Tassels moved from right to left on mortarboards as dozens of graduates from across the region received degrees at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus (KuC) commencement on May 7.
It was the 52nd commencement for the satellite campus that has handed out more than 3,500 certificates, endorsements, degrees, and other distinctions over its history.
Alice Rearden, who grew up in Napakiak and later established herself as an esteemed Yup’ik educator, oral historian, and translator, delivered the keynote address. She congratulated students for their perseverance and spoke about her own struggles reconciling her cultural identity with Western modes of education.
"I want to acknowledge how difficult it is to navigate the academic world as a person who is not familiar with the culture. We leave our homes that bring us comfort, not able to do subsistence and cultural activities. We neglect our families and other responsibilities when trying to finish school, and sometimes the sacrifice doesn't seem worth it," Rearden said.
Rearden said that she found strength in the teachings of her Elders, including the idea that education is a lifelong process that requires willingness to make mistakes and grow through them.
"Being a translator was lonely work and mentally draining, but I kept doing it because the Elders' words fed my identity. Their wisdom was so deep and captivating that I wanted to know more," Rearden said.
High school senior Justine M.S. Hanaq Erickson-Bradney from Toksook Bay, who received her Associate of Science degree magna cum laude through the ANSEP acceleration academy, said it was not easy.
"I often joke that I could have filled a bucket with my tears just from the math courses I was required to take," Erickson-Bradney said.
Dozens of students from communities across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta took major steps forward in their education at this year’s commencement. Future educators – half a dozen students who received bachelor’s degrees in elementary education – were among this year’s class. Ten total students earned bachelor's degrees; three earned master’s degrees; 15 earned associate degrees; and another 17 received a range of certificates and endorsements – from ethnobotany and Yup’ik language competency to tribal governance and rural human services.
And as in recent years, young, up and coming students from Ayaprun Elitnaurvik took the stage to close out the ceremony with a yuraq performance.
