Division II Winter 2020 Commencement

MITCHELL DANIELS: Today, we’re gathered in formal convocation to celebrate the 242nd commencement exercises of Purdue University. Please join in singing our national anthem followed by the invocation, offered today by Rabbi Michael Harvey of Temple Israel. MUSIC - STAR-SPANGLED BANNER O say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? [APPLAUSE] MICHAEL HARVEY: Friends, let us join together in prayer, reflection, or meditation. Awesome and compassionate God, as we gather here together this morning, our hearts are filled with gratitude at reaching this sacred moment. From the time these precious students were entrusted to our care, we have prayed to see this day.

02:05 - We thank you for inspiring them with the value of learning, and for blessing us with the opportunity to share their accomplishment. We sense the caring spirit of those parents and loved ones who are not able to be with us in person to experience our pride and joy. We give thanks for the commitment and dedication of the faculty and administration of Purdue University, which has served the academic community for generations. Please continue to be with them in their holy work. We pause to reflect on the troubled world these graduates inherit.

02:54 - Grant them the vision and resources to be your hands and your hearts in our troubled world, to be agents of healing. May they always be cognizant of their responsibilities as leaders. Bless them with health and wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. May they go from strength to strength. And let us say, Amen. MUSIC Amen, Amen. MUSIC - “THIS IS THE MOMENT This is the moment This is the day This is the moment when I know I’m on my way Every endeavor I have made, ever Is coming into play Is here and now, today This is the moment My final test Destiny beckoned I never reckoned Second best I won’t look down I must not fall This is the moment The sweetest moment of them all This is the moment Damn all the odds Forget the odds All the odds This day, or never I’ll sit forever with the gods When I look back I will recall Moment for moment This was the moment The greatest moment of them all Of, of, them all. [APPLAUSE] MITCHELL DANIELS: For the third time in this unprecedented year, we’re welcoming the latest Purdue graduates to a virtual commencement ceremony.

06:09 - Of all the events we’ve had to cancel or postpone or move to the virtual environment, this one, to me, is by far, the most disappointing. And it’s my fondest hope that we’ll be able to resume our incomparable commencement tradition soon. Today, despite the different delivery method, our pride in your achievement and our belief in your ability to accomplish your dreams is as strong as ever. It’s my pleasure to introduce today’s guest speaker, John A. Edwardson. John is one of our nation’s most successful business people and among the College of Engineering’s most celebrated graduates.

06:48 - In the nearly four decades since his graduation from Purdue, John has distinguished himself in growing and managing large organizations, including Fortune 500 companies Ameritech, United Airlines Corporation, And CDW Corporation, leaving a lasting impact on the global industrial landscape. He’s also a devoted altruist and supporter of organizations and causes ranging from Habitat for Humanity, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Advancement of Women in STEM, and, of course, our own Purdue University College of Engineering. John earned a Purdue Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering, served as a Purdue trustee from 1995 to 2005, and has received from Purdue the Outstanding Industrial Engineering Award, the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award, and in 2006, an honorary doctorate. Please join me in welcoming our distinguished alumnus, John Edwardson. JOHN EDWARDSON: Mitch, thank you for your kind and most generous introduction.

07:59 - Last January, when you invited me to give this commencement address, COVID had not yet arrived in the United States, or, at least we didn’t know that it had. And we certainly didn’t know how long it would be with us. I had looked forward to greeting each of you in the Hall of Music. I had attended many events there as a student, and as a Purdue trustee. I’d set on this stage for 10 years of commencement ceremonies. But I never imagined I would be dressed up in a cap and a gown, with nowhere to go. So welcome to my home in Florida that with the magic of technology, makes it look like I’m on the stage at the Elliot Hall of Music. Congratulations on this most happy of days to you, Purdue’s newest alumni, and also to your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, and those gathered around you to celebrate this day. This day is a most unusual graduation at a most unusual time in the history of our country. You should be proud to receive your Purdue diploma, and I applaud you for the years of work it took for you to be here today.

09:22 - And as you know full well, this day would not have happened without the help of those gathered around you. I hope you have said thank you to each of them. So what is next for you? Given the economic difficulties we are in as a result of the COVID pandemic, it’s likely a number of you don’t yet know what is next for you. For those of you who don’t, you have something that gives you an edge in this very competitive world, your Purdue degree. Employers around the globe know the value of a Purdue education, and what you learned here will be of value for you for the rest of your life.

10:08 - I don’t want to diminish in any way what this pandemic has done to the families of many in our country, but this will not be your last major challenge, or likely, even your most difficult one. By the time I graduated from Purdue, five of my high school classmates had been killed in the Vietnam War. Life is difficult. But Mitch asked me to discuss with you today some lessons I’ve learned that I thought might be helpful to you as you start your careers. So let’s begin. Many of you will likely end up in jobs that have seemingly little to do with what you studied at Purdue. However, if you’re a STEM major, you now understand, and have often used, the scientific method of problem solving.

11:03 - And guess what? It isn’t just for scientists or engineers, but is applicable to many problems you will encounter for the rest of your years. And if you are not a STEM major, you surely had a philosophy course or two where the art of problem solving was discussed. But regardless of what you studied, it’s unlikely that you took a course in listening or collaborative leadership, both of which are now offered at Purdue. However, listening may be the most important skill you’ll need to learn to be successful. Most of us in our first full-time job have been trained to be an individual performer, even though most work in the world is done by teams.

11:55 - The transformation from individual performer to team player, to manager, and then leader, was a hard one for me. At age 34, I was named the chief financial officer of Northwest Airlines. I was the youngest CFO of any Fortune 500 company in America, and I was pretty full of myself. After a few months on the job, the CEO of Northwest walked into my office, closed the door, and sat down. This was most unusual because every meeting we’d had before was either in his office or his conference room, so I wondered what he wanted to talk about. He got right to the point.

12:42 - He said, John, I know you want to be a head coach someday. He had played fullback at Notre Dame, and he liked the term head coach better than CEO. He went on to say that I was giving my direct reports too much direction too quickly, and listening too little to what they had to say. He said it wasn’t my job to solve their problems, but to listen, to nudge, and to explore with them what the best solutions might be. I took his coaching to heart, but it was not easy for me to change, as I’d always been that person in the classroom that all of you know, who wanted to come up with the answer first. Fast forward 10 more years, to 1994. I was then President of United Airlines.

13:36 - In that job, I typically traveled around 80 to 90 nights each year. And for those of you who have traveled that much, you and your family know how difficult it is to re-enter family life after having been gone so often. One night, having just come back from an overseas trip, I was having dinner with my family at home. After receiving some unsolicited advice from me, my oldest daughter blurted out, saying, Dad, just because you tell people what to do all day long at work doesn’t mean that when you get home you get to tell us what to do. I responded to her and her sisters that I hardly ever told anybody what to do at work, and that was why when I got home from the office, I was ready to tell them what to do.

14:32 - My three daughters were puzzled by that statement, so I explained to them that if I told people what to do all day long at work that no one would want to work with me, let alone for me. My oldest daughter’s response was something like, well, duh. I then went on to explain that parenting was quite different from being a company president. She now understands that a little better, as she has a 12-year-old at home. Experience, though, taught me, and research has shown, that most decisions reached by a group are better than those reached by one individual. Input from others helps. Listening to others helps. And brainstorming about options helps.

15:21 - Sometimes one person does have to make the decision, but I usually thought that a decision reached by consensus turned out to be the better one. Before I close, I want to add one final thought about listening. It’s likely, and I hope true, that many of you will have very successful careers. Most of my childhood was spent in a small town, and like many of you, I am also a first-generation college grad. Sometimes, with some success, it begins to become easy to forget where you came from and what life is like for most of the world.

16:07 - You’ve forgotten that many others are work just as hard as you have, and are just as smart and capable as you are. And you don’t acknowledge that timing, luck, or maybe a mentor that someone else didn’t have might have been big factors in your success. The most dangerous of all is that you might begin to believe you deserve the good things that happen to you. I’ve watched this happen to many people over my 50-year career. Thankfulness, humility, and awareness of how difficult life is for many people are important to be a good leader.

16:53 - From my standpoint, the best way for me to keep in touch with what I call the real world, and to understand what life is like for many, was by doing hands-on work with them in the community where they lived, where they worked, listening to their life stories, and understanding what their struggles were. For me, this has included such things as building Habitat for Humanity homes while working side by side with the prospective owners, or serving as a night shift supervisor– really, a bouncer– in an overnight homeless shelter in Evanston, Illinois, and for 10 years driving the children of two families to visit their mothers, both of whom were in prison for murder. These and other volunteer activities helped remind me to be thankful and appreciative of my situation in life. Wanting my children to understand the world better, I often asked them to accompany me in many of these activities, except for one experience, which I’ll close with. One of the boys I had been driving to prison lived with his grandmother.

18:14 - She called me one day to let me know that her grandson had joined a gang, moved out, and was selling drugs on the street in Chicago, and that his best friend– they were both 16– had been stabbed to death. He now wanted to get out of the gang he had joined, and she asked for my help. I was still, then, the president of United Airlines, and had many contacts at the city of Chicago. In a few days, I was able to make contact with a law firm that represented the gang he belonged to. They arranged a meeting for me with the leader of the Black P.

18:55 - Stone Nation– at that time, the largest and most fierce African-American gang in Chicago. He and I met in the stairwell of an apartment complex, and after a 30-minute discussion, he agreed to let the young boy out of the gang, but said that he would have to go through a severe de-initiation ritual. Several days later, a gaunt 16-year-old reappeared. He had a rough time for a number of years, and even spent five years in prison. However, at age 40 now, he is married, off of hard drugs, and has held the same job as an auto mechanic for over 10 years.

19:41 - We had a reunion dinner just a few weeks ago, and as we were leaving the restaurant where we had first had dinner when he was 10 years old, I reached out my elbow to give him a COVID elbow bump. But he threw his arms around me and gave me a wonderful hug. I cried much of the way home. There is a world not too far from where I live in a Chicago suburb, and likely not too far from where many of you live, and possibly right where some of you are now watching this video, that is a world that is tough and difficult beyond the knowledge that most of us have. All of us need to understand the lack of hope, the desperation, and even the physical hunger that many children experience while growing up in this, the most prosperous country in the world. It takes a lot more than any government can do.

20:45 - It takes committed people like each of you to lend a helping hand, to have an open ear, to have an understanding heart, and to give you some words of kindness and support to help change these difficult situations. And doing that will help keep you grounded, thankful, and help you be a better leader. So congratulations to each of you, and Hail Purdue. [MUSIC PLAYING - “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL”] [APPLAUSE] SPEAKER 1: Mr. President, the candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degrees will be presented by Linda J. Mason, dean of the graduate school. LINDA MASON: Mr.

President, these students 24:25 - have successfully fulfilled the requirements of the graduate school. With the approval of the faculty, they are now presented to you to receive the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MITCHELL DANIELS: Exercising the authority of the trustees of Purdue University, legally vested by the people of the state of Indiana, and upon the recommendation of the faculty of Purdue, I now confer upon you who have fulfilled the highest requirements of this University, the Doctor of Philosophy degree, with all the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of that degree. As evidence of this tremendous achievement, you will be vested with the hood of the Doctor of Philosophy, and receive an appropriately-inscribed diploma. I Now invite our orators to read aloud the names of all students who are earning Doctors of Philosophy degrees.

25:16 - Graduates, I invite you to have your special designee hood you, and present you your diploma cover now. Be sure to capture a photo of this to share with us. SPEAKER 2: Doctor of Philosophy, Lina Aboulmouna, Adegoke Adetunji, Shubham Agrawal, Hamad Ahmed, Inok Ahn, Shayan Ali A. Akbar, Mohammed Saleh Al Alshaykh, Md Monzurul Alam, Nadir M. Abdallah Alawadi, Badriah A. Al-Enezi, Abdulrahman Nasser Alghamdi, Nawwaf Awad H Alhazmi, Noelia E. Almodovar Arbelo, Essam H. Alruqobah, Robert R.

Andrawis, 26:14 - Aayush Ankit, Reza Asadpour, Emmanuel O. Ayua, Hao Bai, Xingjian Bai, Caroline Baker, Riley B. Barta, Demeke M. Bayable, Arindam Bhanja Chowdhury, Daniel Bin Mustafa Kamal, Andrea N. Brennan. Xiaorong Cai, Adam Caldwell, David M. Cambron, Aaditya Candadai, Yuanzhi Cao, Philip Cardin, Daniel Carr, Julian Castillo, Wen-Yu Chao, Katherine J. Chartier, Jose Adrian Chavez Velasco. Cun-Pei Chen, Qingshuang Chen, Run Chen, Li Cheng, Krishna Chaitanya Chetty Anamala, Spencer Chiang, Bryan H. Chong, Hwayoung Chun, Jaeyub Chung, John S. Coleman, Devon S. Cook, Piedad S. Correcdor-Sanchez;, Brandon S. Coventry. Travis F. Dale, Akshay V. Dandekar, Leandro H. Danes, Chelsey A.

Dankenbring, Quang Vi Dao, Danielli De 27:47 - Melo Moura, Qiwen Deng, Saaketh Desai, Abhas Deva, Timothy J. Donnelly, Julius Eason, Ahmed M. Elsied, Meike H. Ernst, David A. Evenhouse, Bingxin Fa, Elia G. Farah, Dan Feng, Yining Feng, Jordan Matthew Fisher, Dante P. Francomano, Kali Diane Frost, Ayda Catalina Glvis Castro, Giorgios Georgalis, Amy E. Getchell, Bradley Davis Graham, Mingming Gu, Nicolas Guarin-Zapata, Dali Guo, Jing Guo, Xinchen Guo, Onur Gur. Felicia G. Hall, Orchi Hassan, Anna Hayes, Yanbo He, Ethan Hillman, Soon Chye Ho, Murat Horasan, Feixiong Huang, Sarah D.

Huang, Wan-Eih Huang, 29:03 - Mudassar Hussain, Myungwon Hwang, S M Naeemul Islam, Mohammed Naziru Issahaq, Jay Robert Iuliano, Rohil Jain, Shamila Janakiraman, Xiaofan Jiang, Michael Henry Johnson, Devin M. Kalafut, Logan M. Kamperschroer, Nessibe Karakis, Kamal M. Karda, Christopher M. Katinas, Daulet O. Kenzhebalin, Jung-Hoon Kim, Kwangyeon Kim, Sang-Pil Kim, Sun Young Kim, Taegyu Kim, Younghoon Kim, Hou-Jen Ko, Ziyun Kong, Good Mo Koo, Nicholas J. Kormanik III, Zahoyu Kou, Terri Sue Krause, Joseph Emil Krylow, Rufat F. Kulakhmetov. Corey G. Lacey, Stephen G. Larew, Alexander William Layton, Chankyu Lee, Choungryeol Lee, Hyeseong Lee, Lester Ting Chung Lee, Sula Lee, Yue F. Leng, Bing Li, Jiaqi Li, Tianyi Li, Yeni Li, U.

Chung Lin, Jason Liu, Shunyu Liu, 30:34 - Xiaoqi Liu, Chamika M. Liyanagedera, Christhian Lizarazo Jimenez, Chun-Li Lo, Hsuan-Hao Lu, Domenique R. Lumpkin, Alana Kathleen Lund. SPEAKER 3: Jie Ma, Carlos Alberto Madera Sierra, Ranajay Mandal, Fengyi Mao, Daniela Marinho Ribeiro Beard, Joe D. Marshall, Paul Mather, Cassandra B. Mccorison, Jacob C. Mcgough, Jessica K. Mehr, Brett A. Meyers, Tamzidul Mina, Zara Moleinia, Jonathan Dean Monical, Maithilee A. Motlag, Jehan Mullin, Fabiola Muro-Villanueva, Nikhil Nayanar, Behrokh Nazeri, Claire T. Nimlos, Tabitha C.

31:47 - Nindi, Swetha Nittala, Rebecca Nixon, Jinhyun Noh, Sritapaswi Nori, Ashraf M. Noumir, Mahmood M. Nour, Kolawole, Emmanuel Ogunsina, Naotaka Ogura, Keunchang Oh, Ejebagom J. Ojogbo. Lia B. Olmedo Pico, Monica Britt Olson, William John O’neill, Eliza Maria Osorio Castro, Chin-Sheng Pang, Satyabrata Parida, Sung Soo Park, Andrew Parker, Maryam Parsa, Priyam V. Patki, Alexander J. Pijanowski, Virginia F. Pleasant, William G. Pollalis, Bonnie J. Prado Pino, Conor S. Pyles, Thamir Qadah, Christopher J. Quinkert, Benjamin A. Rachunok, Sajjad Raeisi, Mohammed S. Rahman, Bahram Rajabifar, Lalit K. Rajendran, Surgirdhalakshmi Ramaraj, Faezeh Ravazdezh, Mitchell Lawrence Rencheck, Sue Ellen Richradwon, Orzuri Rique, Lindsey A. Robbins, Jacqueline A. Rohde, Jessie A. Roll, Keyu Ruan. Claudia Felisa Sadowski, Behnam Sadri, Mojib Saei, Soham S.

Saha, Janelle Weslyn Salameh, Diana Vanessa Sarria 34:14 - Zuniga, Luize Scalco De Vasconcelos, Matthew Scott Scheidt, Daniel C. Schuster, Soheil Shafaei, Prateek P. Shah, Zhu Shi, Huma Shoaib, Anamika Shreevastava, Bhavini Singh, Supattra Singnisai, Priya Sirohi, Kinsey C. Skillen, Ronald J. Smith, Stuart D. Smith, Dong Yoon Song, Isis Stacanelli Pires Chagas, Nicholas Robert Steppig, James Lawrence Stewart, Matthew J. Storey, Rahul F. Sucharitha, Hong Sun, Yufang Sun, Shruthi Suresh. Dongyao Tan, Minfeng Tang, Sandeep Krishna Thirumala, Raikhan Tokpatayeva, Yunping Tong, Michael D. Toomey, Jui-Wei Tsai, Radhakrishna Tumbalan Gooty, Janav Parag Udani, Pavan Kumar Vaitheeswaran, Todd F.

Van Mechelen, Pablo Vega, Sandra Jimenez Villamizar 36:06 - Cardona, Adrienne Lea Voelker, Venkata Sai Gargeya Vunnava. Hwa-Ching Wang, Longfei Wang, Ruoxing Wang, Shuyuan Wang, Yin Wang, Susan E. Wegener, Jason A. Wickham, Maria Julia Wiener, Min Wu, Rih-Teng Wu, Li Xue, Xuan Yang, Sri Kalyan Yarlagadda, Lintao Ye, Tianshuo Tony Zhang, Wanuia Zhang, Xu Zhang, Yaguang Zhang, Yang Zhao, Zhidan Zhao, Ziyi Zhao, Chengzhang Zhong, Yuan Zhong, Jia Zhou, Xinwei Zhou, Yihan Zou. MITCHELL DANIELS: Mr President, the candidates for the Master’s degrees will be presented by Linda J. Mason, dean of the graduate school. LINDA MASON: Mr. President, these students have successfully fulfilled the requirements of the graduate school.

37:30 - With the approval of the faculty, they are not presented to you to receive the Master’s degree. MITCHELL DANIELS: Exercising the authority of the trustees of Purdue University, legally vested by the people of the state of Indiana, and upon the recommendation of the Purdue faculty, I now confer upon you the Master’s degree with all the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of that degree. As evidence of this achievement, you will receive an appropriately-inscribed diploma. I now invite our orators to read aloud the names of students who are earning Master’s degrees. Graduates, I invite you to have your special designee present your diploma cover to you now.

38:12 - Be sure to capture a photo of this to share with us. SPEAKER 2: Master’s degrees. Ihem Abdulghafour, Bilal Jamal Abughali, Emmanuel Acevedo De La Cruz, Rachel Ackermann, Miranda Adams, Sultan Ahmad, Roger Alford, Aedh Alharthi, Joseph Ancel, Erin Anderson, Vedang Apte, Tiffany Armstrong, Scovia Aweko, Abigail Ballesteros, Sanchari Banerjee, Ahmed Bazai, Anthony Becerril, Emily Beckman, Alisha Beniwal, Austin Berndt, Brady Black, Nichole Naomi Blake, Matthew Bliss, Ryan Bohr, Andrei Borem, Liana Bortoto, Mriganabh Boruah, baruah Brett Bosinski, Sarah Botthof, Jessica Bowen, Samantha Bowie, Natalia Brock, Susan Brower, William Brown, Sarah Bruegger, Jeffrey Bruns, Thirawat Bureetes, Bernie Burnell, Constance Burns, Diana Busardo, Ryan Bylsma. Kimberly Cagle, Ida Cannon, Nadia Caporale, Thomas Cappelli, Evelyn Carrillo, Chloe Carson, Maria Carter, Juan Andres Carvajal, Brianna Cermak, Sanchita Chakrovorty, Ajay Sekar Chandrasekaran, Ethan Chau, Han Chen, Jiaxin Chen, Tuan-Yu Chen, Ying Chen, Zhenhui Chen, Teng Chuan Benjamin Chia, Alice Chiang, Y Yin Chiang, Matthew Chrisler, Jennifer Claywell, Jesslyn Ann Coghlan, Kira Collins, Brittani Marie Nickol Colvin, Joshua Colvin, Caroline Cooney, Leilani Cooper, Travis Crawford, Javier Cruz Padilla, Carolina Cuesta, Alexis Cupples. Josef Daniel, Arundhati Das, Jetanat Datephanyawat, Amir Davatgari, Lincoln Davis, Timothy Del Signore, Brodrick Deno, Aleksandra Dervisevic Kevin Dille, Yanyi Ding, Donna Dobrijevich, Duke Dodoo, Patrick Dolan, Marisa Haretas, Runjia Du, Mounika Dudala, Avery Durko, Sudipti Easwaran, John Eckhart, Kellie Edris, Rachel Elliott, Benjamin Elmore, Chelsea Emenhiser, Moira Enerva, Zohair Jason Ezzaki, Xiaoyi Fang, Stephen Fenton, Mariela Sofia Fernandez Campos, Luca Ferretti, Tyler Field, Debra Ford, Andrew Foreman, Travis Fousek, Ryan Franker. Natalie Garcia, Paul Gardner, Nicole Garner, Steven Garrett, Runqi Ge, Cody Geisler, Alexandra Gibbons, Kirsten Gibson, Jonathan Gilvey, Hannah Ginsberg, Samuel Gist, Apurwa Gokhale, David Golfin, Michael Gonzalez, Courtney Gordon, Amanda Gottschalk, Nokwanda Grava, Michael Greenan, Evan Greene, Megan Gregory, Laura Greiwe, Erin Groll, Xiaojie Guo, Shatakshi Gupta, Charitha Saumya Gusthinna Waduge, Gerardo Gutierrez Luna, Benjamin Gutman, Rachel Guzman.

43:15 - Kira Haag, Humayun Habib, Walter Hacker, Hilarie Hahus, Kristine Hall, Kemel Khalil Hallar, Joshua Hanna, Mary Havens, Dazhuang He, Brennan Healy, Joseph Hedspeth, Caitlin Heffner, Crystle Helderman, Perry Hendricks, Patrick Heney, Michael Herdson, Myriah Hernandez, Ryan Honens, Emily Hooper, Kristen Hope, Sean Horgan, Amber Houston, Justin Hovis, Gregory Hrunek, Hsuan Hao Hsu, Xiyun Hu, Hanwen Huang, Jie Huang, Tianjia Huang, Yuanmeng Huang, Jonathan Hughes, Crystal Hunt, Da Huo, Yisoo Hwang, Muhammad Iftikhar, Talal Ikram, Chelsea Isley. Robert Jacobs, Christopher Jacobus, Erika James, Andrew Jang, Jamie Jasperson, Rahul Jayaraman, John Jess, Jill Joffe, Kyle Johnson, Aman Johri, Calvin Jones, Casey Jones, Sukhada Joshi, Nathan Kannas, Dhairya Kansara, Shreeya Mohnish Karnik, Jennifer Karpinski, Jasleen Kaur, Ahmad Kazem, Hanna Kemaw, Salman Khan, Shiraz Khan, Akshay Kumar Khandelwal, Ashley Gutierrez Khawsy, Fouad Khoury, Joshua Kirby, Brittney Kline, Blake Kniffen, Brian Kocar, Ryan Kornegay, Amanda Kreger, Pallavi Kulkarni, Sumit Kumar, Chan-Yuan Kuo. Steven Labuda, John Lackey, Alokenanda Lahiri, Amber Lalloo, Sarah Lang, Justin Lareau, Elizabeth Laskowski, Steven Laudage, Adam Lay, Seona Lee, Tashina Lee, Jasmine Lefore, Sean Lewis, Leon Li, Yuerong Li, Yi-Hong Liao, Brooks Ligon, Charlie LIn, Lingyi Liu, Qinru Liu, Yechen Liu, Zeyu Liu, James Lockridge, Sichen Lu, You-Ru Lu, Joseph Lyon. SPEAKER 3: Shreya Madugula, Valerie Magnotta, Justin Mahlberg, Kaushik Manchella, Aditya Mane, Brent Mansfield, Theresa Manta, SHenglie Mao, Jaime Marland, Jacob Maskal, Brandy Mathewson, Ryan Mayden, Mary Mazur, Andrea Mcarthur, Jada Mcmcarthur Conor Mccabe, Kelly Mccarthy, Lauren Mccolm, Casey Mccord, Jordan Mccoy, Derek Mcdanell, Joseph Mcilree, Lissett Mejia, Qihao Meng, Joel Mercado-Reyes, Leah Miller, True Miller, Somosmita Mitra, Suraj Mohan, Ana Maria Molina Castillon, Andrew Molnar, Madeline Montague. Anna Gabriela Morales Ona, Holly Moran, Aimee Moreno, Karina Moreno, Margaret Morgan, Christopher Morrissey, Brandy Mowery, Lisa Murphy, Chishala Mwamba, Ani Nahapetian, Sarah Nechamen, Malte Neuss, Patrick Nienhaus, Meghan North, Jonathan O’Brien, Patrick Oglesby, Erin Oldson, Lee Organski, Prince Owusu Attah, Coleman Oxford.

48:38 - Carrie Painter, Arionne Patterson, Xiaoyi Peng, Wendolyn Penn, Jaime Perry, Jameson Pierce, Joshua Piltz, Ashly Platt, Binita Pokharel, Michael Porter, Janice Post, Akhil Prasad, Katherine Prochno, Diana Pulido Ruiz, Adam Pulley, Tanya Purwar, Dawai Qiu, Hungming Qiu, Haozheng Qu, Colleen Anna, Brennan Radulski, Tara Radvand, Ayush Rai, Anupriya Ramanathan, Akash Reddy, Ramesh. Danny Rangel, Harsha Rao, Helen Rawlins, Richard Raynes, Luis Reig Buades, Sainitya Revuru, Tess Rewick, Janessa Rhoades, William Rich, Kyle Richardville, Richard Scott Robinson, Kimberly Robison, Elena Robles Molina, Ingrid Rodrigues-Mayne, Marian Rodriguez-Soto, Kirsten Roe, Michael Roggenburg, Youngju Roh, Nitin Rohatgi, Arianna Romero Marcia, Michael Rose, Alexander Roth, Tyler Runge, Jessica Rush. Shaiza Sajjad, Neil Arun Salvi, Sabrina Santamaria, Anurag Satpute, Kimberly Sawyer, Peter Rajat Sayal, Stephen Scheuerle, Alison Schlotfeldt, Jacob Schmelzel, Claire Schraidt, Jenna Shreiner, Lauren Schwarck, Jill Scimone, Nicholas Selco, Martin Seneca, Carlie Serritella, Paige Palmer, Jayesh Shahane, Deepika Sharma, Thomas Shaw, Tyler Shelly, Shreya Shetty, Dewen Shi. Joseph Silva, Samantha Silva, Ashutosh Singh, Sonali Sinha Roy, Eric Smith, Jonathan Sommerville, Guochenhao Song, Sanjit Sounderrajan, Hannah Speno, Maitreya Sreeram, Shreeya Sriram, Vikramaditya Srivastava, Jason Starr, Kyle Steen, Jamie Stenzhorn, Kelley Stewart, Carmen Stubbs, Juan Esteban Suarez Lopez, Meghana Sudarshan, Jiongyu Sun, Peter Sutton, Madison Suvak, Ryan Szeto. Benjamin Tackett, Ryan Tancin, Mahmood Tarighati Tabesh, Nerisa Taua, Alysha Tawney, Stephanie A.

Taylor, 52:54 - Geraldine Tembo, Benjamin Thomas, Catherine Thomas, Nicole Thomas, Michael Thompson, Pretty Tiwari, Carrie To, Jennifer Topolski, Gretchen Torrence, Evelyn Torres, Christopher Tracy, Chih-Yao Tsao, Cole Turner, Jaden Anne Tyrrell, Varun Vallabhan, Kristen Van Casteren, Kelli Vanduyne, Tyler Vandyk, John Volk, Gautam Vora, Nicholas Vu, Xuan Bach Vu, Prudence Vulhop. Manav Wadhawan, Joseph Walsh, Kendra Walton, Junyu Wang, Xiyao Wang, Yu Wang, Yue Wang, Mark Wanhainen, Dylan Warner, William Watson, Jeffrey Weaver, Ryan Webb, Karla Weber, Zhangchao Wei, Victoria West, Kali Wheeler, Joshua Wiedder, Lori Wiley, Francyne Williams, Jon Williams, Andrew Wilson, Brittany Wilson, Danielle Winter, Matthew Winter, Zijie Wu, Yue Xi, Yuyun Xia, Chunyu Xu. Pamela Yamzon, Zilong Yang, Yashwant Yogi, Abigail Young, Tara Young, Reyhaneh Zafarnejad, Waqar Zaidi, April Zartman, Shengtong Zhang, Siyuan Zhang, Zhendi Zhang, Cheng Zhao, Han Zhao, Xinyu Zhen, Guoyang Zhou, Yuhang Zhu, Eric Zimmerman. MITCHELL DANIELS: It’s appropriate at this time that we give special recognition to those graduates who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, leadership, and service to the university community. You can review the recipients of these achievements in your commencement program.

55:45 - On behalf of the trustees and the faculty, congratulations on your accomplishments. We’re counting on you to continue making exceptional contributions in all your future endeavors. Some of our graduates are wearing red, white, and blue cords, signifying that they are veterans of the US armed forces. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to those servicemen and women for their patriotism. SPEAKER 1: Mr. President, I am pleased to present the candidates for the baccalaureate degrees.

56:16 - College of Agriculture, College of Education, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts. Mr. President, these students have successfully fulfilled the requirements of the undergraduate curricula in their respective college or school. With the approval of the faculty, they are now presented to you to receive the appropriate degree. MITCHELL DANIELS: Exercising the authority of the trustees of Purdue University, legally vested by the people of the state of Indiana, and upon the recommendation of the Purdue faculty, I now confer upon each of you who have fulfilled the stated requirements the appropriate baccalaureate and associate degree with all the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of that degree. As evidence of this achievement, you will now receive an appropriately-inscribed diploma.

57:08 - I now invite our orators to read aloud the names of students who are earning baccalaureate and associate degrees. Graduates, I invite you to have your special designee present your diploma cover to you now. Be sure to capture a photo of this to share with us. JOHN EDWARDSON: The College of Agriculture. Leighton Adair, Alisha Adams, Sarah Akey, Morgan Alexander, Shirley Arteaga, Benjamin Atha, Thomas Audley, Melia Awana, Cody Barron, Erica Beeler, Dominique Bennett, Sohinee Bera, Daniel Bettinelli, Ethan Bibat, Austin Boyd, Ciara Bradburn, Rylee Briel, Kourney Brock, Emily Brown, Cody Brunes, Eric Bullard, Sarah Buger, Gabriella Burton, Sally Byers, Kayla Carson, Hyo Jung Choi, Michael Clark, Skylar Clifford, Taylor Clouser, Avery Cook, Christina Crawford, Evett Cruz, Calen Cunningham.

58:43 - Blake Danner, Olivia Delp, Terrence Deweese, Luke Diener, Kortni Doane, Emily Dougherty, Ryan Driscoll, John Edwards, Maxwell Eeles, Kenzie Emerick, Jacob Farrer, Anyalee Fellenz, Lane Frazee, Charles Fry-Schutt, Eliza Gasper, Joseph Gurteisen, Katherine Gillig, Renner Guntz, Grant Hackman, Sharlene Hartman, Konnar Haworth, Jacob Heerema, Josiah Herndon, Abraham Herr, Lindsay Heyvaert, Jordan Hoffman, Patrick Hopkins, Joel Huff, Clay Hunger, Anna Hyman. Krista Johnson Kristen Johnson, Mattea Johnson, Savannah Kerkhoff, Jessica Kern, Alexis Kirts, Grace Klopfenstein, Samantha Kooy, Ashley Kuhlman, Angela Kwon, Catherine Largent, Christopher Layug, Lea Logan, Emily Ludwick, Chelsea Mack, Madison Macke, Joseph Madden, Daniel Mapes, Bailey Mathews, Jake McCormick, Macy Mead, Kristopher Menghi, Mariah Merryman, Lacy Miller, Stephanie Miller, Samantha Morgan, Adam Morr, Reagan Muinzer, Tamsin Myers, Kyle Nahrwold. Monica Pajuelo, Joareliz Pena, Tatum Pencek, Sarah Penrod, Caitlin Perry, Andrew Pierce, Amanda Prough, Daniel Prymek, Nathan Purk, Kyle Reichard, Hannah Remole, Blake Retherford, Jordan Samper, Kristin Sauder, Isabella Serrano, Caleb Smith, Samuel Smith, Brandon Sosa, Trent Stapleton, Paige Stauffer, Stephanie Steinbrunner, Brandon Stickler, Andrea Stout, Hayley Sutherland, Danielle Swayze. Kraig Tumey, Megan R. Vanderbur, Hannah Vanweinen, Kaitlyn Vice, Grace Walker, Mae Watson, Isabelle Wellman, Haley Wesseler, Samantha Williams, Erin Woodard, Elzbieta Woronowicz, Tianze Xye, Jett Yeary, Kelsie Zick. The College of Education. Kylie Arnholt, Kylee Broadwater, Jessica Cain, Maya Cameron, Michaela Cook, Sean Day, Courtney Dickman, Samantha Dittmer, Baily Fair, Jeffrey Fisher, Abygail Flamini, Hannah Flynn, Sophie Graf, Kayla Jagiello, Gabrielle Elizabeth Kerker, Joseph Knight, Grant Ladow, Emma Lattimore.

03:14 - Merrick Mcgraw, Caroline Miller, Hayley Mills, Aubrey Nagdeman, Casey Olah, Kristen Price, Gillian Rabb, Patrick Ralston, Abigail Russell, Rachael Shields, Christian Smith, Stephanie Thom, Samara Alena Wallpe, Nathan Weishaar, Savannah Williams, Alexis Wright Lang, Mckayla Yeazel, Elizabeth Zorn. SPEAKER 2: College of Engineering. Eric Abbenhaus, Ayu Sabrina Abdul Samat, Shehab Abouelnasar, Badejo Adebonojo, Angad Singh Agarwal, Jonathon Ake, Olamidotun Akinnola, Abudlaziz Al Saud, Ziyad Alajmi, Alyssa Alexander, Aaref Alhammadi, Ayman, Aljishi, Faisal Aljishi, Nawaf Alkeaid, Khalid Alriyami, Braden Anderson, Ryan Andrews, Sheldon Ang Yi, Andrey Aprelikov, Paul Astles, Rony Johney Augustine. Vishal Bachani, Christopher Bae, Zamaan Bagban, Dongwei Bai, Michael Bailey, Eric Bankert, Jack Jacques Barsimantov Mandel, Mohit Batra, Maya Beeman, Luke Bennett, Nabil Bensalah, Jennifer Bergeson, Austin Bergman, Aleksandar Beric, Patrick Betz, Andrew Beutler, Daniel Black, Jay Blake, Karol Blansinski, Matthew Bolda, John Bolinder, Fisher Bordwell, Alexander Bossert, Megan Boyd, Madelyn Grace Grainard, Federico Brandt, Blake Braun, Jacob Brennan, Sean Brennan, Matthew Bright, Brady Brown. Peter Callahan, Jeremiah Campbell, Jared Cannato, Maria Cantu Guajardo, Duong Cao, Zihao Cao, Jordan Carman, Belen Carrasco De Diego, Erica Chadwell, Wonhyung Chae, Yanjun Chen, Yanwen Chan, Yuan-Cheng Chen, Justin Cho, Youngsang Cho, June Hyuk Choi, Wilson Chow, Wei-Cheng Chu, Ryan Cleary, Daniel Clemens, Nolan Cole, Michael Collins, Patrick Collins, Brian Conslick, Anna Constable, Cameron Cool, Daniel Cooper, Kirsten Cousins, Nathan Cowin, Zachary Credi, Griffin Crum, Holly Curry, Ian Curtis, Henry Cushing, Colin Herretas. Erik Dabagian, Cullen Dahleen, Can Dai, Thomas Davis, Melchor De La Garza, Derek Dervishian, Robert Desmond, Sukhjinder Dhillon, Probhpreet Singh Dhir, Julia Dickerson, Kevin Diehl, James Diguido, Vaishnavi Dikshit, Brett Disher, Dakota Do, Amanda Dobson, Nicholas Dodge, Daniel Dougherty, Brenden Drinkard-Mcfarland, Somesh Dube, Mark Joseph Dunn, Jack Ellington, Aaron Engstrom, Michaela Esposito, Allen Evans.

07:28 - Enrique Fabregas, Adrienne Farr, Samuel Federsen, Xian Feng, Eugene Ferrari, Robert Filmer, Ryan Flaherty, Jacob Foehner, Michelle Fogel, Andrew Foley, Frederick Frank, Alexander Friel, Michael Gaidas, Alex Alema, Yi En Gan, Marissa Garceau, Joven Garces, Pedro Garcia Vizcarra, Fabio Garofalo, Grant Gauthier, Brayden Gehlhausen, Anna Gehrmann, Claire Gehrmann, Reed Geiger, Grant Geyer, Isha Ghodgaonkar, Nathan Gizaw, Lucie Gleason, Grant Goldate, Tony Gong, Adam Gorrell, Bertug Goryakin, Daniel Gramling, Thomas Gregg, Nolan Grieger, Katherine Grosch, Matthew J. Griyzlo IV, Ethan Guenther, Ruth Guerra, Maanus Gulia, Daniel Gunckel, Fernando Guruceaga, Jennifer Gutman, Adrienne Guyton. Nicholas Ha, Colby Hagan, Cameron Hale, Benjamin Hall, Matthew Halverson, Sang Hoon Han, Alexander Harbin, Emily Hatfield, Colin Hathaway, Max Hauser, Zijian He, Tyler Heathcote, Matthew Henek, Stephen Herr, William Hicks, Mitchell Hieston, Jacob Alexander Hines, Mackenzie Hoffman, Sean Hollen, Zhibo Hou, Shengming Hu, Deyu Huang, Po-Yu Huang, Yu Ming Huang, Margaret Hunter, Jenna Ischinger, Kelly Jackson, Garrett Jacoby, Dhruv Jain, Ammar Jakrin, Cameron James, Won Joon Jang, Spoorthi Jeedigunta, Sunghee Jin, Miles Jones, Quinn Joyce, Haley June. Wan Kei Eric Kam, Youssef Karam, Ishmeet Kaur, Jacqueline Kennedy, Brittany Kent, Charles Kerby Armen Keuylian, Sadid Khan, Samantha Kiddy, Eung Baek Kim, Man Jae Kim, Matthew Kim, Roy Kim, Kohsuke Kimura, Charles Kirk, Ian Kletch, Kobi Knies, Efe Taner Koldas, Sayoko Kozauma, Anthony Kramer, Caroline Kren, Raunaq Kumaren, Jihyuk Kwon, Ei Mo Kyah. George Ladyman, Katerina Laios, Marissa Laporte, port Blake Larson, Brooke Lauderbak, Christopher Lauer, Julian LAzar, Khanh Vy Le, Nhan Tri Le, Rachel Lee, Seanan Lee, Shiwoo Lee, John Legare, Andrew Lepore, Winston Levin, Ruifeng Li, Weihang Li, Yiyun Li, Zhuxiao Li, Andrew Lietman, Yuxuan Lin, Zihao Lin, Tyler Linville, Lauren Lipman, Samuel Little, Anna Liu, Jacob Lomazov, Nicholas Long, Justin Lorah, Sabastian Lord, Elaina Ludwig, Justin Lueck, Annika Lumpp, Benjamin Lumpp, Samantha Lushinski, Eric Lutz, John Lydon, Madelyn Lyons, Seongmin Lyu, Jacob Lyza.

11:41 - Ian Macleod, Trevor Magaha, Sneh Mahapatra, Pranjal Maheshka, Rahul Maheswaran, Tyler Mahlmann, Sriram Malathi, Jacqueline Malayter, Saksham Mann, Amanda Maples, Maximilian Marra, Andrew Marsh, Lauren Mattle, Matthew Mayer, Maria Mccoy, Zachary Mcdaniel, Praneeth Medepalli, Leela Menon, Nicholas Merriman, Andrew Meyer, Brianna Meyer, Dayne Michael, Adam Michals, Renata Milani, Randall Miller, Robert Miller, Quinzhe Min, Josey Carlos Farnam Minana, Nathan Mingus, Nicholas Mis, Daniel Mochen, Kennedy Monaco, Jordan Monroe, Christine Moravek, Dillon Moreland, Tristan Mowrey, Frank Muehleman, James Mulvenna, Sean Patrick Murphy. Christopher Nasseh, Adrianna Natoli, Ananya Nayak, Derris Nelson, Haley Nelson, Xin Yi Ng. Thao Nguyen, Truong Binh Nguyen, Van Tri Nguyen, Chuqing Ni, Yoonhee Noh, Rachad Nouiga, Lauren Novak, Alexander O’brien, Reagan Oliver, Jack O’reilly, Charles Osborn, Connor Osborne, Neal Ottinger, Alexandra Owens, Grant Palmer, Alaina Pamintuan, Joshua Panos, David Park, Junghyun Irene Park, Taegun Park, Fagun Patel, Kavit Patel, Manan Patel, Reni Patel, Vishal Patel, Sanjana Patil, Katie Pautler, Aaron Payne, Ryan Pearson, Madeline Peng, Juan Pereira Ramos, Chris Perez, Morgan Nicole Pietruch, Salma Lucia Pool Delgadillo, Anna Poznyak, Dylan Pranger, Greta Preston, Sara Ptashnik. Rashed Rabata, Babburi Lohith Rao, James Rapoza, AJ Ratkovich, Madeline Reehl, Matthew Reilly, Samuel Reiselt, Marlena Reisinger, Fabian Rengifo, Michael Repella III, Matthew Rine, Jack Rodman, Jeffrey Rodrigues, Ethan Rodriguez, Eli Roller, Daniel Raucci Romano, Haiyang Rong, Kyle Ross, Aiden Roy, Samuel Rudder, Erik Rundlett, Mohammed Irsyad Bin Said, Takero Saito, Matthew Saltsgaver, John Conner Sandt, Sunchet Saoji, Nayeem Sarkar, Ali Abdullah Saroya, Douglas Satoski, Jake Sawicki. Benjamin Shebler, Daniel Schembri Wismayer, Stephanie Schiavo, Ernestina Schirmer, Trey Schisler, Samantha Schurman, Hayden Schultz, Yew Wei See, Siddhartha Kumar Senthil Kumar, Theodore Sergesketter, Jacob Seyfried, Michael Shanks, Kaveer Shekar, Matthew Sherlow, Haoyang Shi, Ashwin Sivakumar, Tanner Skrove, James Slocum, Garrett Slosser, Hugh Smith, Jacob Smith, Karlin Smith, Nathan Smith, Noah Smith, Payton Smith, Yoonsang Song, Gokul Srinivasaan, Brent Stahlecker, Evan Stavnheim, Austin Stewart, Jack Joseph Stewart, Diana Suazo Fernandez, Shrividya Subramanian, Esther Sun, Emanuel Jody Suryatna, Peter Swales, Konrad Swiatkowski, Erik Switzer, Bernardo Szapiro.

16:42 - REyvant Tambi, Kok Xin Tan, Shangjing Tang, Austin Taskey, Dylan Taylor, Fernando Teran, Dhruv Tewari, Kunal Thakur, Jason Thielen, Brennan Thieneman, Samphot Thiewprasertkul, Maclain Thornton, Tohme Tohme, Jack Tonges, Noah Tracy, Cong Duy Hien Tran, Kimberlyn Trahn, Peter Treesh, Audrey Trujillo, Preston Tsang, Chaitanya Vaid, Kathleen Van Antwerp, Vijay Venugopal. Ethan Wahl, Ryan Walters, Chien-Hung Wang, Hengxiang Wang, Anne Warner, Jonathon Warnick, Ryan Washeleski, Jared Weikel, Joshua Weldy, Brandon Wells, Ethan West, Melissa Whitcomb, Joseph Widner, Jeffrey Whillhauck, Elspeth Wing, Lee Witek, Visaruth Worakunthada, Shuhao Xing, Andrew Yakubik, Harrison Yardley, Nathanael Yarger, Galant Yau, Gabriela Yu, Dillon Zadoks, Muhammad Safuan Zahin Bin Zainal, Joseph Zakhary, Wael Zalatimo, James Zampa, Maria Zegada Klaric, Jarrod Ziegler, Eva Zenk, Shukai Zhang, Xianmeng Zhang, Yuhang Zhang, Zonghao Zhang, Shikai Zhou, Yiming Zhou, Jaguar Zhu, Jihui Zhu, Jew Gingxuan Zhu, Alexandra Ziolkowski, Zane Zmola. SPEAKER 3: The College of Liberal Arts. Julie Abbott, Tristen Abbott, Alyssa Marie Abel, Siti Nayli Husna Binti Ahmad Nizam, Dane Alexander, Aubrey Anne Allred, Payton Ash, Grant Barnett, Jada Barrett, Zoe Barrett, Cody Barton, Margaret Bobillo, Daniel Bohnet, Christopher Booker, Bounsavanh Bounket, Alyson Braden, Kristine Lynn Orth Brewer, Madilyn Brewster, Michael Brindle, Hadley Brouhard, Robert Burnell. Christian Cambron, Xiangren Chen, Vincent Claps, Sampson Colebrooke, Franis Collins, James Cook, Mason Cooley, Parsaskevi Diamantis, Andrew Dienhart, Shi Min Shermaine Diong, Ethan Dohm-Palmer, Kieren Douglas, Rachel Dunn, Emerald Evans, Yutong Fan, Kendra Fellure, Dana Fennell, Amanda Figueroa, Abbie Finner, Nicholas Frawley, Madelyn Furrer, Amber Fystro, Bryce Galyen, Emma Garelick, Caleb Gebrewold, Kelly Gilmore, Tyler Gorbett, Micah Graber. Levi Hall, Jennifer Harbinson, Ariana Aerianna Harris, Aidan Hauersperger, Paige Hemingway, Scott Hill, Daniel Hobson, Kyelah Hodges, Sara Hosea, Brandon Hui, Hsiao-Chun Hung, Dwight Hunter, Skyler Hunter, Jacqueline Johnson, Kailey Johnson, Nila Johnson, Timothy Kalvaitis, Erin Kelly, Navni Kharde, Lauren Landstoffer, James Langley, Miyeon Lee, Haoran Li, Xiang Li, Yanan Li, Koon Wah Liu, Katherine Lucas, Yuhong Luo.

21:51 - Zhengtao Ma, Emily Mast, Brianne Mcconnachie, Taylor McLaurin, Molly Meenan, Leighton Mennen, Corissa Meyer, Kaitlynn Moody, Haley Renee Moon, Millard Morgan, Emma Mulcahy, Alexandra Myer, Jennifer Nguyen, Wei Nie, Alec Policka, Alayna Proctor-Espinoza, Andrew Pronschinske, Hannah Puckett, Benjamin Repay, Alejandro Rivera-Estrella, Brenan Robb, Sarah Rose, Carly Rzasa. Amy Sabbadini, Allison Salkie, Rylan Santos, James Shaw, Samuel Simpson, Vitasta Singh, Simeon Smiley, Brody Smith, Lucas Smith, Brooke Stephens, Alia Storm-Justice, Korbyn Torres, Tyler Triplett. Zachary Vernier, Yirong Wang, Holly WArd, Ralph Webb, Faith Wegener, Audra Weideman, Adam Welker, Parker James Whitmore, Mercedes Wilcox, Emily Wolfe, Jennifer Wright, Macy Wright, Terry Wright, Lauren York, Delani Young, Haoyu Zhai, Siming Zhao. MITCHELL DANIELS: OK, it’s official. You are now graduates of Purdue University.

23:57 - It’s time for you to observe tradition by moving your tassel from the right side of the mortarboard to the left, signifying your new status. Congratulations to all our new alums. We honor these graduates for their hard work and accomplishments, but they would be the first to tell us they did not make the journey alone. Will the graduates please take this moment to offer thanks and appreciation to your parents, grandparents, spouses, brothers, sisters, and other family members and friends, for their long and loving support that brought you to this moment. The audience is invited to sing the Purdue hymn. The words are located inside the front cover of the program.

24:38 - MUSIC PLAYING - “PURDUE HYMN” Close by the Wabash in famed Hoosier land Stands old Purdue, serene and grand Cherished in memory By all her sons and daughters true Fair Alma Mater, All Hail Purdue Fairest in all the land Our own Purdue Fairest in all the land Our own Purdue MITCHELL DANIELS: I’m pleased to introduce today’s student responder, Brandon Wells. Brandon is receiving a Bachelor of Science in Materials Engineering, and while at Purdue, has held leadership positions in the National Society of Black Engineers, the Barbara Cook Chapter of Mortarboard at Purdue University, and the Purdue Jazz Band, among other organizations. Please welcome Brandon Wells. BRANDON WELLS: Thank you, President Daniels, for the kind introduction. I’m honored to have the opportunity to address the December class of 2020 as we transition from students to alumni. I would like to acknowledge the Purdue staff, faculty, administrators, and board of trustees, as well as our families and supporters who impacted our journey.

27:03 - It’s important for me to give thanks to God for sustaining me, my family for inspiring me, the Stamps Foundation for believing in me, and the School of Materials Engineering for challenging me. Now, I want to thank and congratulate the members of the class of 2020 for our work in earning a Purdue degree. Under normal circumstances, stress and sleep deprivation can push a student to their limits, and the events of this past year have multiplied our responsibilities, burdens, and fears. Even on campus where it seems as if we’re in a bubble, it does not separate us from the weight of the devastating natural disasters, divisive political climate, deaths of the sick, and murders of the innocent. And somehow, whether or not the people around us knew what was on our minds or in our hearts, we put on a brave face to attend class.

27:53 - That is amazing to me, not just about going to class, but our ability to be patient through a range of emotions. Some days were probably tougher than others, but we put our faith not in the height of our hurdles, but our reason for crossing the finish line. No matter the individual reason or the path each of us followed, I want to emphasize the significance of this achievement. The fact that each of us is graduating today is by no means an accident. And each trial we overcame paves the way for those that will follow.

28:25 - As I reflected on conversations with fellow Boilermakers between our busy schedules, it was encouraging to hear how many adapted the reasons for perseverance, and how we loved others. We did this not out of a spirit of competition, but out of hope, a hope that this education, this degree we earned, will allow us to look into the face of a world that is broken and find ways to build it one brick higher. Whether you’re in agriculture, education, engineering, or liberal arts, we as a community will need to tackle challenges where success is absolutely necessary but not always guaranteed. Four and a half years ago, if someone asked me about the importance of community, I would have told them it was overrated and I was better off focusing on myself. Now I realize community is made up of more than just people who live on the same floor, or even enjoy being around each other.

29:17 - Community is the culmination of experiences from groups of people who struggle together, learn from each other’s mistakes, and found ways to lean into their differences in order to best utilize their strengths. However, the process of building community is not always pleasant, and will include failed attempts. But each time we step outside of our comfort zone, we learn to better define our values and what we stand for. And these qualities have the power to unite us as Boilermakers, both in the forefront and the background. It is exciting to note that we take parts of this Purdue community with us to the next stage of our journey, and restart the process over again with new people that have a variety of perspectives.

29:57 - And as I close this chapter of my Purdue experience, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow alongside you. And with that, Boiler up, hammer down, stay safe, and congratulations, class of 2020. MUSIC PLAYING To your call once more we rally Alma Mater hear our praise Where the Wabash spreads its valley Filled with joy our voices raise From the skies in swelling echoes Come the cheers that tell the tale Of your vict’ries and your heroes Hail Purdue, we sing all hail Hail, hail to old Purdue All hail to our gold and black Hail, hail to old Purdue Our friendship may she never lack Ever grateful, ever true Thus we raise our song anew Of the days we’ve spent with you All hail to our own Purdue [APPLAUSE] MITCHELL DANIELS: And now, Rabbi Michael Harvey will offer the benediction. MICHAEL HARVEY: Friends, join us again in prayer, reflection, or meditation. We offer thanks and gratitude at this time of celebration and transition.

35:21 - This ceremony has acknowledged the great effort by teachers who shared wisdom and insight, and students who came with open minds and creative thoughts. We pray that these students will take their enhanced skills of critical thinking, innovative processes, and enhanced curiosity to apply these skills towards building a stronger, healthier, and more just nation and world. We also pray that the family members and instructors who guided these graduates will continue their vital work in the future. Dear friends, may God bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

36:12 - May God bestow countenance upon you and grant you peace, and let us say, Amen. MUSIC PLAYING You shall go out with joy You shall go out with joy Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy MITCHELL DANIELS: And so we conclude our commencement convocation. Thank you for joining us during these most unusual circumstances, and sharing with us in your celebration, acknowledging your achievements as Boilermakers. We are making it through together. On behalf of the trustees, faculty, and all the Purdue family, I bid you farewell, godspeed, Hail Purdue. .