.

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“Right now they probably think you’re the most splendid and lovely creatures they’ve ever seen,” he said, followed by a round of applause from the audience.

Zirakzadeh mentioned the importance of those scholastic labors as well.

“You are being recognized for something society values deeply,” he said.

Zirakzadeh told the new graduates were more able to think deeply, eschew stereotypes, broaden their tastes, interpret information, change direction and explore new concepts.

“It’s important to branch out and get perspectives different from those you inherited,” he said.

Excited graduates displayed their exuberance with pictures, glitter and, in one instance, a plush dinosaur fastened to their mortarboards. Beach balls, a common site at the ceremony in past years, were not present but vociferous call-and-response cheers of “UConn! Huskies!” punctuated the event.

In addition to the UConn students receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, more than 4,000 students officially completed various undergraduate and graduate programs at ceremonies across the state this weekend. They earned degrees in disciplines from fine arts and philosophy to forensic medicine, law and social work.

Here's the list of graduates from Stratford:

  1. Devan Alusik
  2. Yuri B. Avila II
  3. Taylor Jessica Louise Bacon
  4. Travers Yuichi Blossom
  5. Kelly Ann Burgdorf
  6. David Carrasquillo
  7. Caroline Nicole Carrier
  8. Sara Elizabeth Chmielewski
  9. Devan Hall Cody
  10. Nicole Victoria De Lorenzo
  11. John James Dempsey
  12. Ricardo Anieff DeSouza
  13. Clarice Divunzuka Diavua
  14. Janelle Ali Dunbar
  15. Gregory Charles Fabso
  16. Douglas John Farrell
  17. Christina Marie Festa
  18. Mallory E. Finch
  19. Erica Marguarite Gabor
  20. Allison Brittany Gale
  21. Ryan Michael Giasullo
  22. Mary Kathryn Gill
  23. Thomas Michael Haggerty
  24. Robert Daniel Hermann
  25. Jessica Hirschbeck
  26. Joseph Louis Homza
  27. Andrew Wayne Hurley
  28. Timothy John Jaekle
  29. Sheronda Monet Jones
  30. Brian Thomas Kowalsky
  31. Andrew Michael Kuzmich
  32. Iris Lam
  33. Nicole Marie LaPierre
  34. Patrick Jon Masella
  35. Allison Dolan Moore
  36. Andrew Mitchell Ocampo
  37. Michael Christos Papachristos
  38. Theodore R. Pert II
  39. Jacqueline Michelle Petraglia
  40. Lauren Britton Pires
  41. Sean Early Poulin
  42. Rachel Elizabeth Raccuia
  43. Evan Michael Rutkowski
  44. Nathanael Huy-Khiem Tran
  45. Nicole Jessica Vena
  46. Matthew Paul Wojcicki
  47. Lachell Cathleen Workman
  48. Ralph Edward Wright
  49. Cong Yu


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