by Jasz Garrett, Staff Writer
Woosh.Ji.Een dancers, University of Alaska Southeast graduates, their families, friends, UAS faculty, and legislators gather at the University of Alaska Southeast Recreation Center on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
The University of Alaska Southeast celebrated 471 graduates across the Sitka, Ketchikan, and Juneau campuses over the first weekend of May. Sitka graduated 136 students on May 3, and Ketchikan graduated 34 on May 4. The Juneau campus granted 301 associate, bachelors, and masters degrees, certificates, and occupational endorsements on the afternoon of May 5. That morning, the annual Native Graduation Celebration was held in Egan Library.
The Mt. Juneau Tlingit and Woosh.Ji.Een (“pulling together”) ceremonial dancers led faculty and graduates into the fall with drumming and chanting. Áak’w Kwáan spokesperson and Elder Frances Houston (Seikoonie) gave the traditional welcome.
“It’s always an honor to be here,” she said. “I’ve lost count. I think this is year five that we’ve done this dancing in with the chant, and this is where all the energy comes into this hall. I know I’m energized, and I just wanted to welcome each and every one of you.”
The 53rd UAS commencement was Chancellor Aparna Dileep-Nageswaran Palmer’s first as the chancellor for the three UAS campuses. She told graduates to take time to recognize the effort they have put into their education.
“You have tackled new challenges, you have learned how to problem solve, and most importantly, you had to believe in yourself,” she said. “A university is a place where you had to learn and grow in all sorts of ways. You learned how to collaborate with people who are very different from you, you had to build connections with your classmates who you didn’t know at first, and also ask for help from your professors and from our staff when you needed it. You should be congratulated for that.”
Smiling, Palmer added that many students also learned how to stay up all night to complete that final paper on time, and even that should be recognized as an accomplishment.
Paul Layer, University of Alaska Vice President of Academics, Students, and Research, said graduation remains as a much a highlight now as when he was a faculty member and Dean. Layer has been with UA for 35 years and is also “a proud parent of three University of Alaska graduates,” he said.
“I’ve seen the challenges that students face and the sacrifices they make to get here. I’ve seen resilience, and perseverance in action. I’ve seen professors and instructors working one-on-one to help students clear that final hurdle,” he said. “It’s thrilling to see the smiles, the excitement, and the relief on all of your faces as you walked across the stage today, as you celebrate this achievement.”
Palmer and Layer told students to thank their families and friends for supporting them on their journey.
John Greely and Marla Berg received a Meritorious Service Award for their service over more than 40 years to the community of Juneau, including the Glory Hall, Juneau Housing First Collaborative, Catholic Community Services, and 100 Women Who Care. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Graduate Profiles:
Education
After he moved his tassel to the left side of his mortarboard, student speaker Devyn Reece joined the dignitaries on stage. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education and told the graduates it is up to them to ensure their success.
Reece said his path included suffering a traumatic brain injury as a crime victim in 2008.
“In order to become the man I am today I had to mourn the loss of who I thought I was going to be and learn to love the person I was becoming,” he said. “I had to repair the bridges I had burnt, learn who I was, who I wanted to be and make the choice to pursue the life that I wanted.”
Now the lead teacher of the Developmental Education Classroom at Mendenhall River Community School, Reece began his career in the Juneau School District 13 years ago as a special education paraeducator.
He was a nominee for the 2024 Inclusive Practice Award through the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education. He also served on the Transforming Special Education task force and was appointed to the Deaf Education Board for the State of Alaska. At the end of May, Reece will begin his master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis with an emphasis on Autism and a Deaf Education Certificate.
Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Lori Klein introduced Devyn Reece as he walked across the stage to receive his UAS diploma. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Career Technology
Twenty UAS Juneau students graduated from the Technical Education Center. Over the last two years, the number of female students in trades training at the center increased by 50%, according to Career Education Academic Advisor Ashley Morehouse. She attributed this largely to a Women in Construction tuition grant, which can award students up to $2,300 per semester. Graduates Candace Calvin and Shauna Riddensdale benefited from the grant.
Candace Calvin welds zinc onto a barge in April 2024. It was her first welding project outside the classroom and in the rain. (Photo courtesy of Candace Calvin)
Calvin graduated with an Occupational Endorsement Certificate in Welding. She started in the simplified diesel engine program and then pursued power technology. She has balanced work as a mechanic and a student over the past year, with classes four nights a week and work six days a week. Calvin said the Women in Construction Trades grant helped alleviate the stress of going to school.
In April 2023, she started working on the tugboats for Amak Towing at the AJ Dock. She has been a mechanic for Alaska Coach Tours since December. She has coworkers at both jobs that came out of the same UAS program.
She said she was taking a brakes class at the time she was working on the buses.
“It was literally go to work, and I was changing brakes and slack adjusters. Then I would go to class and do it on the truck there,” Calvin said. “That’s been really cool, and I’m almost done with my internship for Amak Towing. What’s really cool is between hydraulics and all the different classes that I’ve had, it seems like I’ve applied so much on a day-to-day basis. Just to even be hired as a mechanic was huge for me, especially being a female in the male-dominant world.”
Calvin is from Anchorage, where she worked as a welder’s helper at SteelFab, a steel fabrication plant. She said she has always wanted to be a mechanic.
“I grew up turning wrenches my whole life. I’ve got three brothers. My dad was chief engineer. I want to be taken serious as a mechanic. Being a female, painted nails, people are like, yeah, right,” she said. “To not only have that background of the experience, but I went to school. I’m certified. I graduated. To me, that’s huge.”
Shauna Riddensdale creates a push stick to help the user safely maneuver a workpiece, keeping it flat against a machine table or fence while it is being cut. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Riddensdale completed her certificate in Drafting Technology. Just two weeks after graduating, she will start work as a drafter in Flagstaff, Arizona, helping design low-income housing on the Hopi and Navajo reservations, working for the Native-owned company, Urban Rural Design.
As a drafter, Riddensdale creates a set of building plans for an architect and client on their home design. She noted the differences between building homes in northern and southern climates. In Juneau, water and snow must be kept in mind, but in Arizona, Riddensdale will have to consider how to keep out the heat. The layout of the land, sun path, and climate of a region are all factors to consider when drafting a residential home, she said. After a sketched design is finalized, she will use a digitizing program such as AutoCAD or Revit and then turn that over to a builder or contractor.
Riddensdale has a background in construction from volunteering for AmeriCorps and rebuilding schools in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake. She first came to Juneau to construct trails for the U.S. Forest Service. Her dad teaches drafting in Maine.
“I’ve always seen him working on stuff. And I’ve always been a little drawn. I wanted to still be in the construction field but not be working with my hands as much as I was,” she said.
Shauna Riddensdale designed her “Dream House” in a residential design class with UAS Professor Robin Gilcrist, the head of the Construction Technology Program. It’s a one-bedroom, one-bathroom house with a lofted bed space, high ceilings, and many windows. (Photo courtesy of Shauna Riddensdale)
Riddensdale said her professors at the UAS Career Tech Center have enabled her to ask questions that helped her learn. She said she will keep asking questions in her new profession to keep learning. Like Calvin, she encourages other students to join the UAS Construction Technology program.
“If you have an interest in how things are made, even if it’s not just buildings or the construction process, just how things are made in general, you’ll like drafting. The way that I describe it is drafting is like Photoshop but for houses,” she said. “It’s very fun to play around with and be in that design mode and be in that process where you’re just like hand sketching. I would tell them that you don’t have to be good at art; you do not have to be an artist or a good drawer to be a drafter.”
Emi Boyd-Tucker waves as she walks across the stage after receiving her BS degree in Biology. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Biology
Emi Boyd-Tucker received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in chemistry at the May 5 Juneau commencement. She also received an outstanding student academic award.
“I wanted to study biology because I’ve always been fascinated with how life works. Originally, I wanted to go into either midwifery or pre-med route,” Boyd-Tucker said. “But then when I came to UAS, I found quite an interest in chemistry, after taking a lot of classes with Dr. Lisa Hoferkamp.”
Boyd-Tucker came to UAS from New Hampshire through the National Student Exchange Program. She arrived in January 2021, planning to stay for just a semester. She said she attended her previous school out of convenience and did not like the campus culture.
“Coming here, I felt like I found genuine friends, and I really do like the campus. There were so many things about both the school and the geological features of Juneau that I just couldn’t leave; the ocean, the mountains, it’s just such a unique place to be.”
She said a smaller school like UAS can offer more opportunities. For example, Hoferkamp helped her receive funding to conduct research with chemist Dr. Cody Pinger at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since October, Boyd-Tucker has explored the hypothesis that a vitamin B1 deficiency impacts king salmon (Chinook) populations. When salmon eggs don’t have enough thiamine, they cannot survive, Boyd-Tucker said.
She compared salmon eggs from Little Port Walter and Sitka. Chinook salmon were studied because they are larger, making thiamine deficiencies more of an issue for them. She said the current method of measuring thiamine concentrations in salmon eggs is time-consuming, costly, and not applicable in remote field laboratories, because it uses high-powered liquid chromatography (HPLC). The research goal was to develop a more efficient method for field settings.
“For the past six months, I learned a lot about what works, and what doesn’t work. And essentially, I would say that a method has been developed, or it’s on the way to being developed,” Boyd-Tucker said. Though her project ended with the school year, Boyd-Tucker said more research needs to be done.
She wrote the grant proposal, received the funding, worked in the lab, ran experiments, and then wrapped up her work on May 1 with a presentation to NOAA. She will also present her research in a poster at the American Chemical Society’s conference in Pullman, Washington from June 23 to June 26. Her UAS work has inspired her to pursue more research opportunities and attend graduate school.
“This is the first time I’ve done any type of research myself. It’s really awesome to have gotten this opportunity for sure. And I definitely thank my chemistry professor for that. And then my mentor at NOAA. It’s just been awesome,” she said.
In a class taught by Professor Heidi Pearson, Boyd-Tucker went to Portugal to study marine conservation, dolphins, and whales. Boyd-Tucker returns to Portugal this summer for a dolphin research internship through the Marine Environment Research Association. She is interested in general biology, chemistry, and genetics. After graduation, she hopes to get a position in a genetics lab in Maine and attend graduate school.
“I’m really grateful that I went to UAS, I think it has set me up for a really great future,” Boyd-Tucker said. “The school and the small classes allow you to make really important connections with your professors.”
Julia Fonov stands with Sen. David Wilson after the commencement ceremony. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Business Administration
Julia Fonov graduated early in December with her Bachelor of Business Administration and walked on May 5. During the 120-day Alaska Legislature, she worked as legislative staff for Sen. David Wilson (R-Wasilla). This summer she will work for her family’s business, Eagle Eye Storage, in Wasilla, and will be back in Juneau for the 2025 legislative session.
“What led to my business degree was growing up with my dad running his own businesses. He started with an electrical company. And then from there, he built a construction company, Pacific North Construction, and then from there, he built a storage facility company. It really inspired me to go into business so I can help him out,” she said. “He’s always asking me to start a business with him.”
She said she is brainstorming ideas for summer commercials to promote her father’s company and has new business ideas, including a retro VHS store and a produce business. When she lived in Oregon, she became familiar with aquaponic farming, “where you raise fish, aquaculture, and then you grow plants in the water that they produce,” Fonov said. “It would be fun to do aquaponics because I have so many friends who are into fish, studying marine biology at UAS, and we could start a business together!”
Fonov encouraged other business students to take in-person classes when offered because the program is almost entirely online. She said she enjoyed her calculus classes with Professor Andrzej Piotrowski.
“The best moments were staying up late at night just working on calculus homework, and you just review the notes and use them to help you solve your problems. And I think that’s something to apply in a lot of things, especially right now working in the legislature,” Fonov said. “I sit through so many meetings, and I have to take notes vigorously because I’m not going to remember everything. Then, I just apply them later when I’m working on a bill or working on some sort of writing. I think that’s something that really is going to be useful in my life, learning how to take notes and look back on them.”
Ceramics was another favorite class at UAS. She encourages students to take art electives as soon as possible, because she saved hers for last, and fell in love with the new art form. She plans to continue her ceramics hobby after school.
Thanks to various scholarships and legislature work, Fonov graduated from UAS without student loans. She said the scholarship that helped her the most was the Alaska Performance Scholarship, and believes other students should apply.
She also encourages students to run for student government.
“My freshman year, I decided to run for Vice President. It was so much fun campaigning. It was a very close vote,” she said. “It teaches you the process of writing bills and debating, and you get to throw cool events.”
For her graduation present, Fonov will travel with her parents to their roots in Uzbekistan. She plans to film a documentary about where her family grew up and enjoy street food and ripe fruit.
Josephine Thuya exits the hall through the center aisle after the commencement ceremony closes. She received her Master of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Education. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
UAS graduates watch as students line up to receive their diplomas on stage. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Áak’w Kwáan Elder Frances Houston congratulates graduates. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
Chancellor Aparna Palmer recognizes UAS graduates. (Photo credit Jasz Garrett)
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