SIUE December 2025 Graduates Represent Individual Growth, Renewal and the Power of Community

SIUE December 2025 Graduates Represent Individual Growth, Renewal and the Power of Community

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor James T. Minor, PhD, conferred degrees upon 1050 eligible graduates during December 2025 commencement ceremonies, held Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13 in the First Community Arena at Vadalabene Center.

SIU System President Dan Mahony, PhD, welcomed graduates, guests and introduced Chancellor Minor who addressed the Class of 2025 with this message: "This moment marks a stage of growth in your personal and professional journeys much like the remarkable transformation of a planted seed."

Minor described the graduates' journeys as resembling a prescribed path throughout the years of human development. "Just as a seed transforms beneath the soil, often unnoticed, often through struggle, you too have moved through stages of growth, challenge, renewal and discovery."

Watch the 2025 commencement celebration.

"Just 13% of the US population has a master's degree. Only 3.5% of the population has a professional degree, and just 2% of Americans have a doctorate," said Minor. "Your credentials do not just signify qualifications, competence and authority in a particular field. They also establish expectations to improve our society, to lead, to teach others, and to perhaps nurture new seeds class of 2025."

Denise Cobb, PhD, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and academic deans led SIUE's 137th commencement celebration, which began at 2 p.m. Friday with the School of Nursing. Rachel Loepker, a graduate of the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, was the student speaker who had also previously earned her Bachelor of Science in Medical Biology from SIUE in May of 2024.
"I am fortunate to have had such a close group in this accelerated program," said Loepker.

"I always knew someone would respond to the group chat. I always knew someone would be there to listen, and I always knew someone would actually understand what I was going through."

She added, "We have shared so many notes, inside jokes, and the 'I'm overwhelmed' tears. And now we will share our knowledge, skills, and compassion with every patient we meet."

After graduation, Loepker will follow her grandmother's career path and begin her nursing career on a cardiac floor.

Having a personal connection to the medical profession also led Kyra Green to this moment. Green, Bachelor of Science, Nursing, was a transfer student, who spent 10 years working in the dental office of her mother Rhonda Irvin, DMD, a graduate of SIUE and SIU School of Dental Medicine ('91, '96). While working with patients in her mother's office and finding inspiration from her father, a firefighter, Green developed a passion for the nursing profession as well as tutoring.

"I love when people come in and say 'I don't understand this. I'm ready to quit.' And then we kind of sit through it, talk through it, go through some study tips, and then they get that 'aha' moment," said Green.

Green plans on returning to SIUE as an alumna to hold tutoring sessions, "or just talk to students that currently in the program. I definitely will come back and help out whenever I can. I love it."

Graduate Margaret Holthaus now holds a Bachelor of Science, Nursing, which has been a dream of hers ever since her hospital stay during a harrowing experience with toxic shock syndrome as an 11-year-old. "I mean, you're 11, so you need to not focus on how deadly it could be. Just have to focus on getting stronger," said Holthaus. "I had a great care team with me the whole entire time, and the nurses definitely made it seem like it was way less scary than it actually was. So that just kind of inspired me. And I wanted to go on and make that change in people's lives too."

One of the graduates who attended the Friday 5:30 p.m. ceremony for Graduate Studies was Dawson Taylor, former SIUE Baseball pitcher. Taylor graduated with his MBA after deciding not to pursue an athletic career.

"For me the decision was tough," said Taylor. "I loved playing baseball but due to injuries I had to make a tough decision to step away. This decision ended up being a blessing getting to re-focus that passion from baseball into my studies and figuring out what I wanted to do career wise."

Student speaker Ure Ori Okike, who graduated with a master's in management information systems from SIUE School of Business, also told her story of starting a career in the communications field only to learn the company was shutting down less than a year later.

Choosing gratitude, and with the support of family and welcoming SIUE faculty, Okike found a new path involving her love of analytics and visualization. "Looking back at my journey, I realize that gratitude has been the common thread, not just for me, but for all of us. Each of us has someone, or many people, who believed in us before we believed in ourselves. That is the power of community."

Students wore regalia that identified various honors for which they were recognized, including candidates commissioned as second lieutenants and members of honor societies.

Guests who attended were also recognized.

At the 10 a.m. ceremony on the second day of commencement, 91-year-old Bob Zoelzer arrived to watch his grandson Zakary graduate with a Bachelor of Science, Psychology. Bob Zoelzer had a career as a CPA and, while married and working, was able to attend night classes on the Alton campus. He was a graduate in SIUE's first commencement ceremony in 1966.

"We had a University Council at the time when I was here and I was president of the council," said Zoelzer. "We had a very plush budget to bring in entertainers and others for the (Mississippi River) festival--Russian dancers and others. I don't know where all of the money came from in those days."

As for sharing this commencement with his grandson, Zoelzer said, "I'm as proud as I could be, and I couldn't be happier with this front row seat that I have."

Parents of student speaker Megan You, who earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Economics admired their graduate as she acknowledged the power of community and the spirit of determination.

"I also want to take a moment to thank every immigrant family sitting here today. For our moms and dads who crossed borders so we could cross stages. My parents came to this country with nothing, yet somehow, I would be nothing without them," said You.

She encouraged fellow classmates to move on to their next assignments with courage, empathy and conviction. "The world doesn't need more businesspeople - it needs better human beings doing business," said You. "Because better businesspeople are the ones who remember that every spreadsheet has a story behind it, every policy affects a person, and every decision has the power to make someone's life just a little bit better."

The 2 p.m. ceremony celebrated both School of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). CAS student Mia Waldo earned her bachelor's in integrative studies, after working nearly 15 years as a hair stylist. Waldo said she had the support of both her customers and her family to put her passion for people to work. She landed an internship at an environmental nonprofit and would like to continue in this field.

"The market isn't great for that at the moment, but that's the hope," said Waldo. "The hope is to be able to use my skills and what I've learned to empower like nonprofits in the area to get their message out there, share their mission and grow and do good."

"If I've learned anything from my time here, it's that success doesn't require a perfect plan. My path wasn't linear, and it certainly wasn't flawless. What made it meaningful was my willingness to say 'yes'-to opportunity, to challenge, and sometimes to uncertainty," said student speaker Mirella Eldridge, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering.

"I learned that engineering is about more than equations or code. It's about people. Collaboration, communication, and understanding different perspectives are just as important as technical skill. Behind every design or data point is a community we serve-and a story we can help improve."

PHOTOS: Scenes from commencement by photographer Howard Ash; former welder Hunter Mantz graduated with a Bachelor of Science from School of Engineering as one of the first graduates of the brand new Surveying and Geomatics program; School of Nursing (SON) student speaker Rachel Loepker, SON Dean Judy Liesveld, PhD, PPCNP-BC, CNE, FAAN and Chancellor James T. Minor, PhD; SON graduate Kyra Green; SON graduate Margaret Holthaus; MBA graduate Dawson Taylor; Graduate School student speaker Ure Ori Okike; School of Education, Health and Human Behavior graduate Zakary Zoelzer with grandfather and SIUE alumnus Bob Zoelzer ('66) and Minor; School of Business student speaker Megan You; College of Arts and Sciences graduate Mia Waldo; Jessica Harris, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Anti-racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cem Karacal, PhD, Dean of the School of Engineering (SOE), SIU System President Dan Mahony, PhD, SOE student speaker Mirella Eldridge, Chancellor Minor, Denise Cobb, PhD, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Acadmic Affairs, Kevin Leonard, PhD, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences