Department of English Celebrates 2023 Commencement

The Department of English community gathered on Saturday, May 13, 2023 for the 2023 Commencement of both undergraduate and graduate students. 

Andreea Ritivoi, the Department Head, began the ceremony, extending gratitude to the faculty, families, friends, and students present. 

“You will carry the Carnegie Mellon University English degree throughout your lives,” Ritivoi told the students, “I know it will serve you well, not just as a line on your resume but with everything it has taught.”

The six graduating PhD students were then hooded—a physical symbolic gesture to recognize their accomplishments—by their dissertation chairs. Two of the students, Sarah Hancock and Craig Stamm, received their PhDs in Literary and Cultural Studies, and the remaining four students, Richard Branscomb, Laura McCann, Hannah Ringler, and Nisha Shanmugaraj, received their PhDs in Rhetoric. 

The graduate student speaker, Literary and Cultural Studies student Jessica Ball, then delivered her speech. 

“Perhaps the most defining lesson I have learned over the past year is to listen to myself and my needs—you can’t show up for your academic and professional self if you don’t show up for your personal self first,” Ball shared. “My greatest wish is that the people I have met here feel fulfilled in their own quests for joy— whatever that looks like for them.”

Professor Jeffrey Williams then distributed the Master’s students diplomas. Two students received MAs in Global Communication and Applied Translation, ten students received MAs in Literary and Cultural Studies, thirteen students received MAs in Professional Writing, and seven students received MAs in Rhetoric.

Ashni Mathuria, the undergraduate speaker, then delivered a moving speech honoring her graduating class. Mathuria received a BA in Creative and an additional major in Technical Writing. 

Professor Jane Bernstein distributed the undergraduate diplomas. Fourteen students received a Bachelor’s of Arts, three received a Bachelor’s of Science, and four received a Bachelor’s of Humanities and Arts. Forty-eight students received either an additional major or a minor from the department in one or more of the following: Creative Writing, Film and Visual Media, Literature and Culture, Professional Writing, Technical Writing and Communication, Gender Studies, Humanities Analytics. 

Chris Warren, the Associate Department Head, delivered the keynote address entitled “Writers Are Human Beings.” Warren discussed the ever-growing world of AI and the rising concern that writers may lose their jobs to the technology. In the wake of the writer’s strike, Warren assured students, families, and friends present that students graduating from CMU are well equipped to weather the changes of technology because they bring something to the table robots never can: humanity. 

Ritivoi closed the ceremony, congratulating the students once more. 

“We are not saying goodbye to you: as alumni, you will always remain our students,” Ritivoi concluded. “We look forward to learning about your achievements, your plans, and your bold ideas.”


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