Winter 2022 Commencement Program

Our Vision

A Better Society Through Individual and Social Change

Our Mission

Advancing the social work profession’s vision and values, the University of Michigan School of Social Work seeks to develop a more equitable, caring and socially just society. Such a society meets basic human needs, eliminates social and economic inequities and empowers individuals, their communities and institutions to reach their aspirations and potential. Drawing on an interdisciplinary faculty within a public university seated in a region of enormous need and promise, the School is dedicated to education, research and service that fosters progressive change at local, national and global levels.

Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that the University of Michigan, named for Michigami, the world’s largest freshwater system and located in the Huron River watershed, was formed and has grown through connections with the land stewarded by Niswi Ishkodewan Anishinaabeg --the Three Fires People, who are the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi--along with their neighbors, the Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, and Wyandot nations.

Order of Exercises

Processional

Jordan Schug Quartet

Marshals

Ashley Cureton

Assistant Professor of Social Work

Monica Sampson Lecturer

Laura Sanders Lecturer

Welcome and Introductions

Beth Angell

Dean and Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work

Land Acknowledgment

Abigail Eiler Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work Keynote Speaker

Chad Dion Lassiter Executive Director of Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

Student Speakers

Blair Baker

MSW Candidate

Rogjett Peterson MSW Candidate

Presentation of MSW Graduates

Readers

Justin Hodge

Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work

Sue Ann Savas Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work

Hooders

Debra Mattison Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work

Julie Ribaudo

Clinical Professor of Social Work

Closing Remarks

Beth Angell

Dean and Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work

Recessional Jordan Schug Quartet

Cover Art

The Real Blue, 1998

Sam Gilliam (1933-2022)

Sam Gilliam is one of the great innovators in postwar American painting. He emerged from the Washington, D.C. scene in the mid 1960s with works that elaborated upon and disrupted the ethos of Color School painting. Gilliam abandoned the traditional frames and stretchers used in painting. Instead he chose to loosely drape and suspend his paint stained canvases from the walls and ceiling.

Gilliam’s The Real Blue is a four-piece ceiling installation commissioned for the School of Social Work’s lower level and is a centerpiece of its art collection.

Dear Graduates,

Congratulations! We are delighted to celebrate your hard work and dedication together with your friends, families and loved ones.

You have earned your MSW during difficult and historic times, requiring focus, tenacity and determination. Your academic efforts and success have prepared you to become skilled and effective leaders, prepared to face the challenges of our field.

University of Michigan social work graduates have a reputation for their expertise, dedication and achievement. Today you join 17,000+ alumni who lead the field as policymakers, agency directors and foundation leaders, who improve lives as accomplished and effective social workers. We look forward to hearing how you apply your talents for the good of people and communities.

You are the leaders and best. On behalf of the Michigan Social Work community, I wish you every success as you reach out, raise hope and change society.

Go Blue, Beth Angell Dean and Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work

About Our Keynote

Speaker

Chad Dion Lassiter Executive Director of Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

Chad Dion Lassiter is a national expert in the field of American Race Relations. Lassiter has worked on race, peace, and poverty-related issues in the U.S., Africa, Canada, Haiti, Israel and Norway, and is called upon frequently by media outlets to provide commentary on race relations and potential solutions.

He is the current executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, where he has continued to push the commonwealth forward in the spaces of DEI training, unconscious bias training and anti-racism training. He has developed and launched a “No Hate in Our State Townhall” to address the surge of white nationalism in Pennsylvania, a “Social Justice Lecture Series” providing an outlet for Pennsylvania communities to discuss imperative

issues and serves as a Racial Reduction Response team for those communities impacted by hatred. He oversees a staff of 87 with three regional offices that comprise the 67 counties in Pennsylvania and manages an annual budget of $11 million dollars.

Lassiter received his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Social Work, where he was the A. Phillip Randolph Award winner in 2001 and was the recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Involvement Award in 2008.

Lassiter is a co-founder and current president of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice’s Black Men at Penn, the first Ivy League Black male group of social workers. Since 2003, this transcendent group has sought to recruit Black males into the profession, as well as provide anti-racism and violence prevention training to urban and suburban schools around the country, and diversity and inclusion training for corporate entities and penal systems.

Lassiter was chosen as the National Association of Social Workers, Pennsylvania Chapter Social Worker of the Year for 2021.

About Our Student Speaker

Blair Baker, MSW ‘22

Blair Baker (she/her/hers) is a 2022 University of Michigan School of Social Work graduate hailing from the east side of Detroit. Prior to completing this master’s program, she attended Michigan State University and received a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in social science with a focus on community governance and advocacy. Baker has been committed to social justice and Afrocentric social work throughout her career.

She has previously worked with the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, creating social justice campaigns and engaging youth participatory practices, and the Department of Enrollment at Detroit Public Schools Community District, enhancing high school selection processes. She also worked in residential facilities with youth who experienced extreme levels of abuse or neglect, and even started her own social entrepreneurial business called Finesse Dining, aimed at creating accessible luxury dining experiences.

Baker spent time interning with Concert of Colors on their strategic planning team, which focused on blossoming the bridge of art, music and social justice this year. She also remains active in her sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, which just turned 100 years old. She recently accepted and started a new role as an academic advisor at Wayne State University and will continue her commitment to equity and social justice work.

About Our Student Speaker

Rogjett Peterson, MSW ‘22

Rogjett Peterson (she/her/hers), is a Detroit Integrated Health Scholar, as well as an Area Health Education Center Scholar through a partnership with Wayne State University. She has a BA from the University of Michigan and an MA from Azusa Pacific University (California). She has over 20 years of combined work and volunteer experience in education, human resources and community outreach within the U.S. and globally in Haiti, Lebanon and Thailand.

Peterson spent the last several months providing virtual therapy services through Reach Us Detroit with the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. She also provided brief therapeutic interventions embedded within the Beaumont Medical Center (Westland, MI) through Starfish Family Services. A couple of highlights of her time spent in the School of Social Work include being a recipient of the Carol Goss Leadership Scholarship and having the opportunity to work with Dr. Daicia Price to co-develop a continuing education course — which they will both teach in January — that examines the impacts of client oppression.

Peterson has joined Southfield Mental Health Associates as a therapist and is looking forward to building her private practice and mental wellness brand. Her desire is to serve as a resource to strengthen and unify her community, and provide a space for healing among marginalized and intersecting identities, particularly those of the African Diaspora.

School of Social Work

MSW Graduates

Emma Abed

Anjelica Abraham

Mickey Agoglia

Stephanie Aguayo

Tahani Hussain Al-Shamari

Mariam Chopohn Alamshahi

Emily Andersen

Breanne Armstrong Grace Atchison

Rosa Jazmín Avilez-Martinez

Diana Azad

Blair Baker

Catherine Bargerstock Caroline Paige Bartholomew

Chelsea Benedict Samantha Bessette

Alexander Black

Alexandria Bly Carson Bolinger Brandon Bond Becca Bordner

Jade Bowen

Kate Brantley

Ian Bratcher

Sean Brennan

Tess Brieva Anna Brunson

Starr Isabelle Bryan

Nicholas Buckingham

Katie Burd

Mason Bushnell

Lindsay Calka

Karla Carrillo

Haley Carter Midge Carter

Natalie Che

Jiaxuan Chen

Madeline Chen

Sylvia Chen Caressa Chester Anusha Chudhry

Rossi Clark Monique Cloutier Rachel Cortez Michaela Leone Cosand Joshua Costa Kayla Cronan Ekaterina Czarnik Lauren Nicole Dandridge Samhar Daoud Matt Dargay Druanna Darling Rawan Darouiche Arie Davey Elizabeth Paula Davila-Ferrall Acacia Davis Arianna Davis Taylor DeJulia Jamie Diaz Kasey Downing Nicky DuBois Elizabeth Einig Kaitlyn Ender

Evonnia Evans Mackenzie Fee Aaron Fillmore

Megan Fordon Sydney Foster Dalia Catherine Fragoso Rachael Freedman Allison Fritsch Erin Gaines

School of Social Work MSW Graduates

Samantha Ganzak

Amanda Gareffa

Jasmine Imari

Garrett-McNair

Sarah Dawn Gibson

Aishu Giriraju

Alana Goldstein

Tanya Gomez

Megan Gougeon Mac Gray

Kelly Gryniewicz

Alicia Hadley

Kimberlee Hall

Quentin Harris Bryant Hepp Stephen Herrod Markus Hicks

Julian Ho

Hadley Huff Matthew Hutchinson

Ella Imes

Aiman Irshad

Marni Jacobson

Brittany Jerzowski

Sierra Johnson Kayla Jones

Kayla Kane

Anastasia Karmaniola

Mia Kato

Jacqueline Katt

Hasna Kazi

Bailee Michelle Kiel

Yune Hie Kim

Charlotte Knipp

Julia Knowles

Katie Kurnick Joseph Kuzminski

Zoe Larkins

Marisa Launstein

Lisa Michele Lawson

Alison Lee

Leslie J. Leong

Katie Lingle

Sara Livingston

Hannah Lunsford

Rachyl Lyons

Madison Markwardt

Katy Martinez-Osorio

Nicole Massoud Isabelle Matossian

Ryan McLean

Delaney Menoher

Leland Merrill Nicole Merriwether Sariah Metcalfe

Ryan Miller Maya Mokh

Lauren Melissa Morgan

Julia Moss

Michaela Murphy

Natalie Rose Nasr

NaKara Denise Neely

Rachel Netz

Jack O’Connell

Kristin Orrach

Daniel Oseroff

Rosemary Pal

Olga Panteleeva

Maddie Petersen

Rogjett Peterson

Michele Reske

J’Melia Nefertiti-Hart Richardson Ronald Riekki

School of Social Work

MSW Graduates

Spencer Rogers

Lydia Rohde

Meggie Royer

Jake Rubin

Alison Russell

Imani Russell

Lauren Sandtveit

Patrick Schaefer

Sarah Schornack

Hillary Schroeder Helen Seddelmeyer

Amber Silva Cera Smart

Emmary Smith

Frances Smith-Dean

Abby Spatafora

Allison Spiller Alexa Spillman

Anika Sproull

Mahal Stevens

Emma Jane Strange Delaney Tabucchi

Kimberly Tkaczyk

Jordyn Tovey Hayley Trombley

Janelis Turner

Elena Van Loo

Alexis Vatterott

America Guadalupe

Vicente-Solares

Ellyse Vogel

Carly Wagatha Seaira Wainaina

Gabrielle Walton Schwartz

Kaylee Wasco

Alyssa Waters

Sierra Jade Weavil

Tonya Wells

Leeann Whaley

Davon Wheeler

Eliana Whitehouse

Kayla Wiitala

Yvonne Winer

Leah Wittenberg

Xizi Yan

Isabella Yzerman

Emma Zichi

Kristen Melynn Zylka

School of Social Work Dual Degree MSW Graduates

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health Emma Abed

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health Brandon Bond

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health Allison Fritsch

Master of Social Work and Master of Urban Planning Bryant Hepp

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Affairs Leslie J. Leong

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health Michaela Murphy

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health-Epidemiology Frances Smith-Dean

Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health Davon Wheeler

School of Social Work Leadership

Dean

Beth Angell

Dean and Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work

Associate Deans Joseph A. Himle

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Howard V. Brabson Collegiate Professor of Social Work

Lorraine Gutiérrez

Associate Dean for Educational Programs and Professor of Social Work

Rogério Meireles Pinto

Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work

Assistant Deans

Timothy Colenback Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management

Daniel Fischer

Assistant Dean of Field Education and Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work

School of Social Work Leadership

Directors

Ryan Bankston

Director of Administration and Operations

William Elliott III

Director, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science and Professor of Social Work

Larry Gant

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Director and Professor of Social Work

Karla Goldman

Director, Jewish Communal Leadership Program and Sol Drachler Professor of Social Work

Barbara Hiltz

Director of Academic Programs and Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work

Katie Lopez

Director, Office of Global Activities and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor

Halla Jomaa-Jouney

Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Robert Ortega

MSW Program Director and Associate Professor of Social Work

Katie Richards-Schuster

Director of Undergraduate Minor Programs and Associate Professor of Social Work

Renée Tambeau

Director of Marketing & Communications

Alia Wesala

Director of Continuing and Professional Education

Michelle Woods

MSW Student Career Services Director

Erin Zimmer Director of MSW Student Services

School of Social Work Faculty

Governing Faculty

Beth Angell

Cristina Bares

James Blackburn

Lindsay Bornheimer

Linda Chatters

David Córdova

Fernanda Cross

Ashely Cureton

Abigail Eiler

William Elliott III James Ellis

Katrina Ellis

Lisa Fedina

Daniel Fischer

Terri Friedline Larry Gant

Karla Goldman

Odessa Gonzalez Benson

Andrew Grogan-Kaylor

Lorraine Gutiérrez

Jaclynn Hawkins

Todd Herrenkohl

Barbara Hiltz

Joseph Himle

Justin Hodge

Shanna Kattari

Ashley Lacombe-Duncan

Shawna Lee

Lydia Li

Kathryn Maguire-Jack

Debra Mattison

Patrick Meehan

Jamie Mitchell

Robert Ortega

Sunggeun Park

Brian Perron

Rogério Meireles Pinto

Daicia Price

Camille Quinn

Beth Glover Reed

Julie Ribaudo

Katie Richards-Schuster

Joseph Ryan

Sue Ann Savas

Katie Schultz

Kristin Seefeldt

Luke Shaefer

Trina Shanks

Beth Sherman

Matthew Smith

Rebecca Sokol Karen Staller

Robert Joseph Taylor Richard Tolman Lynn Videka

Daphne Watkins

Addie Weaver

Lisa Wexler

Xiaoling Xiang Mieko Yoshihama Bradley Zebrack Anao Zhang Roland Zullo

Field Faculty

Zaynab Boussi

Amy Burandt

Miriam Connolly

Rachel Naasko

Rosalva Osorio-Cooksy

Stacy Peterson

Yatesha Robinson

Aimée Vantine

Emerti

Paula Allen-Meares

Oscar Barbarin III

William Birdsall

Letha Chadiha

Barry Checkoway

Tom Croxton

Sandra Danziger

Ruth Dunkle

Kathleen Coulborn Faller Sheila Feld

Phillip Fellin

Charles Garvin Rose Gibson

Martha Gizynski

Leslie Hollingsworth

Berit Ingersoll-Dayton

Srinika Jayaratne

Harold Johnson Edith Kieffer Sherrie Kossoudji

Armand Lauffer

Laura Lein

Edith Lewis Shirley Lockery

Susan McDonough

Elizabeth Mutschler

Sandra Momper

Thomas Powell

Lawrence Root Mary Ruffolo

Daniel Saunders

Brett Seabury

Vivian Shapiro

Kristine Siefert

John Tropman David Tucker

Diane Kaplan Vinokur

Elizabeth Voshel Helen Weingarten

Lecturers

Cara Alexander

Daniel Alvarez

Gina Ambrogio

Dayna Asante-Appiah

Richard Barinbaum

Alethia Battles

Trevor Bechtel

Zaynab Boussi

Mercedes Monaee Brown

Daphne Brydon

Amy Burandt

Jennifer Burke Brooke Buys Joseph Cafferty Jessica Camp Adisa Chaney G. Warren Clark

Miriam Connolly Priscilla Cortez

Su Crabb

Colleen Crane

Sara Crider

Julie Cushman

Sean de Four Daniel DeSena

Bonnie Dockham

Kathleen Doyle

Linda Edwards-Brown

Emily Fitzgerald Joseph Galura Karyn Gendreau

Ayesha Ghazi Edwin

Terri Gilbert

Tammie Glenn

Irena Glover

Elizabeth Gonzalez

Elizabeth Gumbis

Elizabeth Haas

Jennifer Heckendorn

Grace Helms Kotre

School of Social Work Faculty (cont.)

Gregory Hoffman

Kathryn Irish

Leonardo Kattari

Rachel Kazez

Erin Khang

Jamie Kynn

Jamie LaLonde

Marlanna Landeros Manisha Leary

Dana Levin

Phillip Thomas Luttrell

Douglas Manigault III

Erin Martinez-Gilliard

Aliyah Masudi

Patrick McEvilly Nasreen Meah

Patrick Meehan

Benjamin Moe

Rachel Naasko

Maureen Okasinski

Rosalva Osorio Cooksy

Stacey Peterson

Mari Jan Pitcher

Susan Radzilowski

Kristal Reyes

Carrie Rheingans

Osvaldo Rivera

Yatesha Robinson

Fatima Salman

Monica Sampson

Laura Sanders

Rhoda Sanders

Diana Seales

Andrea Smith Megan Thiel

Jennifer Towns

Aimee Vantine

Paige Walker

Stephen Wiland Amber Williams

Ed-Dee Williams

Whitney Williams

Laura Yakas

Candace Ziglor Roland Zullo

Alumni Board

President

Sabrina Clark, ‘10

Vice President James Bui, ‘01

Secretary

Amy Good, ‘80

School of Social Work Representatives

Beth Angell, Dean, Ex-officio Halla Jomaa-Jouney, Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Ex-Officio

Constance (Connie) Ackert, ‘83 Aroosa Ahmed, ‘18 Steven Applewhite, MSW ‘74 & PhD ‘77 Peggy Bodin, ‘98 William (Bill) Cabin, ’04 Miriam Connolly, ‘04 Lauren Davis, ‘07 Ann Easley, ‘80 Rafael (Ray) Engel, ‘79 Karen Fein, ‘85 Janice (Jan) Fisher, ‘75 Yuri Hernandez Osorio, ‘17 Gregory Hoffman, ‘13 Vance Jackson, ‘06 Elizabeth Kinney, ‘10 Alana Kivowitz, ‘16 Sarah Koreishi, ‘01 Madinah Luqmaan, ‘16 Janice Matthews, ‘77 Kyra Miller, ‘16

Deborah Mitchell Covington, ‘88 Courtney Morrison, ‘20 Ricardo Perez, ‘75 Sade Richardson, ‘18 Milton Rodriguez, ‘97 Shannon Saksewski, ‘01 Mary Kate Schroeter, ‘17 Kelly Taylor, ‘95 Bruce Thyer, PhD, ‘82 Joanne Waszczak, ‘07 Kendra Webster, ‘97 Glenn Whitelaw, ‘76 Matthew Wollack, ‘12 Joanne Yaffe, MSW ’76 & PhD, ‘88

U-M Board of Regents

Jordan B. Acker

Michael J. Behm

Mark J. Bernstein

Paul W. Brown

Sarah Hubbard Denise Ilitch Ron Weiser

Katherine E. White

Thank You

Today’s beautiful graduation ceremony looks wonderful and effortless. In truth, the Graduation Committee and many additional people devoted a great deal of talent, time and effort to make it a success. This ceremony would not be possible without the creativity, dedication and hard work of the students, faculty and staff listed below.

Graduation Planning Committee

Debra Mattison, Faculty Chair, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work

Grant Clement, Recruitment, Admissions, and Student Services Officer (ex officio)

Fernanda Cross, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Michelle Gorton, Office Manager (ex officio)

Juno Ottathengil, MSW Candidate

Meg Royer, MSW Candidate

Rebeccah Sokol, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Callie Torkelson, Recruitment, Admissions, and Student Services Officer (ex officio)

Aimee Vantine, Field Faculty and Lecturer

Erin Zimmer, Director for Student Services (ex officio)

Sidney Zimmermann, MSW Candidate

Roland Zullo, Associate Research Scientist, and Intermittent Lecturer

Platform Party

Beth Angell

Tim Colenback Abigail Eiler Daniel Fischer Lorraine Gutiérrez Barbara Hiltz Joseph Himle Debra Mattison Rogério Meireles Pinto Robert Ortega

Readers Justin Hodge Sue Ann Savas

Hooders Debra Mattison Julie Ribaudo

Marshals

Ashley Cureton Monica Sampson Laura Sanders School of Social Work Alumni Board Miriam Connolly

Sign Language Interpreters Michael Colton Angela Dzierwa