Written by Dr. Marcela Moyano

United International College celebrated its 20th Commencement Ceremony on Friday, June 24th at 6:00 p.m. at the Old Davie School Historical Museum, 6650 Griffin Road, Davie, FL 33314.

At the commencement ceremony, 21 students were awarded bachelor and associate degrees in either Business Administration, International Business Management, Communications and Mass Media or Travel and Tourism Management. The diverse student graduates represented Albania, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Romania, Venezuela, Mexico and Vietnam.

UIC’s President, Lydia Bautista Möller, addressed the students and recognized their empowerment and commitment to leadership and entrepreneurship. President Bautista Möller stressed the importance of being able to adapt to change while applying the Holistic Education values that UIC students learn while studying at UIC. She proudly acknowledged their nationality.

This year’s Commencement Speaker was the acclaimed South Florida WLRN’s award winning journalist, Christine DiMattei. Students enrolled in the Communications and Mass Media program at UIC take the Speaking on Radio course and listen to WLRN’s stories to learn how to best announce on radio. During COVID-19 quarantine, students took a virtual two hour seminar with DiMattei, who shared with them best announcing practices.

Students agreed that it had been a most memorable learning experience. Martha Rodriguez, one of the students, shared how she listened to the acclaimed anchor on the radio when she was learning how to speak English as a Second Language student, and then she listened to her as a Communications and Mass Media student. Rodriguez assured that her language skills were drastically improved because of listening to the WLRN’s airwaves, aside from greatly contributing to her knowledge about South Florida .

DiMattei has demonstrated excellence in her profession of journalism throughout her career. She delivered a genuine commencement speech on Friday for UIC graduates where she shared with them her journey after having graduated as an English Major from New York University. DiMattei easily connected with commencement guests, graduates and students and was surely entertaining. Her speech concluded with how every event has a purpose in life and how everything and everyone is connected. She recognized that her profession had brought her to the moment to deliver the speech to the UIC graduates. UIC’s students cherished her speech and were inspired and empowered by her words.

Martha Rodriguez was the commencement speaker representing the student body. She is originally from Venezuela. She started her speech by sharing that she wouldn’t have imagined graduating once again in another country and delivering her commencement speech in another language. She spoke about how challenging it was completing her program during the pandemic, taking virtual classes and how proud she was of her resiliency to have completed the program. She appreciated the support of the professors who helped her to keep going. She reminded the students to be committed to their goals despite their background, age, or gender.

Martha Rodriguez received the Magna Cum Laude gold cord for her 3.95 CGPA and Haiskel Tovar received the Summa Cum Laude silver cord for her 3.86 CGPA.

Communications and Mass Media Students, Ayesha Ijaz, Valerie Seguin, and Lilit Muradian, volunteered to execute the logistics of the event. The students were essential for the successful outcome of the ceremony.

The Commencement Ceremony concluded with a short reception and prosecco sipping in the gorgeous lit Old Davie School Historical Museum, under a summer sky.

Watch the IG livecast of the ceremony at https://www.instagram.com/tv/CfNMldIJbdH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Graduation Short https://www.instagram.com/tv/CfeY0JOl6Fa/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Captured and Edited by Lilit Muradian-

Pictures by Juan Mirabal-