Sharing the journey: For Gaels like Samantha Margeree-Yvonne Young ’26, right, the Black Graduate Celebration and other Cultural Graduate Celebrations were an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments with those who walked alongside them. / Photo by Nick Voltmer
Resilience in Togetherness: Highlights from the 2026 Cultural Graduate Celebrations
Snapshots and shout-outs from the Intercultural Center's graduate celebrations: Lavender, Asian Pacific Islander, Black, and Latinx. For graduating Gaels, it’s a chance to recognize successes, obstacles overcome, and the many supporters along the way.
In the bustling days leading up to Commencement, the Cultural Graduate Celebrations provide something singular: a chance for many graduating Gaels to stop, reflect, and commemorate their distinctive journeys—and those who walked alongside them.
Each May, the Saint Mary’s Intercultural Center hosts four graduate celebrations: Lavender, Asian Pacific Islander, Black, and Latinx. At each event, family and friends, faculty and staff, gather to cheer on graduating students as they enter their next chapter.
Awards are presented at each celebration to student leaders who have made an especially meaningful contribution on the Saint Mary’s campus and in their community. The celebrations also recognize staff and faculty who have made a difference in the lives of the graduating class.
While the Cultural Graduate Celebrations are more intimate than the college-wide Commencement ceremonies, for many, they are uniquely meaningful. The annual events offer graduating Gaels a space to both commemorate accomplishments and recognize obstacles overcome.
Here are some highlights from the 2026 Cultural Graduate Celebrations.
Lavender Graduate Celebration
Photos by Nick Voltmer
“It might be a tall order to ask the world to always see all of who you are. However, what I've learned in my short time in this world is that there will always be people who will love you... Let us remember the importance of chosen family in our community.”
— Mitchell Foster, Director of the Delphine Intercultural Center
Outstanding Student Leader Award
Chris Bragg ’26, Music
Paul Giurlanda Award
Mitchell Foster, Director of the Intercultural Center
Asian Pacific Islander Graduate Celebration
Photos by Maggie SanJuan
“As we transition into this next chapter, whatever that looks like, it’s so important to find elements of home. I found it here at Saint Mary’s in other people.”
— Student Keynote Speaker Rianna Aquino ’26, Integral Liberal Arts
Outstanding Student Leader Award
Rianna Aquino ’26, Integral Liberal Arts
Dean Grace Cardenas-Tolentino Award
Mitchell Foster, Director of the Intercultural Center
Black Graduate Celebration
Photos by Nick Voltmer
“To my fellow Black graduates: We are not just the future—we are the present. We are what our ancestors dreamed of, and we are what our communities need right now.”
— Student Keynote Speaker Bimba Misaray, EdD ’26, Doctorate of Educational Leadership program
Corliss Watkins Outstanding Student Leader Award
Alexis Hackett ’26, Accounting
Dean Thomas Earl Brown Faculty Award
Nicole Brown, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology
Pamela Y. George Staff Award
Terri Jett, PhD, Associate Vice President in the Office of Inclusion and Belonging
Clarence Celestine, Oliver Hall Cook
Latinx Graduate Celebration
Photos by Chloe McClintock
“In enduring, I found community. I realized I was not alone in these feelings, and neither are any of us sitting here today. And above all, WE ALL endured. Above all, si se puede."
— Student Keynote Speaker Rebecca Carranza ’26, Politics
Outstanding Student Leader Award
Nataly Ponce ’26, Health Science
Brother Manuel Vega Latinx Empowerment Award
Rogelio López, MFA, Director of Dance Program
