17th Annual Graduation Celebration

2020 THE PROGRAM ON INTERGROUP RELATIONS UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

17TH ANNUAL AWARD CEREMONY AND GRADUATION CELEBRATION VIRTUAL LAUNCH APRIL 30, 2020

ABOUT THE PROGRAM ON INTERGROUP RELATIONS The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) is a social justice education program.

IGR blends theory and experiential learning to facilitate students' learning about social group identity, social inequality, and intergroup relations. The program prepares students to live and work in a diverse world and educates them in making choices that advance equity, justice, and peace. IGR was founded in 1988 and was the first program of its kind. IGR is a partnership between Student Life and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

AGENDA Welcome by the Directors

Congratulations from Staff

Presentation of Ginsberg Cords for Service

Presentation of Gurin Certificate of Merit in Intergroup Relations

Presentation of IGR Minor Graduates

Presentation of Outstanding Alumnx Award

Outstanding Alumnx Award Recipient Remarks Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson

Outstanding Alumnx Award Recipient Remarks Michael Gardner

MINOR RECIPIENTS The Minor in Intergroup Relations Education offers students the opportunity to explore social identities in the context of understanding social inequality. Minor recipients have gained leadership skills in social justice contexts across the myriad intersections of social identity. Students are able to demonstrate enhanced critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, as well as navigate situations in their authentic self.

Alex Backus Analia Wu Elle Kleinheksel Jordyn Singer Karolyn Feichtenbiner Mayra Muñoz

Michelle Fan Naomi Savas Nithya Elsa Ramesh Peyton Sternfeld Priya Choezom Rebecca Yin

Sarah Avery Shaima Abdullah Stephen Bonesteel Tela Kabisch

GINSBERG CORD RECIPIENTS The Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning Service Cords make visible the number of U-M graduates who have made contributions to the community through service and social action. These red cords should be worn with graduation regalia.

Gurin Certificate recipients and IGR Minor graduates will also receive a Ginsberg Cord.

Aastha Dharia Akhila Kadiyala Alex Backus Alexa Leon Alexandra S. Ellard Amira Malik Analia Wu Andréa Gutierrez Aylin Lopez Brandon Bond Brooke Pierce Charles Vazquez Christina Morton Courtney Mellios Di Xie Diana Cortes Dominique Witten

Elle Kleinheksel Holly Reynolds Iman Elkahlah Jessica Toma Jordyn Singer Karolyn Feichtenbiner Kelsey Pease Kevin Pullukat Kortez Brinson Leo Thompson Malik Ochoa Mayra Muñoz Michelle Fan Mohammed Minhajuddin Majid Naomi Savas Nithya Elsa Ramesh Peter Endres

Peyton Sternfeld Priya Choezom Rebecca Yin Sarah Avery Shaima Abdullah Shaina Jansen Shannon Shaughnessy Shelby Steverson Stephanie Stan Stephen Bonesteel Sydney McKinstry Tela Kabisch T.C. Knowles Yolanda Martì Zachary Swift

THE PATRICIA GURIN CERTIFICATE OF MERIT IN INTERGROUP RELATIONS The Patricia Gurin Certificate of Merit in Intergroup Relations is awarded to graduating students who have demonstrated academic mastery in intergroup relations. The award's requirements include peer facilitation of intergroup dialogues, multiple courses in intergroup relations, and a high level of academic in courses. The award is named in honor of Dr. Patricia Gurin, the Nancy Cantor Distinguished Professor Emerita, whose courageous and loving leadership in the cause of social justice inspires and informs the work of IGR. Dr. Gurin's is one of the nation’s pre-eminent scholars on the benefits of structured interactions in intergroup relations. The Gurin Certificate of Merit is reflective of her innovative ideas, her respect for academic and student affairs as mutually supportive entities, and her mentoring of younger scholars and students. Dr. Gurin is one of the original founders of IGR and currently directs the research program.

GURIN CERTIFICATE RECIPIENTS

Analia Wu

Business Administration BBA; Minor - Entrepreneurship, Intergroup Relations Elle Kleinheksel Psychology BA; Minor - Law, Justice & Social Change Nithya Elsa Ramesh Business Administration BBA; Minor - Community Action & Social Change, Intergroup Relations Jordyn Singer Sociology BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Karolyn Feichtenbiner Sociology BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Michelle Fan Business Administration BBA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Peyton Sternfeld Sociology BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Priya Choezom Public Policy BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations, Asian Languages & Cultures Rebecca Yin Sociology BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Sarah Avery International Studies BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Shaima Abdullah Women's Studies BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Stephen Bonesteel Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience BA; Minor Intergroup Relations Tela Kabisch American Culture BA; Minor - Intergroup Relations Naomi Savas Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience BA; Minor Intergroup Relations Mayra MuĂąoz American Culture BA; Minor - Community Action & Social Change, Intergroup Relations Christina Morton Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education

OUTSTANDING ALUMNUX AWARD The Outstanding Alumnx Award honors an exceptional alumnx who exemplifies the values and ethic of IGR. The award is in recognition of the significant contribution that an individual has made to create a more just and inclusive society. Recipients embody positive intergroup relations and social justice through their personal and professional lives.

RIANA ELYSE ANDERSON Riana Elyse Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology at the University of Virginia and completed a Clinical and Community Psychology Doctoral Internship at Yale University's School of Medicine. She also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Applied Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Anderson uses mixed methods to study discrimination and racial socialization in Black families and apply her findings to help families reduce racial stress and heal from racial trauma. She is particularly interested in how family-based interventions help to improve Black youth’s psychosocial well-being and health-related behaviors. Dr. Anderson is the developer and director of the EMBRace (Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race) intervention and loves to translate her work for a variety of audiences, particularly those whom she serves in the community, via blogs, video, and literary articles.

Finally, Dr. Anderson was born in, raised for, and returned to Detroit and is becoming increasingly addicted to cake pops.

MICHAEL GARDNER

Born and raised in Ypsilanti, MI, Michael graduated from the University of Michigan in 2012 where he studied Business and Spanish. After a summer internship with Google, he returned full-time and has spent the past 8 years on 8 sales teams helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to profitably grow. He now manages a Small Business Sales team. Michael has also made significant contributions to Google's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. He has brought digital resources to hundreds of minority-owned businesses by managing various community partnerships, has worked to make Google Ann Arbor the most inclusive office in the world as co-lead of an Employee Resource Group, and is now coaching hundreds of Googlers of color through a development program he founded and scaled. He was even recognized in a Fortune magazine cover story for some of his efforts. Outside of work, Michael spends a lot of time in movie theaters, owns two chinchillas, and enjoys sharing his 2-year old son, Jack, with the world through Instagram (@gardenofmichael), one dad joke at a time.

STAFF & FACULTY IGR staff and faculty work passionately to foster intergroup relations, advance social justice education, and prepare students to be the leaders of a more inclusive society.

Alex Kime Alice Mishkin Cesar Vargas-Leon Charles Behling Deborah Slosberg Donna Rich Kaplowitz

Elizabeth Beckett Hamida Bhagirathy Henry Mochida Lori Sherman Mark Chesler Monita C. Thompson

Patricia Gurin Roger B. Fisher Scott Hwang Shana Schoem Stephanie Hicks Susmetha Baidya

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IGR would like to gratefully acknowledge the following people for their diligent work in making this year a success: Communications Assistants: Hannah Brauer Jessica Hobbs Smitty Smith Office Assistants: Dipita Das Efe Osagie Mariana Boully Perez Marita Ky Recruitment Team: Anna Mogill Boomika Gupta Noah Bonello Tommy Lau Student Experience Team: Laura Lee Smith (Graduate Assistant) Jordan Ruth Schenker Peyton Sternfeld CommonGround Programming Team: Meaghan Wheat (Graduate Assistant) Diana Cortes (Graduate Assistant) Dipita Das Maryam Masood Shaima Abdullah Teresa Vazquez Victoria Briones

Alumnx Committee: Sandhya Krishnan Research Assistant: Arielle Arslani Peyton Sternfeld Graduate Student Instructors: Shani Campbell LJ Varghese Jennifer Alzate Laura Lee Smith Curriculum Committee Intern: LJ Varghese Race & Ethnicity Engagement Intern: Cecilia Scotta Allyhood Graduate Assistant: Logan Murphy Social Justice Fellows: Bernie Allen Velasquez Camilla-Isabella Francisca Cantu Courtney Beauchamp Daria Latrese Hurley Demetrius J. Ford Dipita R. Das Meaghan Anne Wheat Nayef M. Taleb