{"id":13530,"date":"2020-06-10T08:05:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T12:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=13530"},"modified":"2025-02-05T16:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T21:10:00","slug":"conferral-of-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/conferral-of-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Conferral of Degrees Speaker: Prioritize Equity, Solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Conferral
Rosella LoChirco will address Kalamazoo College’s class of 2020 in a Conferral of Degrees ceremony at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 14. Watch at kzoo.edu\/commencement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Watch the 2020 Baccalaureate ceremony<\/p>\n

On a day that Kalamazoo College would normally welcome thousands of people to campus, the Quad will be quiet and still, as K\u2019s in-person Commencement has been postponed in 2020. Yet that won\u2019t stop the institution from honoring the achievements of its graduating class, or this class from celebrating and receiving a message of hope.<\/p>\n

At 1 p.m. June 14, Provost Danette Ifert Johnson will read the names of the graduates, and Rosella LoChirco \u201920, draped in a cap and gown, will address her peers as the class speaker in a virtual Conferral of Degrees ceremony.<\/p>\n

LoChirco, a philosophy major<\/a> from Rochester, Michigan, will tell graduates to prioritize social equity and solidarity as they move on to their next chapters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to encourage my class to double down on our commitments to each other and to our communities because that says more about our true identities than any job title can,\u201d LoChirco said.<\/p>\n

After all, as soon-to-be Kalamazoo College grads, they\u2019ve spent the past four years building their identities on those ideals, and the challenges they\u2019ve encountered this term make celebrating their accomplishments even more important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all envisioned graduation to be one thing,\u201d LoChirco said. \u201cWe find ourselves in multiple crises right now, and there is so much pain related not just to COVID-19 but to racial discrimination in our country. I want to use this opportunity to reflect on recent events and create space for the mix of celebration, sadness and frustration that many of my classmates and I are feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

LoChirco will begin life as a K alumna with a fellowship from Venture for America<\/a>, a prestigious honor that prepares recent college graduates for careers as entrepreneurs while they\u2019re placed in ambitious start-up businesses across the U.S. She said she\u2019s in the matching phase of that fellowship program and is excited despite her yet-unknown placement as the College has prepared her to embrace uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the relationships I had with professors and the confidence I gained in the classroom and study abroad<\/a>, I\u2019m ready to take on new challenges because I\u2019ve done it before,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve found people along the way who really supported me.\u201d<\/p>\n

K\u2019s class of 2020 includes:<\/p>\n