Fall 2016 graduates, family celebrate at Comerica Theatre convocation

About 6,000 friends and family attended the College of Public Service and Community Solutions Fall 2016 Convocation at Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix on December 13. The 330 graduates taking part in the ceremony were from the School of Community Resources and Development, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Public Affairs, School of Social Work, and students from the College’s online graduate degree programs, including Public Safety Leadership and Administration and Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Watch the Fall 2016 College of Public Service and Community Solutions Convocation

See Fall 2016 Convocation photos on Facebook

Honoring students

The fall 2016 graduating class included 30 students who earned a master’s degree in emergency management and homeland security through ASU Online. It also featured the first graduates to earn a master’s degree in public safety leadership and administration.

“I'm glad I decided to go from law enforcement and go back and get my master's degree in public safety leadership and administration," said Naimah Saadiq (pronounced “Nigh—EE-ma Sa-DEEK”). “It was a great program.”

The degree is especially important to Saadiq, as she is the first college graduate in her family and the first to receive a master’s degree.

"This means a great deal to my family and me,” she said.

During the ceremony, senior associate dean Cynthia Lietz recognized graduates who are the first in their family to earn a college degree. She also acknowledged the large number of veterans earning degrees. The college has the highest percentage of military veterans at ASU.  

Heather Brown is an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work.

“I come from a large family of ten siblings and if we were ever going to graduate it was going to be on us,” said Brown. “So, to go to college I had to go into the military.”

The mother of five graduated with a 4.0 grade point average and maintains a 4.11 PGA as a graduate student in social work.

“I quit school when I was a teenager because I was a mom,” Brown said. “I knew that getting my degree was going to be super important for me to be a good role model for my kids.”

Also recognized in the ceremony was the growing number of students who earn their degree online. Dozens of online students took part in the graduation ceremony.

A highlight of convocation was the announcement of outstanding graduates, one from each school and one from the college:

• Emily Barney, BS in public service and public policy from the School of Public Affairs;  Barrett, the Honors College.
• Suzanne Jeanine Niezgodzki, BS in social work from the School of Social Work.
• Mirando Poocha BS in tourism development and management from the School of Community Resources and Development.
• Wesley Thomas Smith. BS in criminology and criminal justice from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
• Jesus Haro, MA in emergency management and homeland security from the College of Public Service and Community Solutions. 

Hard work and a helping hand

Representative Kyrsten Sinema delivered the keynote address.

Sinema, a 1999 graduate of the College and a lecturer in the School of Social Work, acknowledged the fractious nature dividing the United States. She told students that those committed to public service could make a difference by trying to better understand another person’s life experiences and perspectives.

"We can be good people who care deeply about each other even when we disagree,” said Sinema. “We can all start by listening to someone with a different opinion, listening not to rebut or debate, but listening to understand.”

A Tucson native, Sinema told her family’s story of going from middle class to a life of poverty living in an abandoned gas station. She said her family utilized government food stamps, that she relied on free school lunches and used federal grants to help pay for college.

Sinema saw education as essential to leaving poverty. She was valedictorian of her high school class at age 16 and graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in social work at age 18. She was employed as a social worker at a Phoenix school district before earning a graduate degree in social work from ASU in 1999. She went on to obtain a law degree and a Ph.D. from ASU.

During a light-hearted moment, Jonathan Koppell, dean of the College of Public Service and Community Solutions, acknowledged that Representative Sinema was too busy to ever attend any of her ASU graduation ceremonies.  

“So, we’re going to deal with that right now,” said Koppell as he presented her with graduation regalia and three diplomas representing her master’s degree, law degree and Ph.D. in Justice Studies.

Sinema was in law school in 2004 when she ran and won a seat in the Arizona Legislature where she served four terms. She was elected to Congress in 2012 and will soon begin her third term representing Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District. A progressive Democrat, Sinema has earned a reputation for working with members of both major political parties on a variety of issues.  

“There’s a conservative and a liberal narrative in our country, and often those two narratives are pushed against each other,” she told students.  

“A conservative narrative says: ‘Hey kid, pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Do it yourself. Work hard.’ Sinema said. “And a liberal narrative might say: ‘You need to help those who are vulnerable. We need a safety net. Leave no one behind.’  

“The truth is that both of these narratives are true and they need each other,” said Sinema. “My whole life, my journey from homelessness to serving in the halls of the United States Congress is the combination of these two narratives."

“I worked so hard to make it and thank goodness that there were people there to give me the helping hand I needed growing up.”