Banner graphic with the words ‘Around the Block’ in bold white letters on black rectangles. The background is gold with repeating outlined cubes, with larger black cubes floating across the design.

Winter Commencement Fills Graduates with Insightful Wisdom

A group of graduates wearing black caps and gowns pose on the steps of a stone building with arched entrances. Many smile, wave, and celebrate together, some wearing colorful stoles and cords, as they gather for a group photo following commencement.

Winter Commencement, Dec. 14. Photo by Jamie Cotten

By Alexa Gromko

Twenty-seven students walked into Shove Memorial Chapel on Sunday, December 14, 2025, a group small in number but large in presence, to celebrate the end of their college chapter and the beginning of life outside these walls. Though the setting was more intimate than the larger ceremony in May, they received the accolades and recognition they deserved, with friends and family cheering them on.

They heard powerful messages of courage from Commencement speaker Neena Grover, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and RNA Biochemist, and from President Manya Whitaker, whose words inspired and uplifted even as students embark on a world filled with uncertainty.

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Adventure Awaits: The Career Catalyst Block at National Geographic

A group of students and an older adult stand closely together indoors, smiling for a group photo. They wear business-casual attire and pose in a modern campus space with bright lighting and artwork overhead.

Students from the National Geographic Career Catalyst Block with Explorer Bob Ballard, who re-discovered the Titanic. Photo provided by Ryan Bañagale

By Alexa Gromko

They couldn’t be more different in their course of study, career trajectory, or background, but 15 sophomores, juniors, and seniors all shared one common link: the desire to spend a Career Catalyst Block at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Following in the footsteps of the inaugural off-campus Career Catalyst Half Block at Mattel Corporation in January 2024, the focus for Block 2 in October 2025 was on a world-renowned nonprofit, whose CEO is former CC President Jill Tiefenthaler.

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Block Talk: How to Read Unwritten Rules

Dustin Fife has been the College Librarian since 2022 and a library director for over 15 years. His research interests include the intersection of leadership and equity in higher education. Fife is the co-author of “A Starter’s Guide for Academic Library Leaders” and was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2016.

If you’d like to view all of the Block Talks, you can find them on the Presidential Inauguration website.

FAC Corner

Laura Sofía Pérez: como se quiere un lugar pa que los niños quieran su tierra (how to love a place so the children will love their land)

A person wades through a shallow stream while leading a horse by a rope. Tall grasses and greenery line the water’s edge, with rocky banks and a natural landscape surrounding the scene.

Film still of como se quiere un lugar pa que los niños quieran su tierra (how to love a place so the children will love their land) (2023) by Laura Sofía Pérez. Courtesy the artist.

A widely held belief about Puerto Rico’s Indigenous people is that they no longer exist, having been decimated by disease, warfare, and colonization brought by European settlers. Yet histories, stories, and practices continue to endure, carried by people and the land itself. Part of the Contemporary Film, Video, and Sound Series, this piece by Laura Sofía Pérez presents evocative stills from Puerto Rico’s interior. The film moves between black-and-white and color footage; between tight close-ups of plants and petroglyphs and wide views of the mountainous topography; between continuous movement and still images that advance to the distinct rhythm of a slide carousel.

Don’t miss this film, running until Feb. 7 in the Lane West Gallery in the FAC.

Photo of the Week

A vendor stands behind a light-blue display booth at an arts and crafts fair, showing illustrated prints, stickers, and small items for sale. A visitor browses items on the table in front of the booth, while other attendees and displays are visible in the background.

Lin Okonek, Project Management and Outreach Coordinator for ITS, sells their art and hand-crafted candles at the CC Arts & Crafts fair, Dec. 5 and 6. Photo by Jamie Cotten

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