The University Honors Program is pleased to celebrate our 128 graduates who have successfully completed the UHP curriculum! We are so proud of everything they have accomplished in their time here at UC Davis and in UHP. We are excited to hear all about their post-graduate achievements. Congratulations to the class of 2023! 

Following the in-person graduation ceremony for the class of 2023, UHP streamed a prerecorded Youtube Graduation video for anyone unable to attend the in-person ceremony. Below is the poem shared by UHP Director Kate Stephensen to honor and capture the compassion and human spirit embodied by Karim Majdi Abou Najm, a UC Davis and UHP student who tragically passed away this Spring and was set to graduate with the class of 2023. Following the reading of the poem, the keynote student speaker and winner of the UHP Leadership Award, Deepa Marti, spoke about her experience in a leadership position and reflected on her time in UHP. The recorded ceremony ended with a slideshow presentation of the UHP class of 2023 graduates. 

 

“What If There Were No Such Thing As Other People’s Children?” By Megan Minutillo

 

We say it takes a village to raise a child,

and yet, we distance ourselves in times

of stress and times of need.

 

Those are not my kids, so I cannot say.

Those are not my kids, so I don’t know.

Those are not my kids, so it does not

matter to me.

 

The village disappears.

 

But what if there were no such thing as

other people’s children?

 

What would it look like if we lent a hand,

or an ear, or packed an extra snack if we

had the means to do so?

 

What would it look like if we became not

another parent — but another adult that our

children could lean on, and go to, and learn

from when their own parents’ words were

falling on deaf ears?

 

Maybe we’d see less trouble at school

and on our streets and our screens.

 

Maybe we’d see young minds and hearts

exploding with potential, ready to take on

the world. 

 

Maybe we’d see more kids feeling safe,

and heard, and seen, and loved.

 

Perhaps the village would reappear, too.