More than 375 recent alumni of the School of Education were among the 35,000 members of the LMU community who gathered on July 31, 2021 for the 109th Commencement Exercises at SoFi Stadium to celebrate the Classes of 2020 and 2021. The event was the largest one ever hosted in the history of the university. Watch highlights of the celebration here.
To honor the accomplishments of both graduating classes, award-winning actress Viola Davis graced the stage as keynote speaker, encouraging graduates to be brave, wake up the world and help it breathe. “What is your truth? What’s your story? Or better yet, what are you willing to own?” she asked the audience, to raucous cheers and applause. “You know your truth by the way it feels, and if you don’t have the courage to harness it, then life will lay down a hammer that could defeat the likes of Thor.” (Watch Viola Davis’ full keynote address here.)
The SoFi event was preceded by a special on-campus ceremony on Friday, July 30. For the first time in its history, LMU SOE held a separate hooding ceremony to honor the 2020 and 2021 graduates of its doctoral program in Educational Leadership for Social Justice. Program director William D. Parham, Dean Michelle D. Young, and Provost Thomas Poon all spoke at the event, and graduates were hooded by their dissertation advisors. ”We’re living in a period of profound transformation,” said Dean Young. ”It demands the courage to stand firm in our principles; the confidence to lead with integrity and fairness; and the skills to reimagine our schools as places that benefit all students, their families, and the educators who serve them. These qualities were within each of you when you began your educational journey with us, and they’ve only gotten stronger since. Together, you will fulfill the promise we make at LMU: to create the world we want to live in.”
See how the LMU community shared and celebrated these occasions on social media at the #LMUGrad social wall.
