UC Santa Barbara commencement ceremonies are underway this weekend, celebrating the class of 2025 and marking the end of Chancellor Henry Yang’s historic 30-year tenure on campus. 

Ceremonies kicked off with the College of Engineering on Friday afternoon to celebrate graduates who earned their degrees in chemical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. 

Umesh Mishra, dean and professor of electrical and computer engineering, said the College of Engineering was celebrating a record 472 bachelor’s degrees this year, more than 100 of which were going to women. 

From the College of Engineering, 199 degrees were awarded in computer science, 81 from electrical engineering, 49 for chemical engineering, 54 in computer engineering and 89 in mechanical engineering. 

Yang celebrated the class of 2025 for their curiosity, their ability to work hard and even their ability to have fun, and he briefly reflected on his time on campus.

“My wife, Dilling, and I have enjoyed our time with you in the classroom, the library, the dining commons, Harder Stadium, the Thunderdome and at the Halloween concert,” Yang said. “We have enjoyed being your campus neighbors. We especially appreciated, on weekends, your complimentary music.”

Yang is set to end his time as chancellor in the coming weeks, but his replacement has yet to be named.

Yang also thanked the class of 2025 for making the university better and acknowledged that 30% of the class were first-generation college students.

“You have met the high standards of our university,” Yang said. “I can tell you with confidence that starting today and for the rest of your lives, you will always be proud to say you are a graduate of UC Santa Barbara.”

During the ceremony, Yang awarded UC Regent José Hernández with the UC Santa Barbara Medal, which was created to celebrate significant achievements from alumni and community members. 

Hernández, born to a migrant farmworker family, is a former NASA astronaut, engineer and entrepreneur. Hernández welcomed the class of 2025 to the alumni family.

“The only thing I want to tell you guys is that sky is not the limit,” Hernández said. “Sky is just the beginning for you guys, so don’t be afraid to dream big and reach for the stars, because great things can happen as a result of your education from UC Santa Barbara.”

The commencement address was delivered by Dr. Loi Nguyen, executive vice president and general manager of Cloud Optics Business Group.

Nguyen shared his journey from growing up in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, to immigrating to the United States alone at 19, and eventually co-founding a semiconductor startup, Inphi. He encouraged the graduates to be the best in their field, to be positive and to be resilient. 

The student address was delivered by Niyati Mummidivarapu, who was earning her degree in computer science. She started her speech by joking that it was the first time the class of 2025 engineering students were seeing the sun in four years. 

“To my fellow graduates, we’ve shared so much the solidarity of all-nighters in the engineering building, the struggle to find an open spot at the library during finals week, and while it was nice living next to the beach, we probably spent more time at the CSIL lab than we did in the ocean,” Mummidivarapu said.

Mummidivarapu delivered a powerful political message, discussing the hard work it took for the fellow female graduates to make it to commencement day. 

“There were probably moments where you were the only woman in office hours or in a group project,” Mummidivarapu said. “Yet, here you are, my fellow female engineers, brilliant and undeterred. In a time when reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are being challenged across this country, your presence in this field is not just professional, it’s political.”

She also acknowledged the importance of having strong ethics and morals in engineering. 

“Building systems and economies without these ethical principles has contributed to the protracted genocide in Palestine, the war in Ukraine, the lives lost in South Sudan and the systemic inequalities driving immigration protests in LA, and closer to home, the authoritarian regime on higher education,” Mummidivarapu said.

She ended her speech by reminding her fellow graduates that they had the skills to tackle challenging times and the resilience to emerge stronger because of them. 

“Every graduate here has demonstrated extraordinary resilience,” Mummidivarapu said. “You’ve proven you can master complex concepts, work through seemingly impossible problems and emerge stronger on the other side. These are precisely the qualities our uncertain world needs.”

Commencement ceremonies are set to continue throughout the weekend. 

The College of Letters and Science, Math, Life & Physical Sciences I, will celebrate commencement at 9 a.m. Saturday. 

The College of Letters and Science, Math, Life & Physical Sciences II, will celebrate commencement at 1 p.m. Saturday. 

The College of Letters and Science, Social Sciences I ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday. 

The College of Letters and Science, Social Sciences II will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday. 

The last ceremony will be for the College of Letters and Science, Humanities & Fine Arts at 4 p.m. Sunday.

All ceremonies will be held on the Commencement Green.

Want to celebrate a graduate in your life? Submit your own graduation announcement to Noozhawk’s Class of 2025 showcase.