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2017 Commencement speakers UCSanta Cruz ◾Stevenson - Alice Mead (Stevenson ’71): Vice President, U.S. Professional Relations, GW Pharmaceuticals ◾Crown - John Laird (Stevenson ‘72): State of California Secretary for Natural Resources ◾Merrill - Kris Perry (Merrill ‘86): Executive Director, First Five Years Fund; lead plaintiff in the case to defeat CA Proposition 8. ◾Porter - Mark Jarman (Porter ‘74): American poet and critic often identified with the New Narrative branch of the New Formalism; he was co-editor with Robert McDowell of The Reaper throughout the 1980s. Centennial Professor of English at Vanderbilt University ◾Kresge - Cat Ramirez: Director Chicano-Latino Resource Center and associate professor Latin American & Latino Studies, UC Santa Cruz. ◾Oakes - Nicole Lee (Oakes ‘98): Executive Director of the Urban Peace Movement, a youth leadership development program. ◾Rachel Carson - Deborah Moore: Western States Senior Campaign Manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists ◾College 9 - Mark Fathi Massoud: Associate Professor, Politics and Legal Studies at UC Santa Cruz; research focuses on conflict settings and authoritarian states, and Islamic law and society. ◾College 10 - Terisa Siagatonu: award-winning poet, arts educator, queer Samoan womyn and community organizer and activist, rooted in the Bay Area.

In educationland UCSanta Cruz is a bad bad joke. Outside of academe who would hire a graduate?

That's a bit unfair. Every campus has its specialties, and UCSC excels in several. My youngest graduated from UCSC, and has had no problems getting highly paid jobs. Currently a six-figure salary. While at UCSC, she was heavily involved in Hillel activities there. She and her friends noted that the black and latino dorms were only interested in partying, while she and her friends concentrated on studies and easily graduated within four years (could have in three, but decided to stay a fourth year). The minority students often take six or more years.