2022 Commencement and Honors Convocation Speakers

March 28, 2022

Congratulations to Grand View seniors Sarah Jordan and Liliana Saravia Gomez. Sarah was chosen to be the speaker for Honors Convocation and Liliana Saravia Gomez was chosen to speak at Commencement this year.

Sarah is a Biochemistry, Biology major with a minor in Chemistry. She is the President of The Catalyst Club (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Chapter) and a member of GV United. Dr. Bonnie Hall says, "Sarah is an outstanding student and peer. She is engaged in class and has good insights in class discussions. She is also a good peer—she tries to include everyone, and makes an extra effort to reach out to new students in the program. She works hard and holds herself to a high standard inside and outside the classroom. She also tries to bring her peers along in their own learning journeys, answering questions and giving nudges to help them when they get “stuck” on a problem. She is also a tutor for chemistry and I have heard many positive statements from students about how effective she is as a tutor. Sarah has done all this while being a varsity athlete on the shooting team—this speaks to her time management skills and her dedication to both athletics and academics."

Liliana is an Elementary Education major with endorsements in Spanish and ELL. She is a student athlete on Grand View University Women’s Soccer Team, a Multicultural Ambassador, as well as Liaison and Co-President and Co-Founder of B.E.S.O - Bilingual Education Student Organization. Head coach Ventsi Stoimirov says, "Liliana (Lili) Saravia Gomez is a true example of resilience and determination. As a member of an immigrant family, she has overcome massive challenges throughout her life. Despite those challenges, Lili’s focus has always been on how she can help others more than how she can benefit herself. That true potential was recognized by Grand View University and as a result, she was awarded the Immigrant Iowan Scholarship after attending a scholarship day as a perspective student. Lili is the definition of a true team player and was one of our team captains this season. She set the standard for hard work on and off the field."

More information on Commencement events can be found here.