On May 18, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development held its first convocation ceremony. The ceremony began with remarks from Dean David Chard and an invocation from alum and author Adrienne Kisner.

Associate Dean Ellen Faszewski then presented faculty member Stephanie Cox Suárez with the Edward H. Ladd Award for Academic Excellence and Service, which recognizes an outstanding member of the College faculty.

“Stephanie personifies the value of this award,” said Faszewski. “She came to Wheelock as an experienced special educator who had worked for over 15 years in a number of educational settings both in this country and in Nepal where she was a Peace Corps volunteer, helping the country develop a Braille system in their own language that met the needs of their communities.”

The Dean’s Academic Excellence Award was presented to Dunia Dunner, a senior graduating with a bachelor’s degree in special education. She will be returning to BU Wheelock to pursue her master’s in integrated elementary and special education. The Dean’s Academic Excellence Award is given annually to a graduating senior for outstanding academic achievement at BU Wheelock.

Following the awards presentation, two student speakers took the stage. The first was Brianna Alves, who received a master’s in Curriculum & Teaching. She spoke candidly about her time at BU Wheelock and the impact various faculty members had on her experience. “When I first started at BU, I was lost, I was scared of change, unwilling to leave my classroom and confront the disparities in our world,” said Alves. “Now I am brave, and while it will be a while before I am as unafraid as some of the faculty here, I will never stop being loud.”

Dean’s Academic Excellence Award recipient Dunner then took the stage to deliver remarks as the ceremony’s undergraduate student speaker. “The amount of power that this arena is currently holding is incredible,” she said. “But even more incredible is the power that we all hold to make the world a better place.”