Paws for Thought: Insights on Student Affairs and Commencement

As commencement and graduation season approaches, I’ve got a lot of mixed emotions. Certainly, there’s joy for all the students who’ve completed required coursework and earned the privilege to “walk that walk” in front of their family and friends. I love to see it! They should be proud of their success! I’m proud of their success, honors and achievements, and I’m proud to be a part of the network of staff who ensured they’d have successful outcomes. In fact, I’m smiling thinking about an upcoming reunion I’m having with a student I mentored some years ago. These are the moments that make it worthwhile.

As I look back over the last five years (including 2020), what education has been up against still seems so heavy. I’m not altogether sure how the students did it … or how many of us did it.

Higher education is not for the faint of heart. It is for dreamers who can dream beyond what might be possible today, and the determination to execute beyond the dream. Whether you’re a student, faculty or staff, education is something we participate in today to be better prepared for tomorrow. Education helps us become the best version of ourselves. But teaching isn’t easy, and learning isn’t easy. Supporting students and facilitating outcomes isn’t easy.

So why am I in my feelings? Because I don’t want it lost on people how big the achievements are for these students or staff. They had to figure out how to succeed often on the fly, navigating things like:

• Parameters – such as online teaching and adequate resources for students to fully participate
• Pandemic – which impacted not just learning, but socialization and rituals that accompany educational achievements like graduations, commencements, baccalaureates … even proms. 

And at the height of the pandemic, people around the world (many of them students) participated in protests steeped in social justice around anti-blackness, Asian hate and police reform.  They also witnessed the events on January 6th at the nation's capital that began with a march and a protest. Today, nearly four years later, the protests – on nearly 400 American universities against the war in Gaza have made them the largest U.S. student protests since the Vietnam War.

Amid all this, these students have not only dreamed beyond what was possible … they have endured and succeeded. And in this season of celebration, my heart aches a little for all the rites of passage these students may have had to forego. There were virtual proms, drive-by graduations, athletic seasons and eligibility forfeited. If they’re on one of the 400 campuses who’ve had protests, they may see a curtailed commencement. Without question, many of them want, and deserve, more.

We’re going to continue to see impacts around education as time goes on, and as students leave high school and come to college campuses, according to The 74 Million organization, there will be “unprecedented academic setbacks” for American students, making the nation’s youth mental health crisis worse.

I don’t think any of us have come through unscathed.  Many of our students are hurting, and they may show signs for a long time to come.

If you’re reading this, I consider you part of our UW Tacoma village.  We have students who will graduate, and I want to ask you to congratulate them, encourage them, support them, reward them, motivate them and inspire them.  

It's time to come together and celebrate!

Mentha Hynes-Wilson
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs