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June 2007 > School News
Gándara Urges GSE Graduates to Persist
Jim Lianides, the first JDP graduate, gets a hug from Sandra Hollinsworth, as Bernard Gifford looks on.
Next photo> 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15
A total of 120 happy students received degrees at the Graduate School of Education’s commencement May 12 in Zellerbach Hall.
They also received some sage advice.
Keynote speaker Patricia Gándara told the new graduates that their good intentions and dogged persistence would be rewarded. The UCLA professor of education and co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles revealed an amusing story about her determination to be confirmed as a child — despite the equally determined Sister Agnes to deny her confirmation. After returning again and again, Sister Agnes eventually grew tired of telling her that she couldn’t be confirmed, and Gándara showed up for the confirmation process. After the local newspaper reported that she had been confirmed, Gándara says that she carried the article with her as a reminder for 20 years.
“I learned that when people tell you ‘no, it just can’t be done… but you know that your cause is right, you just smile nicely, nod your head and say ‘OK,’ and then you just keep on going.”
She concluded by urging the graduates to “change the world one student at a time.”
Play QuickTime video of Patricia Gándara
[2 minutes, 2 seconds/2.9 MB]Patricia Gándara
William Tibbey, President of the Education Alumni Association, presented the Outstanding Dissertation Award to Indigo Esmonde, whose dissertation chair is Geoff Saxe.
Doctoral program speaker, Kathryn Young, a graduate in Policy Organization, Measurement and Evaluation, told her fellow graduates to take risks and be brave because people would be counting on them.
Play QuickTime video of Kathryn Young
[3 minutes, 32 seconds/5.1 MB]Kathryn Young
Master’s/Credential Program speaker, Abbey Novia, read a top-5 list of advice from veteran teachers that she compiled with her fellow MACSME students. Last, but not least, was the admonition: “Always have a sense of humor because every second of the day is an opportunity for humor.
Play QuickTime video of Abbey Novia
[2 minutes, 23 seconds/3.4 MB]Abbey Novia
Mary Ann Mason Mary Ann Mason, who will be stepping down as dean of the Graduate Division in June, offered a personal reminder of the value of teaching and family as she discussed her daughter’s period of alienation as a teenager.
Other university officials marking the commencement exercises included Joseph Duggan, Associate Dean, Graduate Division; Judith Warren Little, Head Graduate Advisor for the School of Education; and David Hemphill, Associate Dean College of Education, San Francisco State University. The School of Education Chorus performed two songs before the recessional and reception.
On the afternoon before graduation ceremonies, Gándara spoke at the GSE’s annual Commencement Research Seminar. In her presentation, entitled “What would it REALLY take to close the achievement gap for racial and linguistic minority students?” the UCLA professor said that if we spent 40 percent more we would achieve adequzcy and if we spent 60 percent more, we would close gaps. However, she acknowledged that the achievement gap is much more than just a funding problem.
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