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University of Alaska Southeast’s close-knit community highlighted at commencement
- Jasz Garrett
- May 5
- 11 min read
Updated: May 6
Graduation ceremonies lifted the spirits of graduates and elders
By Jasz Garrett and Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
It was a change of scenery for the University of Alaska Southeast’s 55th commencement ceremony Sunday, but the 2026 graduating class felt the same atmosphere of a small campus with big opportunities.
Before joining 110 students at the Centennial Hall ceremony, Mikaela Levy and Taylor Sedillos chatted outside the ballroom. They both received an Associate of Applied Science degree in nursing from the University of Alaska Anchorage, taking classes online at UAS.
Sedillos said the program’s Southeast cohort had only four students, providing an intimate learning experience. Both Levy and Sedillos said they plan to work at Bartlett Regional Hospital after graduation.
“It’s a unique program, but it allows us to live in Juneau,” Levy said. “I have kids, and I love the community and how it supports families. It’s very close-knit.”
The three-hour commencement featured student and faculty speakers, the Woosh.ji.Eeen and Mount Juneau Tlingit Dancers, and honorary tributes.
Samuel Marquardt, the student speaker, received a Bachelor of Science in marine biology with a minor in chemistry. Marquardt is an active-duty U.S. Coast Guard member through the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative and plans to attend Officer Candidate School following graduation.
Throughout his time at UAS, Marquardt served as student government president and a member of The Coalition of Student Leaders.
“As you embark on the next adventure in your lives, take well-thought-out risks,” Marquardt told the graduates. “Have courage knowing that you've already done hard and uncertain things and made it through to see the rewards.”
Marquardt said discomfort and fear can signal an experience will be one that “strengthens us and inspires personal growth.” Along with encouraging his fellow students to take risks, he said, “Don’t go alone.”
The degrees and certificates students received Sunday deserved recognition and were the cumulative effort of many people over the years, “who made this adventure possible,” he said.
“Just as being here today is a team effort involving many people working towards a common goal, we need to find a way to work alongside others, to build up and pass on the incredible experiences and knowledge we have received today,” Marquardt added.
Honorary doctorates and Meritorious Service Award
Along with students receiving degrees, certificates and endorsements, community leaders received three honorary doctorates and one Meritorious Service Award. The speakers focused on passing down knowledge and the value of togetherness.
Before welcoming graduates onto the stage, Chancellor Aparna Palmer recounted their contributions to “Southeast Alaska, Alaska, and even the nation.”
“Here are our grandfathers — they are our sacred containers of wisdom,” Chookenshaa Lgeik’i Heather Mills told the crowd, translating from Lingít. “Whenever we see them, it is as though the daylight always breaks upon us because they are our courage.”
She assisted her grandfather, L’eiwtú Éesh Herman Davis, 92, in receiving his honorary doctorate of laws on stage.
“It’s not just us,” she added, pausing to look at graduates and the hundreds of people in the audience. “It’s you all, all of us here as well, that this daylight has broken upon today because you have praised them.”
Mills said she hopes graduates “continue to feel the strength that my grandfather gives to each and every one of us.”
Davis, clan leader of the L’uknax.adí Coho People, from Kayaashka Hít (Platform House), was recognized as one of the only master-level birth Lingít speakers.
Davis taught Lingít language and dance for 50 years through the Sitka Native Education Program and Noow Tlein Dance Group, integrating storytelling, song, and dance into lessons and building an extensive curriculum. Davis has also shared traditional ecological knowledge, identified key historical locations on the landscape, and worked with scholars to preserve Lingít place names.
“You have all lifted my spirits,” Davis told the audience. “I will never forget this day for as long as I live, and I don’t know how long that’s going to be. I’m 92 years old, but I can still do the boogie-woogie!”
He and co-awardee Aanyáanáx Ray Wilson have “walked parallel paths” to repatriate ceremonial pieces, including a Raven helmet. They even shared doctoral hoods on stage.
“We share everything in life,” Davis said, garnering laughter from the audience.
Jerrick Hope-Lang received an Associate of Fine Arts degree in museum studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts at Sunday’s UAS commencement. He assisted Wilson, 93, in receiving his honorary doctorate of laws.
Wilson, clan leader of the Kiks.ádi from Gagaan Hít (the Sun House), was recognized for his leadership in sharing Lingít dance, stories, practices and values. He taught dance and culture for 25 years with the All Nations’ Children dance group (Lda Kut Naax Sati Yatx’i) and helped develop a tool that teaches children about Lingít language and culture through music.
“But I came into the culture late, late in life,” Wilson said in his speech. “I grew up during the time when Native children were faced with discrimination and were not encouraged to learn who they were, and they were often passed over in the school system.”
He said the day he joined All Nations Children Dancers was when he began to heal from the trauma.
Wilson said everything he learned came from listening and asking questions about Lingít culture. He told the youth that they can make a difference in this world.
“Stay with your education. It's not always easy, especially for our Native children,” Wilson said. “So to the teachers: our children need you. They are future leaders.”
He congratulated all graduates on their hard work.
Wilson worked with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to guide the process of restoring a 135-year-old ceremonial sculpin hat to Sitka. He also advised the American Museum of Natural History on integrating Indigenous perspectives into renovations.
Younce Kóo oo Wóo Russell Dick, who is of the Kaagwaantaan (Eagle/Wolf) Clan from Hoonah, received an honorary doctorate for his role as president and chief executive officer of Huna Totem Corporation, where he demonstrated “sustainable tourism, cultural stewardship, and workforce development.”
Palmer said he leads with “integrity and focus” by balancing traditional Lingít values with “modern, sustainable business practices,” pointing toward the transformation of Icy Strait Point into a globally recognized cruise destination. She said the model has since expanded across Alaska through partnerships with cruise lines and infrastructure projects from Juneau to Whittier.
Dick encouraged graduates to honor their legacy, put family first, be curious, and, his favorite — “build something, contribute your time and resources in your community to make life better for everyone.”
Saralyn Tabachnick received the Meritorious Service Award for a 38-year career at AWARE, holding various roles from trauma counselor to executive director. Palmer recognized her for being a leader in Alaska’s efforts in addressing domestic violence and sexual assault, and overseeing the development of the Kaasei Satu healing plaza at Twin Lakes. Tabachnick also chaired the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
She gave four pieces of advice to graduates: “Do what brings you joy and fulfillment,” she said, “be kind to yourself,” and “rather than looking outward and centering your experience around others, remember what other people do and say is not about you.”
Lastly, Tabachnick said, “strive to keep your heart and mind open.”
Keeping hearts and minds open to future opportunities
Cierra Gross, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in environmental science, came to UAS from Anchorage.
She said she chose UAS because it is a small school, and her professors and advisors connected her with ample internship opportunities. She thanked professors Sonia Nagorski and David Tallmon for their support.
“I was able to go on different projects and excursions that I felt like I wouldn’t have been able to at other universities,” she said. “We were able to go tour Kensington Mine and I was able to, through an internship, do a marine debris cleanup in Kodiak.”
Gross was born and raised in Alaska. She said she walked across the stage with friends she made her freshman year.
“It was nerve-wracking; it didn’t feel real until it was time to actually walk into the ceremony,” she said.
Gross said she has an interview scheduled next week for an environmental scientist position in Anchorage.
“I’m really interested in water quality management and assessment, and I really want to give back to the community, especially out in rural communities where access to good quality of water may be limited, and just making sure that Alaska is healthy,” Gross said. “I literally love this place, and just being here and being able to give back, and do what I'm interested in while I'm here — that's very important to me, and this degree is gonna allow me to do that.”
Ruby Kresge from Washington state had a similar reason for choosing Juneau’s campus. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Ocean Science through a joint program with UAS and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Kresge was also the recipient of an outstanding student academic award.
“I think that having such small class sizes and being able to build personal relationships with the faculty and the staff working at the university really opened up a lot of opportunities,” she said. “If you were interested in getting research experience or trying out a cool new job, like people would vouch for you and help you get those opportunities and open those doors.”
Kresge said she worked on a mariculture project in Washington last summer as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. This semester, she worked with the Juneau School District to help with Alaska Sea Week.
“I have an internship lined up for the summer helping as a research assistant for one of the UAF grad students in Juneau, and then after that, we’ll just see what happens,” Kresge said. “We’re doing research on different aquaculture opportunity areas across Southeast, looking at different areas and seeing if they’d be good spots for oyster or kelp farms.”
Teslin Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature. She plans to work for the school district and apply for the Master’s of Secondary Education UAS program. Like other students who grew up in Juneau, Smith decided to attend UAS to stay close to family and a familiar community. Her grandma and dad stood smiling nearby.
“I would like to be a middle school teacher and teach language arts and social studies,” Smith said. “I’m going to be working as an admin assistant at Auke Bay (Elementary School) while I do my master’s.”
Smith said her most memorable college experiences came toward the end.
“I took a study abroad class to Greece this spring,” she said. “It was really interesting to go see those sites and be able to apply what we learned. I think seeing those spaces that shaped literature from Greece was helpful and provided a completely different perspective. I also think that today, being able to experience the commencement with how much they integrate the culture was really nice.”
Native Graduation Ceremony
Before the commencement ceremony, this year’s Native Graduation Ceremony also took place in a new location. More than 150 students, family members, tribal elders, and others gathered at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center adjacent to Centennial Hall.
The Native ceremony featured an exchange of culture and lessons by participants spanning four generations. UAS students brought audience members food and drinks to their seats at the beginning of the gathering.
Two of the elders receiving honorary doctorates — Davis and Wilson — were at center stage for much of the Native ceremony. Family members clad them in traditional robes and other attire before the All Nations Children Dance Group entered to perform a trio of songs.
Both men talked about their long-ago upbringings, which were often filled with struggle and lacking the opportunities available to today’s Native youth. Wilson said hearing he was being presented with the doctorate came as a surprise, and the effort by all those involved in the celebration “helped me to feel good about myself, about being Tlingit.”
“I never thought anything like this would happen to me, because I never did graduate from high school because of the way things were back in the days,” he said.
Davis told the audience a story about a time he and his grandfather were in peril trying to get through a blinding snowstorm and how the people who came before them helped show the way.
“Earlier I told you that our people ahead of us built a trail for us to follow and to walk on,” he said. “Keep walking on that trail. Keep walking on that trail. If you fall down, we'll be there to pick you up so you can continue walking.
Chancellor Palmer addressed those at the Native ceremony, emphasizing the importance of ancestral knowledge.
“This is the culmination of your work, but it's also the culmination of millennia of work,” she said. “For thousands and thousands and thousands of years, your ancestors have helped you work towards what you have achieved today. Your ancestors are with you today. They walk with you. They give you strength. And it is so important to honor their sacrifices, which have led you to where you are now.”
Palmer also urged the graduates to “be proud of your heritage, your culture, your traditions, the stories of your people, the ways of your people and especially your languages.”
“These are powerful, powerful, powerful, powerful things that will hold you up for eons,” she said. “So as you become part of a lineage that leads into the next generation — and the next generation and the next generation — you get to pass on your strength and your knowledge and your celebration of your heritage to them.”
Rather than the graduating students coming to the front of the room, the Native ceremony concluded with gifts being brought to students by many of the tribal officials and others in the audience.
Among the new graduates receiving flowers and a gift was River Wiseman, 23, a Fairbanks resident wearing an Ahtna dress made out of deer hide. She was also carrying her cap and gown for the traditional commencement, where she was presented with her certification in diagnostic imaging as she seeks to enter the health care field.
“The next step would be submitting my paperwork for my new internship, which is at Bartlett,” she said. The internship lasts two months, and “the plan after that is to take a good break.”
Davis, who said attending the Native ceremony and then the traditional commencement made for a long day, has simple plans for when he gets home to Sitka.
“I’m going to go to sleep,” he quipped.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356. Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
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