UMass Lowell to Celebrate Class of 2020

05/27/2020

Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHEN: Friday, May 29, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Ceremony to be streamed at www.uml.edu/commencement.

WHAT:UMass Lowell will celebrate the accomplishments of the more than 4,000 members of the Class of 2020 at a virtual ceremony.

Speakers include Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karen Polito, UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, UMass President Marty Meehan and UMass Trustee Mary Burns of Lowell. Special messages for the Class of 2020 will also be included in the virtual event.

The student Commencement address is being given by Rachel Record of Pepperell, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and is a recipient of a Trustees Key in honor of her perfect 4.0 grade-point average over all eight semesters at UMass Lowell. Record, who plans to go on to law school, says she excelled academically with the help of professors who became mentors in “an incredible program.” She was inspired to attend UMass Lowell in part by her participation in the UMass Lowell String Project, through which she learned to play the violin beginning at age 7 and she continues to mentor local youths as a teaching assistant.

Along with Record, outstanding members of the Class of 2020 include:

• Sophia Samih of Tewksbury, a recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service for efforts including developing a nutritional education program for Girls Inc. in Lowell and serving as a UMass Lowell Honors College ambassador, who is on her way to achieving her goal of being a pediatric nurse practitioner through UMass Lowell’s bachelor’s-to-master’s program in nursing.
• Tom Brennan of Maynard, senior class president and student alumni ambassador, who is graduating with a degree in business administration and already has a full-time job with iRobot in Bedford, where he is working in human resources to develop protocols for employees to transition back from being off-site due to COVID-19 safety precautions.
• David Morton of Boxford, a double major in business administration and political science and Student Government Association president, who is one of the recipients of the Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service. Morton, who founded the student-run Entrepreneurial Ventures Association and became certified as an EMT while at UMass Lowell, says he was inspired to pursue a master’s degree at UMass Lowell in higher education administration by his work with the SGA.

Friday’s ceremony will also include recognition of this year’s Chancellor’s Medals for Academic Achievement, Community Service, Diversity and Inclusion, and Student Service. The recipients hail from Attleboro, Belmont, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Greenfield, Harvard, Haverhill, Lowell, Middleboro, Pepperell, South Hamilton, Sterling, Tewksbury and Woburn, Mass., along with Litchfield and Nashua, N.H., and Bristol, Pa.

Following the speaking program, individual programs by school and college will be held virtually, including the reading of graduates’ names. More about UMass Lowell’s Class of 2020 is available at www.uml.edu/News/stories/2020/class-of-2020.aspx.