TO OUR GRADUATES
Today you are graduates of the University of Illinois.
This is a remarkable achievement, and we are thrilled to celebrate the occasion with you. Commencement is a joyous and deeply symbolic event for all, including the faculty members, staff, family, friends, and others who have supported you on your journey. As members of the Class of 2025, you have overcome many challenges to earn your degree. Congratulations, and we look forward to learning of your future success.
PRELUDE
Graduate Musicians from the University of Illinois
Urbana - Champaign School of Music
WELCOME
Dr. Carla Cáceres, Director, School of Integrative Biology and Professor, Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior
COMMENCEMENT PROCESSION
Faculty and Degree Candidates from the School of Integrative Biology
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Dr. Carla Cáceres
ALUMNI CONVOCATION SPEAKER
Eric Giesing, Chief Executive Officer, Savillex, University of Illinois Alumnus 2008 & 2010, and proud Girl Dad.
GREETINGS FROM THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES AND RECOGNITION OF CANDIDATES GRADUATING WITH HONORS
Dr. Stephen Downie, Associate Dean for Curricula and Academic Policy, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Professor of Plant Biology
PRESENTATION OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE CANDIDATES
Dr. Marianne Alleyne, Assistant Professor of Entomology
PRESENTATION OF MASTER OF SCIENCE CANDIDATES
Dr. Marianne Alleyne
PRESENTATION OF DOCTORAL PHILOSOPHY CANDIDATES
Dr. Carla Cáceres
CLOSING REMARKS
Dr. Carla Cáceres
SINGING OF “HAIL TO THE ORANGE”
Hail to the Orange,
Hail to the Blue,
Hail Alma Mater, Ever so true.
We love no other,
So let our motto be, Victory, Illinois, Varsity!
RECESSION OF FACULTY AND GRADUATES
School of Integrative Biology
Faculty attending today's ceremony
Dr. Lisa Ainsworth
Dr. Brian Allan
Dr. Marianne Alleyne
Dr. Nick Anderson
Dr. Carla Cáceres
Dr. Ben Clegg
Dr. Adam Dolezal
Dr. Stephen Downie
Dr. Eva Fischer
Dr. Becky Fuller
Dr. Alex Harmon-Threatt
Dr. Katy Heath
Dr. Amy Marshall-Colon
Dr. Pamela Martinez
Dr. Joy O’Keefe
Dr. Surangi Punyasena
Dr. Andy Suarez
Dr. Tony Yannarell
Marshals
Nick Anderson, Lecturer and Academic Advisor
Jessica Fink, Academic Advisor
Academic dress, consisting of cap, gown, and hood, originated about the twelfth century and was worn primarily for warmth. Subsequently, the material of the gown and lining, and the shape of the hood, represented the economic and social, as well as academic status of the wearer.
In the United States, the great majority of the academic costumes now worn are in accordance with the general provisions of the Intercollegiate Code of 1895, which was revised in 1932 and again in 1960. Under this code, the bachelor’s gown has pointed sleeves, the master’s gown has oblong sleeves with an arc at the bottom, and the doctor’s gown has bell-shaped sleeves. All gowns are black, although the adoption of colored gowns by individual institutions in the United States is becoming more prevalent.
The bachelor’s and master’s gowns are untrimmed. The doctor’s gown is faced down the front with velvet and has three bars of velvet across the sleeves. The facing and bars may be black or may be the color of the subject to which the degree pertains. The bachelor’s gown is worn closed; the master’s and doctor’s gowns may be worn open or closed.
Hoods are also black. The bachelor’s hood is 3 feet in length, the master’s is 3 ½ feet, and the doctor’s is 4 feet. Hoods are lined with the official color or colors of the college or university conferring the degree. At the University of Illinois, the lining is orange and blue. The colored velvet border of the hood, which is 2 inches, 3 inches, and 5 inches wide for the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degree respectively, identifies the faculty or field of study to which the degree pertains.
The black mortarboard cap is standard in the United States. Usually, all tassels are black, but where the graduating seniors do not wear hoods, as at the University of Illinois, the color of the cap tassel indicates the department of study. At the University of Illinois, candidates for degrees wear tassels on the right front quadrant of their caps before degrees are conferred, and move them to the left front quadrant after degrees are conferred. Caps are considered a part of the costume and are customarily removed only during an invocation or benediction.
For all academic purposes, including trimmings of doctor’s gowns, edging of hoods, tassels of caps, and linings of banners, there are different colors associated with the different disciplines. The color for Liberal Arts & Sciences is white.
Caps and gowns were worn for the first time at the University of Illinois Commencement ceremony of 1897. In the early 1900s the Commencement procession marched up Burrill Avenue to the old Armory. After diplomas were received, the procession marched back to the lawn south of Green Street. The seniors sang the State song and “Auld Lang Syne” before they said good-bye to each other and the campus.
Graduates and Candidates
Bachelor of Science
* BSLAS-MS student participating in the procession with BSLAS cohort
Integrative Biology
Harrison David Abrams
Victoria I. Abuwa
Moosa Ahmed
Maha Ali
Mohammad Fadi Alrafati
Dariana Antanovich
Anessa Arndt
Sharee Artist
Amal Fatima Ather
Abby Lynn Aukland
Wyatt Michael Bailey
Brandon Anders Banchs
Daniele Baranauskaite
Bridget Beggs*
Simona Bernfeld
Akshita Bhattiprolu
Mia Marie Birky
Monika Maria Birski
Jackson Robert Bonesteel
Addi Boundy
Jessamine Cafferty Britt
Marcus Nguyen Burns
Madison Leigh-Ann Burwell
Autumn Bush
Kaybrie K. Camp
Alexis Rose Carrell-Bowers
Coen Marie Carroll
John Patrick Carroll
Emma Marie Cartelli
Elijah Rey Carter
Annabel Baur Castronova
Hanah Rose Crowder
JC Cortez
Danny Thomas Coxworth
Gabrielle Czarnik
Mimi Bella Davis
Kevin Delgado
Sho K. Dzurny
Maia Lynn Eames
Isabelle Elisabeth East*
Emerson Echols*
Delaney Jaye Emery
Leslie Escamilla
Miranda Espinoza
Sam Edward Farrar
Jay Carlos Fernandez
Ellie Claire Ferris
Lydia Beatrice Fisher
Sam Tess Florey
Isabelle Miriam Gawedzki
Alex Giannopoulos
Sam Niccole Glowacki
Alex Nathan Gregoriev
Lucy Marie Griffith
Ankita Guha
Nia M. Harrington
Atticus Cole Helfer
Ehmely Margarita Hernandez
Anna Hoffman*
Sophia Grace Hoffman*
Amari Danielle Houston
Kamari Michelle Howard
Emma Marie Huart
Nallely Huipio
Ella Hope Huller
Varenya Jain
Sarah Elizabeth Jay
Angela Jiang
Zihao Jiang
Jonathan Jerald Johnson
Sarah Olivia Johnson
Lannie Catherin Kaercher
Anna Grace Kedas
Masato Lawrence Keeley
Cam Elliot Kiefer
Ryan Kim
Katharine Joan Klugman
Dina Feona Kobylarczyk
Hazel Elizabeth Kocher
Josh Ryan Kramer
Evan Krueger
Catherine Emili La
Sydney Chiu Laput
Anna Caroline Latham
Jonathan Lee
Trevor Lee
Lauren Therese Lindstrom
Cassandra Zhaochen Liu
Ryan Christopher Loeffler
Pete Frumencius Macasaet
Francky Chloe Maemble Ntomb
Lanie Elmido Mangaran
Leo Martinez
Ericka Marlene Mejia
Dylan Melvin
Krstana Milunovic
Peyton Olivia Mraz
Daniella Murillo
Thomas Duffy Murrihy
Taylor Okamoto
Mary Catherine O’Sullivan
Disha Parikh
Violet Hyejin Park
Dhruval Patel
Salvi Patel*
Nil Bhargavkumar Patel
Esha Deepak Patil
Luis Pedro Paz De La Cerda
Suhani Peramanu
Olivia Perry
Isabella Marie Peshek
Alexandra B. Pietka
Makenna Skye Pinkham
Moises Ivan Quinones Ledesma
Ashley Marie Radtke
Luke Rasmussen
Amber E. Rivera
Anna C. Roberts
Luc Tomlin Rosenstein
Juliana Delphine Saghi
Andrea Salinas Gallo*
Harry Singh Sandhu
Liesl Wen Li Schrag
Nina Marie Shearrill
Kinza Zahra Sherazi
Nicholas Scott Skowron
Edie Louise Smelko*
Amina A. Solangi
Michael A. Somerville
Moira C. Sommerfeld
Abby Christine Stiefvater
Isabella Renee Strohmeier
James Terrence Sullivan
Yuanxin Sun
DJ Thomas
Ian Duc To
Joachim Emmanuel Del Carmen Tomacruz
Cindy Tran
Aleena Ukkan
Jesus Vallejo Cardenas
Saule Vegelyte
Farwah Wasiq*
Ashley Werner
Auri-Elle Arlina White
Emma Whalen*
Hallie Elizabeth Wolfe
Jason Wang Wu
Kylie Ann Yerkes
Lauren Jessica Yuan
Hayder Ameer Zalzaleh
Junhe Zhang*
Eve Jordan Zubek
Integrative Biology Honors
Tamara Aldabbagh
Annika F. Bagazinski
Delaney Rose Blohm
Julia Willow Bondi
Varun Chovatia
Tyler Michael Defort
Eliana Y. Eng
Alyson Lauren Ficca
Madeline Rose Prideaux
Daniel John San Nicolas
Emma Schwaiger
Chase Patrick Schwarz
Fadi Ghazwan Shaaya
Chris Sanghyuk Shim
Abby R. Thompson
Isabella Rose Timmermann-Miller
Nick Martin Wilson
Anjali Purna Yedavalli
Chloe E. Zant
Master of Science
BSLAS-MS in Integrative Biology
Benjamin Arango Navar
Lexanne Halama
Greta Kathryn Keilman
Jimmy Lee
Daniel J. Legowski
Susan Love Lim
Yihan Liu
Natylie Larraine Marx
Sarah Noelle Meyer
Maria O. Osinubi
Anastasia Pasynkov
Anya Polonsky
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Fabian Andre Pallo Rivadeneira
Entomology
Morgan Emily Brown
Xavier Carroll
Erinn Dady
Sam Alexis Dubbs
Jared Michael Martin
Rachel Milia Rusen
Jacob Dustin Tamarri
Jared Thomas
Anupama Cauveri Udayakumar
Integrative Biology
Yu Cheng
Mariana Gutierrez
Minji Kim
Tess M. Ledden
Bo Liu
Natalie Carol Monroe
Veda J. Murphy
Alex Philip Osepek
Emily Mary Riccio
Aakash Sandip Shah
Eric Vargas
Plant Biology
Hannah Beddow
Doctor of Philosophy
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Reed David Crawford
Maris Daleo
Sophie Louise Larsen
Sean Khan Ooi
Sana Saboowala
Entomology
Edward M. Hsieh
Kylee Rae Noel
Jonathan Rice Tetlie
Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior
Lisa Surber-Cunningham
Plant Biology
Marc-Elie Adaime
Jie Fu
Jason Michael Karakehian
Duncan Gregory Martin
Aiden Schore
Awards and Honors
University Honors
Bronze Tablet
Anessa Arndt
Eliana Y. Eng
Lexanne Halama
Chancellors Scholars
Nick Martin Wilson
James Scholars
Tamara Aldabbagh
Kaybrie Camp
Gabrielle Czarnik
Eliana Y. Eng
Sarah Jay
Greta Kathryn Keilman
Catherine La
Anna Latham
Natylie Marx
Luis Paz De La Cerda
Suhani Peramanu
Madeline Prideaux
Luc Rosenstein
Juliana Saghi
Daniel San Nicolas
Abby Stiefvater
Abby Thompson
Nick Martin Wilson
School
Highest Distinction
Eliana Y. Eng
Alyson Ficca
Chase Schwarz
High Distinction
Victoria I. Abuwa
Annika F. Bagazinski
Jonathan Jerald Johnson
Sarah Olivia Johnson
Salvi Patel
Nina Marie Shearrill
Isabella Renee Strohmeier
Distinction
Daniele Baranauskaite
Gabrielle Czarnik
Jay Fernandez
Lucy Marie Griffith
Cam Elliot Kiefer
Lauren Therese Lindstrom
Isabella Peshek
Madeline Rose Prideaux
Daniel John San Nicolas
Emma Schwaiger
Edie Louise Smelko
DJ Thomas
Isabella Rose Timmermann-Miller
Nick Martin Wilson
Degree Information
This program links to an unofficial list of degree candidates for May 2025, as well as a list of graduates who received degrees in August and December 2024. Names of some degree recipients may not appear while names of some degree candidates who have not yet completed degree requirements may be included.
The University’s official registry for conferral of degrees is the Office of the Registrar, 901 W. Illinois St., Urbana, IL 61801.
THANK YOU
A special thank you to all who helped organize this convocation. Thank you to the family and friends who have supported the graduates throughout their time at the University of Illinois.