Congratulations to the
Class of 2021!
College of Liberal Arts graduates, please rise and be recognized! On behalf of the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts, I am delighted to present 1039 candidates for baccalaureate degrees including 29 honors baccalaureate degrees.
Congratulation class of 2021 graduates from the College of Liberal Arts. Best of luck to you! Be well. Take good care. And, Go Beavs!
-Larry Rodgers, Dean
Class of 2021 Roll Call
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School of Arts and Communication: Arts
School of Arts and Communication: Communication
School of History, Philosophy, and Religion
School of Language, Culture, and Society
The Class of 2021
C. Fred Jackson
Where one alone would fail, the love of many will succeed.
A CLA student's 11-year journey to a college degree.
The Class of 2021
Mahal Miles
Mahal Miles flunked every economics test she took at North Medford High School.
So it’s a surprise to learn that, these days, she listens to economics podcasts in her car – and if her younger sisters want Miles to drive them anywhere, she forces them to listen as well.
The sisters, Miles said, listen “very much begrudgingly.” But by the time it’s over, “they’ll be sort of grumpy, but they’ll say, ‘All right, that was pretty cool, I guess.’”
Her sisters will be particularly interested in a podcast if it touches on issues of social justice. And, in a way, that intersection of economics with social justice helps explain how Miles, just a few years removed from sweating over tests at North Medford, now is graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in managerial economics, with a minor in public health management and a certificate in the medical humanities. read more >
The Class of 2021
Jasmine Lumpkin
To understand something about Jasmine Lumpkin’s passion, consider this scene: It’s February 2019, and Lumpkin has endured three surgeries in a single week — “knee surgery and then throat surgery and then surgery on my mouth.”
She couldn’t go to school for a week after the knee surgery.
Lumpkin, who’s battled an array of medical ailments for decades, had planned for that: She had gotten much of her schoolwork ahead of time, but she was still terrified at falling behind in one class in particular: Kimary Fick’s History of Western Music. “I fall behind one day, and it takes me weeks to catch up because she covers so much material,” Lumpkin said. “Because she’s passionate about the history of music.” read more >
The Class of 2021
Alexandra Walchli
It wasn’t until fairly recently that Alexandra Walchli began to think of herself as an artist, even though she’s been making art since she could remember.
Although she is originally from Oregon, Walchli, the daughter of a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, attended high school at an American air base in Ramstein, Germany. At that time, she says, she identified as “a band nerd,” having participated in band since middle school. She also participated in theatre, worked part-time at the commissary on base and was taking advanced placement (AP) classes.
“Art was a privilege of time. It was the last thing I would do, it was a reward for finishing my work, my homework, my other extra curriculars.” she said. read more >