SIUE Pre-Commencement Celebrations and Awards Recognize Extraordinary Achievements

SIUE Pre-Commencement Celebrations and Awards Recognize Extraordinary Achievements

The unofficial launch of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville commencement season began with pre-commencement ceremonies hosted by campus affinity groups that celebrate extraordinary achievements by students.

As stated by the Kimmel Belonging and Engagement Hub, pre-commencement ceremonies celebrate the extraordinary achievements made by students who are members of traditionally minoritized groups. The ceremonies are held in collaboration with the SOAR Office, and Faculty & Staff Associations.

One week of Kimmel Celebrations began on April 27:

• Hispanic/Latin@/x Graduation Celebration
• Black Graduation Celebration
• AAPI/APIDA Graduation Celebration
• Lavender Graduation Celebration
• Non-Traditional Student Graduation Celebration
  

The full list of pre-commencement ceremonies also includes the following:

• International Student Graduation Celebration
• Military and Veteran Graduation Celebration
• ACCESS Gateway Graduation Celebration
  

As with all celebrations, building community is the theme.

"Gateway is a graduation ceremony that celebrates students who've had to overcome extra barriers, emphasizing that they're prepared to navigate real-world challenges and move forward after graduation with confidence," said Dominic Dorsey, EdD, Director of Accessible Campus Community and Equitable Student Support (ACCESS).

ACCESS is dedicated to achieving and promoting an accessible campus community to ensure that students of all abilities receive appropriate accommodations and equal opportunity to be successful at SIUE. The office has incorporated strategies such as NaviLens codes for ease in navigating popular campus spaces, such as Morris University Center (MUC), and providing training from Illinois Assistive Technology Program for meal prep in the kitchen.

The ACCESS Gateway Graduation Celebration occurred just weeks after their seventh annual Ed Roberts Celebration, which honors the efforts of intentional inclusive practices. The awards ceremony was named after the late disability rights activist Ed Roberts, the first wheelchair user to attend University of California, Berkeley.

During the ceremony, organizers encouraged everyone to be a champion of accessibility. Winners included the following:

• Defender of Equity Award for Faculty - Jennifer Stock, Instructor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
• Defender of Equity Award for Staff - The entire team of Instructional Design and Learning Technologies
• Messenger of Inclusion Award (Student) - Madison Proctor, undergraduate in education

As stated by student speakers in the event, the campus of SIUE has much more room for improvement but has made significant progress as evidenced by a growing population of those who use accommodations.

Award winner Maddie Proctor made a note of sharing her observations. "It's really lovely to see. You can tell that more students with disabilities are coming to campus, are going here, and that's just visible disabilities. That's not even talking about all the invisible disabilities, all the people you don't know are different."

She added, "I grew up around other disabled people, and I got used to the community, and I didn't have that here until I started pushing for accessibility and creating opportunities for students to come here and be involved. And I just love to see it."

"This is what independence feels like. I it, living on campus and being a campus community member, I really do feel like an equal member of society," Kaitlyn Hall, a graduate student in Social Work, has attended SIUE for five years and is convinced campus administrators have addressed a number of concerns and are open to doing much more. "Thanks to ACCESS and just all of the ways that we're promoting awareness and empathy, I feel that the campus community has come a long way."

Pre-commencement Ceremony photos by Howard Ash

Ed Roberts awardee Madison Proctor and ACCESS Director Dominic Dorsey, EdD