Neag School of Education Plans for On-Campus 2022 Commencement

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Class of 2019 grads, wearing caps, prepare for their procession in 2019.
(Frank Zappulla/Neag School)

For the first time since Spring 2019, the Neag School of Education community is planning to celebrate Commencement Weekend on campus at UConn Storrs.

Keynote Address

For its Class of 2022 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony, to be held the morning of May 8 at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, the Neag School will welcome as its keynote speaker Theresia Bauer, who has served as Minister of Science, Research, and Arts for the German State of Baden-Württemberg since 2011. Minister Bauer graduated from Heidelberg University in 1993 with a master’s degree in political science, economics, and German Studies and has been a member of the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament since 2001.

Minister Theresia Bauer.
Theresia Bauer, Minister of Science, Research, and Arts for the German State of Baden-Württemberg, will give the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony keynote address. (Photo Credit: Sabine Ardnt)

As a member of the German Green Party, Minister Bauer has put a particular focus on education financing, cutting-edge health, and artificial intelligence research, along with innovative climate protection initiatives in higher education. This includes pioneering work with “living labs” to encourage more exchange between researchers and the public. She has also put a focus on protecting the freedom of science and the arts, and thus initiated the first award for “courageous science” to encourage young researchers in her state.

During her time as Minister, Bauer has also pushed for greater international scientific cooperation and exchange, including expanded outreach to countries in the Americas and Africa. Under her leadership, Baden-Württemberg has been at the forefront in confronting Germany’s colonial past. In 2019, Bauer guided the return of stolen cultural artifacts to Namibia and is currently part of the German drive to return the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. She has also encouraged Baden-Württemberg to play a leading role in helping resettle Yazidi refugees from Iraqi Kurdistan while pushing initiatives to help areas affected by conflict in Iraq. Due to these efforts, she accompanied 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nadia Murad during her trip to speak to the United Nations Security Council on human trafficking in 2015.

The State of Baden-Württemberg in Southwest Germany shares borders with Switzerland and France and is home to famous university cities such as Heidelberg and Freiburg along with its capital, Stuttgart, and regions like the Black Forest. In addition to having beautiful landscapes, Baden-Württemberg is known as one of the most innovative and research-driven regions in Europe.

The states of Connecticut and Baden-Württemberg have maintained an active partnership since 1989. During this time, more than 2,200 students have taken part in the exchange program between Connecticut’s and Baden-Württemberg’s universities. Over the years, this collaboration has continued to evolve and today includes a faculty exchange program along with research cooperations such as the Human Rights Research Consortium. Next steps include extending this exchange to the field of education to help prepare future teachers for the challenges of educating in a globalized world.

During the Undergraduate ceremony, the Neag School will also present Bauer with an honorary degree, the Doctor of Humane Letters.

Featured Alumni Speaker

Batouly Camara.
Former NCAA Division I women’s basketball player and Neag School alumna Batouly Camara ’19 (ED), ’20 MA will be the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony’s featured alumni speaker. (Photo courtesy of Batouly Camara)

Former NCAA Division I women’s basketball player and Neag School alumna Batouly Camara ’19 (ED), ’20 MA will be the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony’s featured alumni speaker.

Camara is a two-time graduate of the Neag School’s sport management program, and a speaker, author, nonprofit founder, and retired professional basketball player. A native of New York with family roots in Guinea, West Africa, Camara is a proud BIPOC and Muslim humanitarian woman. She has been selected as a Forbes Sports 30 Under 30 Honoree, 2020 ESPYs Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award Winner, and a UNITE 2030 Youth Delegate, and has served as a TEDx and international speaker. She currently serves as the head girls’ basketball coach at Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, and is an upcoming Ph.D. candidate in the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Sport Inclusion program.

Coming out of high school, ESPN ranked Camara as the ninth best prospect in the country. Camara commenced her career with the University of Kentucky and then played for UConn under Geno Auriemma, the winningest Division I women’s basketball coach of all time. Camara’s athletic achievements include three Final Four appearances, two years as a U18 USA Basketball invitee, as well as having been part of the Guinean National Team and playing professionally in Spain.

Camara also leads Women and Kids Empowerment (W.A.K.E), a nonprofit organization she founded that addresses girls’ empowerment and women’s sports, education, and social entrepreneurship worldwide. Through W.A.K.E., Camara seeks to give young girls opportunities and resources, and aims to create the first all-girls basketball academy in Guinea to provide girls with the resources needed to play basketball, including professional development training and scholarships. In 2020, Camara published her first children’s book, A Basketball Game on Wake Street.

UConn’s Graduate Commencement ceremony for master’s and sixth-year diploma candidates will be held on Monday, May 9, at Gampel Pavilion. Doctoral candidates will celebrate at the Jorgensen Center that evening.

Find more information online about the Neag School’s 2022 Commencement Weekend schedule.

Partnering to Give Local Schoolchildren the ‘Vision To Learn’

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Anayzah Sosa reacts to her new eyeglasses when looking into a mirror held by Susan Bysiewicz.
Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, right, holds a mirror up for Silver Lane Elementary student Anayzah Sosa. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

For East Hartford Silver Lane Elementary School first-grader A’miyah Diaz and many of her classmates, getting prescription eyeglasses has been nothing but cause for celebration.

Thanks to an effort spearheaded by UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives Gladis Kersaint, Neag School professor and former Neag School dean, students across Connecticut are receiving free vision screenings, eye exams, and, for those in need, prescription eyeglasses as well.

Initiating a conversation that led to the partnership of national nonprofit Vision To Learn with sponsors including Dalio Philanthropies, Connecticut Sun, and UnitedHealthCare, Kersaint saw a valuable opportunity that would serve children across the state.

To date, Vision To Learn has provided vision screenings to more than 2,400 students in East Hartford’s elementary schools. From these screenings, close to 900 students were identified in need of an eye exam, and so far, roughly 350 students have been provided a free eye exam on a mobile clinic. Students who need glasses then select their brand-new frames. Vision To Learn returns to the school in about a month to dispense and fit the glasses to each student.

“Providing eye exams and glasses to students was an easy sell to everyone I spoke with,” Kersaint said at an event held last week at Silver Lane Elementary that brought together East Hartford mayor Mike Walsh, Connecticut’s Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, representatives from the Connecticut Department of Education and numerous other agencies, as well as local parents.

“Providing eye exams and glasses to students was an easy sell to everyone I spoke with.”

— Gladis Kersaint, UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives

A’miyah Diaz smiles wearing her new eyeglasses as she runs back to her parents.
Silver Lane Elementary first-grader A’miyah Diaz was one of numerous students who received free eyeglasses last week through a partnership with Vision To Learn. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

There, students including Diaz stood at the front of the gymnasium, donning their new eyeglass frames for the first time and marveling at their reflections. “They look cute!” Diaz exclaimed after receiving the new blue frames she had chosen.

“I am most excited for you, the students, who will receive glasses today and who will advance your learning by participating fully and seeing and engaging in the work,” Kersaint told the children in the audience.

“As many of you are aware, for the past couple of years, we faced a number of challenges both as a school and as a community,” said Joe LaBarbera, principal of Silver Lane Elementary. “Today, one of the challenges will no longer be our kids’ ability to see the board or the ability to read the text in front of them.”

East Hartford Superintendent and Neag School alumnus Nathan Quesnel ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, who emceed the event, was quick to credit the Neag School for bringing the effort to fruition for the students in his district.

“I’m really proud of today,” he said. “It’s a culmination of when you have an idea, you implement it, and then you have moms and dads who are sitting in the back watching their kids being showered with love and care.

A’miyah Diaz smiles wearing her new eyeglasses as she runs back to her parents.
Gladis Kersaint, UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives and former Neag School dean, inspired the launch of the Vision To Learn program in Connecticut. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

“We [work to] ‘weave webs of empowering support around kids,’ and an example of that is here,” he added. “I’m just appreciative of the Neag School and obviously to Gladis and Jason [Irizarry, current dean] for thinking of us and being much bigger than just words – they are taking action.”

“We are excited to bring free vision services to Connecticut’s children and fortunate to have Dr. Gladis Kersaint as one of strongest champions,” says Sabrina A. Davis, program manager for Vision To Learn in Connecticut.

Vision To Learn recently marked its 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, Vision To Learn has helped provide more than 1.5 million children with vision screenings, upwards of 340,000 with eye exams, and 270,000 with glasses — all free of charge to children and their families.

In Connecticut, Vision To Learn also serves students in Ansonia, Vernon, Manchester, East Haven, Winchester, and Thompson Public Schools, in addition to community organizations in the summer. For more information on Vision To Learn, please visit visiontolearn.org.

Inside of Vision to Learn mobile clinic.
The Vision To Learn mobile clinic drives to school districts in need to perform eye exams for children. (Photo courtesy of Sabrina Davis)
Four young students wearing new eyeglasses stand in front of mobile vision clinic.
A’miyah Diaz, second from left, stands in front of the Vision To Learn mobile vision clinic with her classmates, all of whom received new eyeglasses. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

Neag School Named a Top 20 Public Graduate School of Education

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Flowering tree outside the door of the Gentry Building.UConn’s Neag School of Education appears for the seventh consecutive year as one of the top 20 public graduate schools of education in the United States, tied at No. 17, per the 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings released earlier today.

Among all graduate schools of education across the nation, the Neag School stands at No. 28, while its special education program is tied at No. 17 in the U.S. News 2023 specialty program category rankings.

“Our faculty and staff are at the heart of our mission here at the Neag School of Education — to improve educational and social systems to be more effective, equitable, and just for all,” says Dean Jason G. Irizarry.

“Recognition as one of the nation’s foremost graduate schools of education is one more testament to their level of dedication to that work, as we strive to prepare teachers, school administrators, research scholars, counselors and school psychologists, sport management professionals, and leaders who are well informed, globally minded, and equipped to address the most critical issues facing our communities today.”

U.S. News collected statistical and reputation data in Fall 2021 and early 2022 from education schools nationwide that grant doctoral degrees in education; of 457 schools surveyed, 274 responded. Eleven different indicators, including total research expenditures, student selectivity, and assessment scores by peers, are used in the rankings calculations. Specialty rankings are based on nominations by deans of education schools and deans of graduate studies at education schools from the list of schools surveyed, according to U.S. News.

Check out the 2023 U.S. News Best Education Schools rankings online.