Commencement

SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024

Wilson Plaza 9:00am

Commencement Speaker Bio

With nearly 20 years of experience leading strategic initiatives that drive business and improve prosperity for all, Vera Moore-Shaheen (B.A. ‘05, UCLA Sociology) has dedicated her career to connecting low-income communities and communities of color to quality jobs, business growth opportunities, and more economically secure futures.

Vera is the West Region Executive for U.S. Community Relations at Citi. She brings an equity focused lens to how the voices and perspectives of nonprofit leaders and the communities they serve are reflected through Citi’s work to help close the racial wealth gap. Her team manages relationships with key stakeholders, increases access to safe and affordable financial products, and facilitates employee engagement in community. Prior to Citi, Vera helped spearhead JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to invest $75 million in the Bay Area through its AdvancingCities initiative — a five-year, $500 million effort to create greater economic opportunity nationwide.

Vera’s career in economic development and wealth creation began in the nonprofit sector. She has held leadership roles at national nonprofit organizations, such as the National Urban League, where she brought evidence-based restorative justice principles and innovation to employment training programs for young adults with prior justice system involvement. With the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, Vera provided consulting services to government agencies and philanthropic organizations, in the U.S. and abroad, that wanted to increase their grantees’ capacity to implement high impact workforce development programs.

A former Manhattan Borough President’s Office Community Planning Fellow, Vera has a Master of Urban Planning degree from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA. While at UCLA, she was an active member of the Academic Advancement Program, Student Transfer Outreach Mentor Program, African Arts Ensemble, Law Fellows Program, as well as UCLA’s first Greek life organization, the Pi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Vera transferred to UCLA from Diablo Valley College.

Currently, Vera serves on the Coro Northern California Board of Directors and the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center’s Women’s Leadership Council. She is also an appointed member of the Entrepreneurship and Economic Mobility Task Force formed by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, a division of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and was recognized on the San Francisco Business Times 40 Under 40 List in 2021. A heart-centered leader, Vera has been named “Community Reinvestment Visionary of the Year” by ASIAN, Inc. and a “Powerful Woman of the Bay Area” by Black Women Organized for Political Action and the Training Institute for Leadership Enrichment. She was also recognized as a corporate leader by the Oakland Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. and the National Urban League.

A native of Pittsburg, CA, Vera resides in the Bay Area with her husband, Charlie, and their two dogs, Opie and Rosie.

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What to expect the day of commencement…

Students should arrive in Wilson Plaza by 8am latest. Proceed to student check-in table at the back of Wilson Plaza (near soccer field) to complete name card. All students must have a completed name card before walking across the stage. Sociology department honors students enrolled in Soc 198C should meet together at the check-in table. Students will need to form 2 lines to walk into the ceremony. Event staff will begin scanning guest tickets at 7:30am. Please advise guests to have electronic tickets ready to scan. There are three points of entry and three separate lines for guests to enter. Plan for event to start at 9am and end around 11am. Restrooms and water fountains will be located in Kaufman Hall and the Student Activities Center. There are designated spaces available for guests in wheelchairs. It is typically very sunny and warm during the ceremony, please prepare as needed.

Procession of the Class of 2024

Welcome
Professor Edward Walker, Ph.D., Chair

Welcome to the Class of 2024
Professor Jessica Collett, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Undergraduate Studies

Voices of the Class of 2024
To Be Announced…

Departmental Honors
Professor Zsuzsa Berend, Ph.D.

Presentation of the Keynote Speaker
Professor Edward Walker, Ph.D., Chair

Keynote Speaker
Vera Moore-Shaheen

Presentation of M.A. Candidates
Professor Wei-Hsin Yu, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Graduate Studies

Ph.D. Hooding
Professor Wei-Hsin Yu, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Graduate Studies

Presentation of B.A. Candidates
Professor Jessica Collett, Ph.D., Vice Chair of Undergraduate Studies

Closing Remarks
Professor Edward Walker, Ph.D., Chair

Recessional

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Important Dates:

Monday, April 1st – Special Inclusion Petition opens for any Fall 2024 graduate who wants to participate in the June 2024 commencement ceremony. Please see more info below

Friday, April 26th – Sociology department commencement info session (zoom link will be sent via email and on BruinLearn Canvas site).

Thursday, May 2nd at 12pm – MyUCLA notice will be sent to submit College of Letters & Science commencement ceremony time preferences. Submit at your earliest convenience.

Sunday, May 5th at 11:59pm – Deadline to submit College of Letters & Science commencement ceremony time preferences

Thursday, May 9th – Finalized College of Letters & Science commencement ceremony time assignments released

Friday, May 10th at 12pm – Sociology department ticket orders begin

  • Students must order their own ticket and submit request for 4 free guest tickets
  • If you are requesting more than 4 tickets, each additional ticket request will be under review (not automatically approved) in a waitlisted status until we can confirm space is available. If waitlisted tickets are approved, this decision will be released May 30th. Each waitlisted ticket is $20 each and will be automatically charged to the student’s BruinBill account.
  • According to the UCLA Central Ticket Office, REFUNDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR UNUSED TICKETS. We ask that you do not request waitlisted tickets unless you know you will need them.
  • If you are not a declared Sociology major, you will not be able to order tickets. Contact Sociology advisors ahead of time if you are still coded as a Pre-Soc or non-Soc major.

Friday, May 24th at 11:59pm – Deadline to request tickets for the Sociology commencement ceremony (students must order their own ticket and guest tickets by this deadline)

  • Any student that does not submit their ticket order by the deadline must contact a Sociology advisor. Space is not guaranteed, please submit ticket orders by the deadline to reserve your seat and your guest seats

Thursday, May 30th at 11:59pm – Waitlist ticket decisions released

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College of Letters & Science Commencement Ceremony Info

The College commencement ceremony is open to all students within the College of Letters & Science. This is the larger ceremony in Pauley Pavilion. There are 3 separate times for this ceremony (11am, 3pm, or 7pm). Please check your emails and MyUCLA notices for information about the College ceremony, the Sociology department does not assist in their ceremony arrangements. On May 2, 2024 students will have access to rank their College ceremony options on MyUCLA. The deadline to do this will be May 5, 2024.

Sociology Department Commencement Ceremony Info

There is one commencement ceremony for the Sociology department scheduled for Saturday, June 15th at 9am in Wilson Plaza. Ticket orders for the Sociology department ceremony will begin on Friday, May 10, 2024 at noon and will end on Friday, May 24, 2024 at midnight. It is imperative that you submit your ticket order, seats are not automatically reserved for students. You must reserve your ticket and reserve your 4 free guest tickets during the ticket ordering period. Additional guest tickets are $20 each, but are not guaranteed. We will wait until after May 24, 2024 to consider granting any additional guest tickets to make sure there is enough room for all graduates to attend. REFUNDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR UNUSED WAITLISTED TICKETS.

Tickets for all ceremonies will be distributed electronically between Tuesday, May 28th and Thursday, June 13th. The Sociology department does not send tickets out. All tickets will be sent by the Central Ticket Office (CTO) from cto@tickets.ucla.edu. Please be sure to check that your email account is accurate in MyUCLA, and also check your email account’s SPAM folder frequently, to be sure you do not overlook these important messages.

Ticket ordering should be completed using the commencement ticket portal on MyUCLA >> Academics tab >> Commencement link. Full details about commencement ticket ordering is listed here: https://www.college.ucla.edu/commencement/ticketing/ 

Complete outline of commencement ceremony schedule listed here: https://commencement.ucla.edu/schedule/ucla-commencement-schedule-alphabetical

Special Inclusion Petitions

Fall 2024 graduates who wish to participate in the June 2024 commencement ceremony should submit their automatically-approved Special Inclusion Petition through the commencement ticket portal on MyUCLA. First check the top left of your Degree Audit to confirm your graduation term is set to Fall 2024. If not, you will not be eligible to participate in the June 2024 ceremony.

Students may submit their petition once the form opens on April 1, 2024. The deadline to submit this form is Thursday, May 23, 2024. More info listed here: https://caac.ucla.edu/academic-planning/graduation-commencement/#tab-id-2.

Students graduating in Summer 2024 (term must be reflected on DAR) are automatically included in the June 2024 ceremonies and will not have to submit any petitions. If you are a Fall 2024 graduate that does not submit this special inclusion petition, you will automatically be placed in the June 2025 commencement ceremony.

General Commencement Planning Information

We encourage graduating students to check their Degree Audit Reports to ensure all degree requirements will be met. We also recommend making sure your graduation term is set correctly on MyUCLA (Academics tab >> Declare Expectancy Term). The College of Letters & Science has information posted on their website for graduating students. We recommend reviewing the Graduation Checklist https://caac.ucla.edu/academic-planning/graduation-commencement/#tab-id-5 and all necessary tabs.

If you have any questions about the College of Letters & Science commencement ceremony, the schedule was released here: https://commencement.ucla.edu/schedule/ucla-commencement-schedule-chronological.

Previous Commencement Ceremonies

2022 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: JEREMI GORMAN

Jeremi Gorman is chief business officer at Snap Inc., where she is a member of the executive team and is responsible for revenue and revenue operations, leading global sales, creative strategy and Snap’s newest creative studio for augmented reality, Arcadia. She has spent her entire career in tech, with leadership positions at Monster.com and Yahoo! Prior to joining Snap, she spent nearly seven years at Amazon, where she led global enterprise advertising sales.

Gorman is a proud 1999 graduate of UCLA in sociology. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the UCLA Division of Social Sciences, the board of directors of Samba TV, and the board of Women for Women International. A travel-lover and thrill-seeker, Gorman has traveled to over 50 countries, with a goal to double tha

2020 & 2021 VIRTUAL CELEBRATIONS

Although on-campus commencement ceremonies are not possible given current conditions, we in the Sociology Department don’t want to let the quarter end without marking your tremendous achievement!

2019 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: BRADLEY BURNAM ’01

Bradley Burnam is founder and CEO of Turn Therapeutics™, a $250m+ pharmaceutical organization responsible for multiple standard of care products in chronic wound care and dermatology. In an attempt to treat his own hospital acquired skin infection, he developed PermaFusion™, a revolutionary delivery system based upon a first-of-its-kind fusion of liquid in oil. PermaFusion™ enabled Burnam to create Turn’s first product, Hexagen™ Wound Dressing.

After singlehandedly facilitating Turn’s first two FDA clearances, Burnam brought on a team of physicians and executives from the nation’s top venture firms, pharmaceutical organizations and government agencies to help build the company to its current prominence. Turn has multiple, additional products created by Burnam in clinical trials and is working directly with government agencies and universities to combat resistant microbes on a global scale.

Burnam’s story has been featured on Bloomberg and Fox Business News and in publications like Forbes Magazine. In addition to his UCLA Sociology degree, he holds a master’s degree from Stanford University.

2018 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: NANCY RUBIN ’64

Nancy Hirsch Rubin served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights during the Clinton administration. She has been a teacher, public servant and global champion for human rights, social justice, public service and mental health.

She began her career as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District before going into public service. She worked for the Corporation for National and Community Service and helped build AmeriCorps, which has engaged over 800,000 young Americans in public service programs since 1994.

Rubin was a director of the International Human Rights Law Group and chaired election observation for countries making the transition to democracy. She served on the Leadership Council for Amnesty International and chaired the Committee on Women, Law  and Development, which built legal literacy clinics in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She served on the Brookings Institution’s expert committee on UN Human Rights Mechanisms and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Rubin is a director of the National Democratic Institute and previously served as Director of Women for Women International. She is a leader in the ongoing effort to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and she represented the U.S. at the NGO Forum of the 1985 and 1995 World Conferences on Women. She founded Community Outreach and was the first chair of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and served on the board of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.

2017 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: TIM HARRIS

Overseeing Los Angeles Lakers business-related endeavors and marketing efforts for 16 years, Tim Harris brings more than 26 years of combined experience to the organization, currently serving in a multifaceted role as Chief Operating Officer/SVP, Business Operations/Chief Marketing Officer.  Responsible for the Lakers’ day-to-day business operations, Harris oversees the team’s broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, community relations, game entertainment and digital media departments.

Furthermore, Harris works closely with team President Jeanie Buss, helping maintain relationships with broadcast and corporate partners while having a hand in all Lakers marketing efforts.
Adding to his extensive scope of responsibilities, Harris serves as a Lakers Alternate Governor, and he represents the club at team president meetings.

Beginning his career working for Dr. Jerry Buss in 1990, Harris was tasked with promoting and marketing the team’s arena at the time, The Great Western Forum.  By 1995, after much success in his role, Harris would become Vice President of Marketing for the building.  Following the sale of the Forum in 1997, Harris was responsible for managing the Lakers transition out of Inglewood to the state-of-the-art STAPLES Center as well as the new team training facility.  At the conclusion of the club’s move, Harris was brought on board to focus his efforts strictly on the Lakers, originally serving as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

A standout soccer player at UCLA, Harris played four seasons as goalkeeper (1980-83), earning second team All-American honors in 1983 and finishing his career ranked third on the school’s career victories list.  He was later named to the UCLA Athletic Department Hall of Fame as one of the school’s 25 all-time greatest athletes.  Harris, who graduated from UCLA with a degree in sociology, went on to play five years professionally (1984-89), including three for the Dr. Buss-owned Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was also a member of the United States Men’s National Soccer Team in 1985.

2016 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: KIM GORDON

Musician, artist and writer Kim Gordon is an alumna of the UCLA Lab School* and studied art at the Otis Art Institute. Born in Rochester, New York, her family moved to Los Angeles when her father joined the faculty of the UCLA Department of Sociology.

Gordon rose to prominence as the bassist, guitarist and vocalist of the New York City-based alternative rock band Sonic Youth, which she formed with Thurston Moore in 1981. She continued to write and release material with Sonic Youth until the breakup of the band in 2011. She is currently a member, with Bill Nace, of the guitar duo Body/Head.

Gordon is the author of two books: Is It My Body? Selected Texts and Girl in a Band. In 2015, her artwork was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Benaki Museum in Athens and 303 Gallery in New York. In January, she curated the Gagosian booth at the Los Angeles Art Book Fair.

2015 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: TRISHA CARDOSO

Trisha Cardoso is Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, of Showtime Networks, Inc.  She serves as the company’s Chief Press Officer, responsible for all national and international corporate and business press outreach, and is the communications liaison with parent company CBS. She also oversees the development and implementation of national public relations campaigns for all Showtime programming including original series, documentaries, music specials, digital initiatives, comedy shows, and sports.

Additionally, Cardoso is responsible for the company’s talent relations, events, corporate branding, Emmy and Golden Globe award campaigns, and charitable initiatives.  She also oversees public relations initiatives for the Smithsonian Channel.

Before joining Showtime, Cardoso established and led a strategic consulting firm, overseeing crisis communications as well as lifestyle and cause-related marketing for diverse industries including entertainment, fashion, philanthropy and travel.  Previously she was Senior Vice President of Publicity and Advertising for the Paramount Television Group.

A great believer in giving back to the community, Cardoso serves on the California board of UNICEF and on the board of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation.  She is also an active supporter of local charitable causes, including the Saban Free Clinic and One Voice. She resides in Los Angeles with her daughter.

2014 UCLA SOCIOLOGY COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER: SUSAN KELLOGG

After graduating from UCLA, Susan Kellogg began her fashion career at Macy’s West, where she worked for eight years in several store and buying executive positions. She then moved on to a series of leadership positions with Liz Claiborne Inc. over a nine year period, including from 2004-2007 Susan served as Group President for Bridge and Contemporary Brands with the responsibility for five companies: Juicy Couture, Laundry by Shelli Segal, PrAna, Ellen Tracy and Dana Buchman.

Prior to joining VF, Susan served as CEO of Elie Tahari, Inc., where she significantly increased the contemporary fashion brand’s international and retail business. Currently she is the President of the Contemporary Brands Coalition for VF Corporation, the largest apparel company in the western hemisphere. She is responsible for three brands of the VF portfolio: 7 For All Mankind, Splendid, and Ella Moss (including John Varvatos from ’09-’12). Contemporary Brands Coalition has over 200 retail stores globally and distribution in over 47 countries.

Her personal interests include surfing, skiing, traveling, dogs, horses, and UCLA Basketball/Football. Her favorite charities and organizations are the Marfan Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis, Special Olympics, Stuart House, Women In Need, and MidTown Rountable.