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This weekend we celebrate the crowning achievement for more than 2,300 University of Idaho students as they earn their degrees. These new members of the Vandal alumni family head out to make an impact in a wide variety of fields in our state, our country and the world.
Lorrie Williams, who works as an executive assistant in the College of Science, joins more than 250 students earning the U of I’s first associate degrees on Saturday. Her children and grandchildren will be among dozens of friends and family members in attendance to see her earn a degree that she first started in 1998 at the age of 38.
The McKenzie family, from Coeur d’Alene, will also be out in force at graduation, with Jon earning his bachelor’s degree alongside his son Carson and daughter MacKara. The Vandal Finish initiative helped Jon reach graduation more than 20 years after starting his journey. He plans on law school with the goal of becoming a prosecutor. Carson aspires to become a filmmaker, while MacKara aims for a career in the mental health field.
Cruz Araujo’s educational journey began more than 10 years ago at the U of I as a first-generation student from Bruneau. Next week he’ll earn his juris doctor from the College of Law in Boise after gaining tremendous experience as a clinical intern for the U of I’s Entrepreneurship Law Clinic and as president of both the Business Law Society and the Latino Law Caucus.
Light is always top of mind for graduating senior Ashleigh Streiff, and she shined during her time in the College of Art and Architecture. Streiff attended three different colleges and universities before settling in at the U of I. She revived the Visual Arts Community club and served as president. Streiff also honed her skills as a painter, earning awards and recognition for her work and her volunteer efforts.
Matt Angelo embraced the U of I’s rich military history and found a bright future. In the Army ROTC Chrisman Battalion, he found similar competition and camaraderie he experienced as a football player at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene. Angelo placed among the top 20% of Army ROTC cadets in the nation and gained leadership skills in his fraternity. He’s headed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for field artillery officer training this summer.
EmmaRae Parsons explored several career paths during her time in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, eventually pursuing agribusiness. The Arco native will begin as a crop insurance analyst trainee with AgWest Farm Credit in Twin Falls shortly after graduation. Parsons takes a full spectrum of experience into her career after studying biotechnology and plant genomics alongside agricultural economics and agribusiness. She earned recognition as a USDA Future Leader in Agriculture and an American Society of Agronomy Greenfield Scholar, among others.
For Post Falls High School grad Kennedy LaFountaine, her experience at the U of I helped meld her passions into a promising future. A standout basketball player for the Trojans, she found the U of I’s Recreation, Sport and Tourism Management program and jumped at opportunities to remain involved in athletics. She joined a team that volunteered for a Stand Up to Cancer promotion at last year’s Major League Baseball All-Star game in Seattle. LaFountaine was among a small group of students to attend the Sport Sales Workshop and Job Fair in Denver this year.
Undergraduate research in two different chemistry labs propelled Madeline Moody to one of the most prestigious graduate schools in the country. Inspired by her mother, who is an engineer, the Idaho Falls native is headed to Princeton to pursue her doctorate after working with Ray von Wandruszka and Kris Waynant in their respective U of I labs. Moody collected numerous awards on her way to graduation, including the Hill Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the Donald Gustafson Scholarship, the Malcom and Carol Renfrew Chemistry Scholarship, the Donald Roberts Scholarship and the Shirley Maeck Scholarship.
The U of I’s first cohort of cybersecurity graduates will walk across the commencement stage on Saturday. The five graduates, all from Idaho, are on the leading edge of a program that now includes nearly 130 students. The state legislature is investing in our cybersecurity program to train the professionals needed to protect our infrastructure in virtually every facet of life. Our graduates are headed into promising careers with companies like Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Idaho National Laboratory.
Congratulations to all our 2024 graduates. You join more than 115,000 U of I alumni who are working and making an impact in communities around the world. We’re proud of your achievements and look forward to all that you’ll accomplish in the future.
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