Economics graduates. Photo by Jessica Park.
After years of hard work and resilience, UC Berkeley Social Sciences graduates proudly received their degrees from the division's 15 departments and programs this week. The ceremonies offered a powerful reminder of the enduring value of a Social Sciences education, and the vital role social scientists play in understanding and shaping the world.
"Congratulations to the Berkeley Social Sciences Class of 2025!," Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray said. "I am so proud of everything you have earned and accomplished at UC Berkeley! Go out there and help us create a better world."
Departments and programs held their own ceremonies, featuring a range of student, faculty and keynote speakers, who encouraged the newly-minted graduates to use their Berkeley education to drive positive change.
Here's a snapshot of what they said from some of the ceremonies:
African American Studies
"Given that Black Studies here at Cal emerged from student protests alongside research efforts, and scholarship that detailed uncomfortable truths, we know how to fight. We know how to put our boots on the ground. And that doesn't mean that we're not afraid, but our courage has historically propelled us to make the world that we all deserve to live in. Our love for each other and humanity is why our fight is so principled."
-Ula Taylor, chair and speaker
"We must move as if the future is already ours, because in many ways, it already is. From this point forward, we no longer wait for permission to cultivate the legacy that we want for ourselves, because it is firmly in our grasp. And so, as we bid farewell to Berkeley and move on to become the next generation of black engineers, visionaries, doctors, entrepreneurs and more, I leave you with this. Embrace your blackness wherever you go, because it is the uniquest form of wealth that can never be taken. Use your voice no matter what, because silence is complicity and conforming to a false reality will strip you of your authenticity."
-Skylar Montgomery, undergraduate student speaker
"As a black graduate, we need you to choose whatever form of service gets the work of liberation done again based on your unique talents and training. Don't just leave it to us in Black Studies, the scholars and activists. The fact that you happen to be here tonight at Black graduation, well, that says that at least you understand the initial assignment. Do hard things, even when you're afraid."
-J Finley, alumna, associate professor of Africana Studies at Pomona College and keynote speaker
Anthropology
"Our work and our training as anthropologists has uniquely prepared us to create the solutions that actually work for our communities. We've learned to observe carefully, document thoughtfully and listen compassionately. These aren't only research skills, these are things that we're going to be using in our everyday lives. We're no longer students, maybe, we're not yet professionals, but we're in this powerful space where possibilities are everywhere."
-Isabella Marie Medbery, undergraduate student speaker
"The mission of the Anthropology Department is to study human beings from every time period, in every way possible, and in all their complexity. In the spirit of Fiat Lux, we should extend this to not only the study of others, but to employing the remarkable, singular opportunities found only here to lift and enlighten others."
-Anna Nielsen, graduate student speaker
"Today, we celebrate ordinary people who do extraordinary things. What are you going to do after you graduate? Many diverse experiences, I am sure. It could be messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in those complications. It will not be anything like what you think it's going to be like, but surprises are good for us, as you've probably already found here at the university."
-Christine Hastorf, professor and keynote speaker
Cognitive Science
"Cognitive science isn't just about understanding how the mind works. It is about understanding how systems work, the ethical concerns of artificial intelligence, the biases embedded in decision making models, the ways our own cognition can be manipulated without us even realizing it."
-Hania Adnan, undergraduate student speaker
"You didn't choose a major that can't give you a path. It handed you the tools to create your own path, because cognitive science is a language. Bring it to the conversations that matter, to the systems that are being built and the systems that made you build it. Bring it to all the places, like humanities, that are facing change. Not because it's your job — it's because you can and you are needed."
-Metta Murdaya, CEO & co-founder of JUARA, cognitive science and architecture alumna and keynote speaker
Economics
"We're going to make mistakes, pivot in unexpected directions and find ourselves in situations we never anticipated. But this isn't failure, it is just life. And what truly matters is how we navigate these twists and turns. Let's approach our future the way an economist approaches uncertainty — with an open mind, a willingness to change our beliefs and an understanding that progress, not perfection, is the goal."
-Abby Morris, undergraduate student speaker
"Along with the diplomas you will receive today, you will also earn a special responsibility to promote prosperity for all."
-Adriana Kugler, economics alumna, Federal Reserve Board governor and keynote speaker
Ethnic Studies
"In a moment when work like ours is demeaned, defamed and defunded, Berkeley Ethnic Studies is making historic investments in the scholarship, in teaching our faculty and in students' pursuit today, tomorrow and for years to come."
-Keith Feldman, Ethnic Studies chair and associate professor
"Our stories have not always been centered and celebrated, but today is about us. It is about our intelligence, our persistence, our resistance and our joy. This community is one that is bonded, not just by the content that we studied, but by the compassion, vulnerability, and most of all, by a resilient resistance."
-Madeleine Teresa Wong, undergraduate student speaker
"Ethnic Studies equips us with the tools to do more than just name the problem. It teaches us to trace it to its root and even imagine it differently. And imagining that differently means we have to do something about it. Ethnic Studies has never been a spectator sport. It was born out of struggle. Student drives, coalitions, uprisings, and it demands action. It demands that we not just understand injustice, but that we work to end it in solidarity."
-Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, alumna, San Francisco State Asian American Studies professor and keynote speaker
Gender and Women's Studies
"When we wrestle with our own socialization, we look inwards before we can start looking outwards. We're unlearning, relearning, not understanding and then being hit with the truth all at once. GWS cracks us open, then rebuilds us with compassion and community, with clarity and the powerful knowledge we can use to change the world."
-Sabina Dhillon, undergraduate student speaker
"I invite us to root down, link up and pace ourselves. Root down in your body, in your belonging, your lineage. Link up with your neighbors, your comrades and accomplices. Link up with other organizations, other sectors, other diasporas. And pace yourself, because you're not goin' nowhere, and neither is this work."
-Savannah Shange, UC Santa Cruz anthropology professor and principal faculty in critical race & ethnic studies, and keynote speaker
Geography
"The geography community taught me to ask deeper questions, to sit in discomfort, to decenter and think beyond myself, and to understand that inequity is a consequence of exploitative systems, and it must be challenged with care, collaboration and humility."
-Shreya Chaudhuri, undergraduate student speaker
"The best defense is a strong offense. So lean into proactive initiatives instead of doubling down on reactive piecemeal and damage control agendas, especially using social science research as a tool for racial equity and justice. We cannot abandon our long term, programmatic agendas for social justice."
-Lisa Holder, president of the Equal Justice Society and keynote speaker
Global Studies & Political Economy
"[Global Studies] doesn't just ask you to understand the world — it forces you to grapple with it. To sit with the discomfort, the contradictions, the complexity. To bring your lived experience to your learning, and your learning back to your lived experience."
-Ziyana Govindji, global studies undergraduate student speaker
"Our curriculum has inspired us to engage in difficult discussions with each other, to navigate differences of opinion and view them as an asset to success. As we move on from Berkeley, I encourage you to bring these frameworks and skills into your careers and your communities. I urge you to never stop questioning how we can improve our institutions. And finally, I hope you approach problem solving confidently and considerately, while never losing sight of the bigger picture."
-Alexis Barrera, political economy undergraduate student speaker
"When others question your presence, or your competence, or make assumptions about you or how you got where you are, don't ever doubt your value or that you belong. You are not an imposter. You are earning what you're getting. And from the classroom to the workplace to the community, know that you make these spaces better, more inclusive, more interesting, more creative and more successful."
-Breon Peace, alumnus, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and keynote speaker
Political Science
"We've taught you how to think, not what to think. In doing so — we hope that it has helped cultivate your voices. We have to ask questions, we have to be open to the exchange of ideas, we have to hear what we don't want to hear. That's the process of discovery, openness and commitment to inquiry that characterizes this university, and I encourage you to take that with you."
-Scott Straus, political science chair and speaker
"As graduates of political science, we carry with us the tools we need to understand what is happening, to understand legislation, to spot information and to develop reforms that solve the problems that riddle our community. With our knowledge, we carry the responsibility to act and to educate. We carry with us the ability to make this uncertainty feel a little less scary."
-Iman Fatimah Qureshi, undergraduate student speaker
"The real value of the piece of paper you are about to receive is that you have the power to help, and it is very, very valuable. Real change doesn't start in Washington or Sacramento, it starts in classes, in courtrooms, living rooms and city blocks across the country. It starts with you. The world is tough. Change is tough. You are tough. You are a Golden Bear and a UC Berkeley graduate, and no one can ever take that away from you."
-Josh Fryday, GO-Serve director, California chief service officer and keynote speaker
Psychology
"While we have become students of the mind, of the person, and of the people, the pursuit of psychology also allows us to become students for the mind, for the person, and for the people. So let's become psychologists not just as a profession, but as psychologists of life. Embrace psychology in all of its complexity, but also practice its powerful simplicity — with a smile, a hug, an encouragement or a helping hand for the humans we care about in this world. Practice it with faith. Do it humbly and proudly."
-Yilun Tong, undergraduate student speaker
"No matter where your next steps take you, the world needs exactly what you have to offer. This moment, as much as any before, calls for the brilliant scholars invested in understanding our minds, our brains, our behavior. And it is imperative that we understand trauma and bias, violence and polarization, how our beliefs are formed, and how our decisions are made."
-Lindsey Burnside, graduate student speaker
"The best solution for [mental health] stigma is recovery — and treatments work, but they have to be accessible and affordable and made available to many more aspects of our population. In fact, mental health and inclusion, in my view, are the newest frontier in human rights. On this day of joy, gratitude and looking toward next steps in life, consider again your family members present and absent, and the practice of inclusion in your own family and community."
-Stephen P. Hinshaw, psychology professor and keynote speaker
Sociology
"The truth is, in a world increasingly divided by ideology, sociology graduates are equipped with something extraordinary: the ability to see beyond surface tensions to the underlying structures that shape our social world. Class of 2025, you leave here not just with a degree, but with a perspective — a way of seeing and engaging with the world that is uniquely powerful. Use it wisely. Use it boldly."
-Michael Temprano, undergraduate student speaker
"A lot of us don't just major in sociology because it fits our class schedule, I think. A lot of us have been strongly drawn to it. And we were drawn to it because through some early experience we already came to develop what I call the Outsider's Eye. Here you are! This is your time! You chose the right department and the right university."
-Arlie Hochschild, sociology professor emerita and keynote speaker
For more Social Sciences 2025 Spring Commencement photos, visit here.
