Pastoral Ministries Class of 2023 (L-R): Fabián Valencia, Jacob Tolentino, William Reeves, Doris Marquez, Michael Lomas, Emmanuel Kidhiki, Leah Harris, Sylvia Fath, Richard Denoix, Lee Campbell, Terrence Barwegen, Rena Alspaw, Lucia Albarran. Not pictured Kathleen Estrella, Irene Santiesteban, and Sister Chioma Ibe. Photo by Chuck Barry

Dear College Faculty and Staff,

This is it – with final grades turned in this week and commencement activities concluded, we are officially on summer! For those of you who didn’t attend commencement, it was a joy filled ceremony with a good bit of school rivalry (Did Deans Grier and Scott actually think they could out-cheer us?!). Father Boyle’s commencement speech was riveting and important – in 30+ years of attending commencements, I’ve never seen students rush over to shake hands and thank the commencement speaker before getting their diploma covers and shaking the university president’s hand!

Commencement aside, it was a very successful year for the College and the broader campus community…with huge thanks to you all for pulling it off so soon “after” COVID (if there is such a thing)!

College Notes will appear less frequently over the summer, as usual, but please continue sending us updates and announcements to include…I know that many of us will still be working on projects and research this summer.

Sincerely,

Daniel

Highlights

On May 11, Jim McKenna (Anthropology), by invitation from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Maternal Child Health Section, gave a lecture entitled: "Infant Sleep Practices: Evolutionary, Developmental and Neurological Perspectives." In April, Jim gave "A Grand Rounds Lecture" to the Obstetrics Department Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco, (Gary Street Campus). It was entitled: "Bedsharing in the Context of Breastfeeding (i.e. breastsleeping) Represents Humankind's Oldest and Most Successful Infant Sleep and Feeding Arrangement."

Military Science celebrated the commissioning of seven U.S. Army Second Lieutenants from Santa Clara University, San Jose State University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. These new officers have received extensive training and leadership development to prepare for their careers in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Transportation Corps, Adjutant General Corps, Judge Advocate General Corps, and Field Artillery.

SCU's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honors society which celebrates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, initiated 34 students into its ranks this year—roughly 4% of Arts and Sciences graduates in the Class of 2023. Student majors and minors ranged across 22 of our departments and programs, including a few of the interdisciplinary minors. 30 of these newly-inducted students graduated last weekend along with two who were inducted as juniors last year. An induction ceremony—the first we've had since 2019—was held last Friday, June 16, with over 150 family members and guests in attendance.