 I assume we should keep muted and video off. Yeah, muted is a good idea, but just for background noise, video is at your discretion. So welcome to the many students who have now signed in as panelists. We'll start the ceremony in just a moment. Just to understand what's going on, we'll have several speakers, and then we'll start to recognize our graduates. So prepare for that. That will help happen in alphabetical order. You'll be spotlighted. It's a moment for you. You'll show up highlighted on the screen. Everyone in the entire audience will see you. It's an opportunity for you to wave to relatives, give a smile, a thumbs up, a greeting. And then we will honor you and move on to the next graduate. So I hope that sounds OK. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to text me in the chat box. So graduates, if you're in the webinar as an attendee and not a panelist and you'd like to graduate with us, please raise your hand so that we can move you to be a panelist so that we can show your video. Congratulations. You made it. No, wait, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to your parents. I'd like to take a minute to give it up to your parents for their blood, sweat, and tears, their financial contributions, and most importantly, for not driving here every weekend under the guise of offering to do your laundry. Do not give up on your dreams too soon. Do not think that just because you don't get the job that you dream about in the first year or the second year or the fifth year that you should give up. Don't. Have faith. Everything in this world comes from effort, everything. Don't end up being so focused on what you want to be that you avoid working on who you want to be. The job's one thing. You're going to have lots of jobs. At 50, you can change your career. It happens. But who you are, that's not as easy to leave behind. Good morning or afternoon or evening, depending on your global location. Welcome all parents, guardians, families, friends, supporters, staff, advisors, faculty, other honored guests, and of course, graduates of the class of 2021. I'm Michael Lash, Undergraduate Program Director for the Economics Department. Welcome to the economics graduation. Our recognition of the stellar achievements of the class of 2021 accomplished under challenging circumstances. Before we start and in the broader context of improving UMass' relationship with Indigenous communities and supporting Indigenous students, we acknowledge the land that UMass Amherst uses. We seek to educate the UMass community about the history, about whose land we are on. And we pledge ongoing responsiveness about the land, names, words, and symbols that we use. I'd like to give special recognition to the staff of the Economics Department who faced this year a year of uncertainty and hardship with great courage and spirit. Please join me in thanking the staff of the Economics Department. Stephanie Brewer, Patrick Fenton, Sheila Gilroy, Jennifer Gross, Mark Landryou, Nancy Nash, and Flannery Weiss. Without their brain and muscle, not a single wheel would turn. Some important notes and ground rules before we get started. First, this ceremony is being recorded. Second, for best results on Zoom, turn on closed captions and speaker view. So closed captions and speaker view are buttons on your Zoom panel. Turn those on and you'll get better results. Please feel free. We welcome all to use the chat box to express congratulations with constructive and supportive comments. Make sure, though, that your comments recognize that we are a diverse global community. I hate to say this, but misuse of the video feed or the chat box, including posting comments or images that we deem abusive or offensive will result in removal from the ceremony and in serious cases, discipline. Okay, but we won't worry about that. Graduates will be recognized in alphabetical order by last name. So graduates, it's very important, listen up. Turn on your cameras. Use your real name in your Zoom connection so we can find you when the moment comes. Get ready when your name approaches. If you are supposed to be on camera but you are not, please raise your hand electronically, press the hand raise button, or send me a message in the chat box. We need to get you into the video ceremony so that we can show you on screen and recognize you. And now on with the ceremony. It is my pleasure to introduce a great scholar and an exceptional and dedicated leader. Professor John Hurd is completing seven years as Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. In that time, which encompasses that of most of today's graduates, John has cultivated and supported world-class research and teaching in the social sciences at UMass, especially in economics. Dean Hurd. Thank you. Thank you, Michael, for those very kind words and everyone for inviting me to participate and join you today. Needless to say, this isn't the ceremony or the year that any of us expected, but what you've shown this year is remarkable resilience in the face of loss and challenges unlike those we've ever seen. We know that things change and change quickly. And right now the world needs people like you who can think critically and creatively about problems and who can both make meaningful change and adapt effectively to it. And you've done both. You've studied economics, but not just anywhere. You've studied in a department of superb faculty committed to social progress and justice. It's also a department that provides you with a far broader understanding of the discipline than anywhere else in the country. And one widely acknowledges the leading heterodox economics department in the world. That means that you understand economics not only within the confines of the traditional discipline, but through a department that embraces history, politics, psychology and other fields in its understanding of and explication of economic life. So take a moment and be proud of what you've accomplished. And we know there are far more achievements ahead of you. So please keep in touch with us all and share with us all of your future accomplishments. We're proud of what you've done and most of all proud of what you will do. So congratulations to the economics class of 2021. I know you are ready for what's next. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dean Herd. We will next hear from Professor James Heinz, the Andrew Glenn Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics. Professor Heinz. A class of 2021, congratulations. I'm James Heinz, Chair of the Department of Economics. And on behalf of the entire Department of Economics, I just want to echo what Dean Herd had said. We are so very, very proud of all of you. As you know, at UMass Econ, we pride ourselves on being a different kind of economics department, one that offers a diversity of perspectives, a diversity of approaches to economic questions and the most pressing questions that we face as a society today, including the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. And I just want to tell you that you are now part of that legacy. You are now part of UMass economics from this point on and going forward. You'll always have a place, you'll always have a home at the Department of Economics. And I think your time here studying economics at the University of Massachusetts, in particular our department, just to blow our own horn a little bit, I will serve you very, very well of going forward. That diversity and that broad base, those different perspectives in economics, I think you'll find useful for the rest of your careers and the rest of your life. But you know, today is not really about us, the Department of Economics, it's all about you. And so we are going to now hear from your classmates, from your colleagues, from your friends, our undergraduate speakers as part of this ceremony going forward. So I'm gonna turn it back to Professor Michael Ash to introduce our speakers. Great, so it's my pleasure to introduce two student speakers, both selected by the faculty for their ability to represent their classmates and for their outstanding achievements. The first is Heather Stratton, Economic Senior Speaker, Heather Stratton, Class of 2021. Good morning, Class of 2021. It's a pleasure to be here with you. When we first came to UMass four years ago, we had a lot to figure out. For me, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the fastest route from classes to office hours in Gordon and Crowdy Hall. For those of you on the call today who aren't familiar with the UMass landscape, Gordon and Crowdy Hall are the economics buildings that are a little bit off the beaten path and taking that extra 15 minutes or so to walk to. And as we adjusted to those long walks, the global economy was experiencing one of its longest expansions. And we were learning that markets do fail and those failures are a symptom of capitalism. We learned how to fix those failures within the bounds of capitalism, but this department gave us the unique opportunity to reimagine a system that would leave everyone less vulnerable to these failures. For the first two and a half years, the analysis and reimagination was confined to the textbook, some essays and some dinner conversations over number one dining. In March of 2020, we woke up to realize that our area of study has implications past the textbook. Policies we had studied would mean difference between food, money and even life and death for our friends, our family and our global neighbors. My hope is as we leave Crowdy Hall, Gordon Hall and of course this Zoom room, we are confident in the tools we have acquired and the experiences we have witnessed, not only to put a bandaid on our system, but to create the system that we have spent time reimagining. This is a pivotal time that we are becoming leaders in government, academia, commercial industries, nonprofits and anything else we decide to pursue. I know that as whatever we decide to pursue, we will do it with resilience, full force and tenacity just as we have approached our unprecedented college experience. Congratulations class of 2021. The best is yet to come as we create our own routes ahead. Thank you Heather for a fantastic speech and congratulations again on your achievement. It is now my pleasure to introduce the economic senior leader, Michael Carvalho, class of 2021. Welcome Michael. Hello everyone and thank you for being here. Thank you to all of those that helped keep this amazing economics department tradition going and celebrating the class of 2021. It felt like just yesterday that most of us entered UMass as the white freshmen imagining what our next four years would be like. Little did we know it would be engulfed with outbreaks, a global pandemic and economic crash that we should all know a thing or two about given our major, social and political unrest and much, much more. But given all that, we still made it here today. Coming together as a community to celebrate the hard work every one of us had to do to complete what is possibly the greatest accomplishment we have done so far in our lives. But the emphasis is on so far. We also didn't do this alone. We've always had people by our sides that have cared for us and helped us along our way from friends to family to the amazing staff and professors that try to do everything they could to give us a community to be proud of. You pushed through and rose certification. I wish you the best on your future endeavors and encourage you to make the change you want to see in the world. But never forget, no matter how far away you go, you're all a part of the UMass family and community. Thank you very much. Thank you, Michael, for your terrific speech and also for your many years of, frankly, service to the department. You have given of yourself as well as I hope learned. Thank you, and it's really been a pleasure to work with you these years. Next, it is my honor to introduce my colleague and my friend, Professor Deepankar Basu, who is the Graduate Program Director in Economics. Professor Basu will introduce the portion of the ceremony in which we honor this year's PhD students. Deepankar. Thank you, Michael. Hello, everyone. My name is Deepankar Basu, and I am the Graduate Program Director in the Department of Economics at UMass Amherst. I would like to invite you all to join me in congratulating an extraordinary group of scholars who have completed their graduate studies in a period of great difficulty and hardship caused by the global pandemic. Even in normal times, completing a PhD is a long and arduous process. Students spend the first two years in mastering material from several sub-areas of economics by taking at least 12 courses. After finishing courses, students embark on the even more challenging and lonely journey of defining and finishing their own independent research. The whole process normally takes between five and seven years. PhD research in the Department of Economics at UMass Amherst is not only geared towards answering technically and intellectually interesting questions, but is also motivated by a deep sense of social justice, fairness, and equity. UMass economics equips its students to both interpret and change the world. The 2020 PhD recipients continue this tradition. While all the 13 PhD degree recipients of 2021 will not be able to join us today, I'm happy that three of them will join us in celebrating their achievements. The first student is Jonathan Jenner, 2021 PhD in Economics, advised by Professor Mwangi Wagithinji. He's not here. Professor Jonathan Jenner will receive his PhD for a dissertation entitled, Three Essays on Social Institutional Ecosystems and Labor Structures. The second PhD recipient is Junsheng Liang, 2021 PhD in Economics, advised by Professor Dibankar Basu and Professor Naoki Yoshihara. Junsheng will receive a PhD for his dissertation entitled, Constructing a Marxian Input Output Model Considering the Turnover of Capital and Revisiting the Falling Rate of Profit. The third recipient that I would like to mention is Yo-Yoon, 2021 PhD in Economics, advised by Professor Robert Paulin. He's not here. Dr. Yo-Yoon has- Bobby is here. Yeah, I would like to say in honor of the great work that Yo-Yoon has done, that he earned his PhD, the dissertation is titled Endogenous Money, Corporate Liquidity Preference and the Transformation of the US Financial System. Congratulations, Yo-Yoon. Thank you. I will now hand over the floor to my colleague, Professor Valerie Voorhees, Director of Undergraduate Advising. Thank you. So UMass undergraduate graduates, you all have been thinking about graduating from college for years and years now. You applied to UMass years ago. You thought about applying to UMass years before that. You weren't even sure what economics was when you started at UMass and you graduated with problem solving skills, communication skills. And in a little extra this year, you guys learned how to do stuff that no generation has ever learned when they graduated college. And I don't mean alcohol or big parties or even intermediate microeconomics. I mean, you learned how to communicate in a way that when we were all learning how to communicate. So congratulations and I can't wait to hear from you about everything that you're doing in the future. Let's start getting you graduated. So hold on, get my list. Our first graduate in alphabet law is Harshita Marania Argoile, Class of 2021. Not here. She did graduate in addition to with an IT minor, a certificate in applied economic research on cooperative enterprises. And she came to UMass from India. She was the head of operations for TEDx Amherst, board member of the Sisters on the Runway at UMass and an analyst at UMass 180 degrees consultant. Congratulations. Norshifa Arsa, Class of 2021 is also completing the dual degree in English. He's a pre-med student and has been accepted into master's programs at Northwestern and Georgetown. Congratulations. Zubin Beliga, Class of 2021. Zubin is not only an economics graduate, he's also a member of the UMass chess club. Congratulations. John Blum, Class of 2021 was a governor on the board of governors of the undergraduate economics club, Go UEC. Congratulations, Jonathan. Michael Giovanni Carvalho, Class of 2021. In addition to economics, Michael completed a minor in political science, a certificate in international relations and a certificate in public policy and administration. Thank you very much. Congratulations, Michael. Adam Shagnan, Class of 2020. Congratulations, Adam. Zach Calleran, Class of 2021. Not yet. Zach is from Somerville, UMass, head minors in IT and environmental science. Megan Ann Crowley, Class of 2021. Not yet. Megan is completing a double major in accounting and economics. Ryan James DeVell. Not yet. Class of 2021. Ryan graduated from Xavier High School in Durham, Connecticut. Sam Young Dangal. Not yet. Sam Young, Class of 2021. Sam Young comes to a straight out of Kathmandu, Bagmati Boys for Life. Sam Young is moving to Orlando in the fall to begin a career as a financial advisor. Congratulations. Justin Ekstrom. Nope. Class of 2021. Justin is from Wilmington, Mass. It is completing a second major, excuse me, in statistics. Jonathan John Edward Ava. Eva, sorry. Class of 2021. Kenneth was on the men's rowing team. Go crew. Congratulations, Kenneth. Emma Iwas, Class of 2021. Not yet. Emma is from Brooklyn, Massachusetts. Jada Fawnfield. Class of 2021. Jada will start as an associate account executive for the marketing firm, Upsilon this fall. And it's decided to work with many brands. Congratulations, Jada. Thank you. Brandon Francisco. Class of 2021. Good job, Brandon. Sydney M. Halloran. Class of 2021. Not yet. Sydney Halls from Sandwich Mass is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, received the Sherry Barber Memorial Scholarship and will attend Suffolk University Law. Tian Huang. Class of 2021. Not yet. Jack Sullivan Howard. Class of 2021. Not yet. Jack is a psychology and economics double major. Congratulations, Jack. And now I'd like to turn it over to my friend and colleague, Linda Pickborn, to take on the rest part of the alphabet. Congratulations. Thank you, Val. So congratulations, Class of 2021. Nick Ivanovskis. Nick is from Foxborough, Mass, and likes ice cream. Nick is not here. He's off heavy on ice cream. Next, Rofae Gea, Class of 2021. Rofae also minored in mathematics. Not yet. Lindsay Hope Keady, Class of 2021. Not yet. Is from Norwood, Mass, minored in psychology and education and is a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority. Nope. Juan Cooperman, Class of 2021. Owen is from Lake Forest, Illinois, and also and a minor in political science. Congratulations, Owen. Yannis Lam, Class of 2021. Yannis is from Braintree, Mass, served as president of Epic Movement at UMass and is completing dual CS and economics degrees. Not here. Yannis here. Hailey Noel Martin, Class of 2021. Not here. Hailey is also a sport management major. Samuel Maeblum, Class of 2021. Samuel completed a second major in mathematics. Congratulations, Samuel. Carlos Daniel Mendoza, Class of 2021. Not here. Noah Milston, Class of 2021. Noah is a member of Phi Sigma Pi and will continue on to master at UMass in data analytics and computational social science. Not here. Mishra, Class of 2021. Not here. Hunit Modi, Class of 2021. Not here. Hunit is an international student from Mumbai, India. Major in mathematics and economics and was director of communications for the Actuarial Society. Juan Felipe Mota, Class of 2021. Juan is from Bogota, Colombia, and is also completing the campus-wide information technology minor. Congratulations, Juan. Brian Nguyen, Class of 2021. Not here. Brian has graduated in three years and is a member of the UMass powerlifting team. Juliana Norton, Class of 2021. Not here. Is graduating two years early at 20 years old, which wouldn't be possible without the support of her amazing boyfriend, loving grandparents, and two cats. Chandler O'Dwyer, Class of 2021. Chandler was born and raised in Linkfield, England, in the UK. Adam played on the men's soccer team at UMass for three years and is now pursuing a master's of business administration at Christian Brothers University. Asim Prabhakar, Class of 2021. Chang Yao, Class of 2021. Congratulations, Chang. Chang is from Guangzhou in China. Not here. Thomas Roberts, Class of 2021. Thomas is a civil engineering and economics major, double major from Palmer. Thomas will continue at UMass in the fall, pursuing a master's degree in environmental engineering. Congratulations, Thomas. And now I will hand over to my colleague, Itai Cher, who will continue. Elijah Cameron Rue, Class of 2021. Elijah is from Stockton, Massachusetts. Congratulations, Elijah. Christopher Thomas Ryan, Class of 2021. Yeah. Christopher is from Hingham, Massachusetts and will graduate with minors in history and German. Congratulations, Christopher. Jess Dale Slattery. Not here. Jess Dale Slattery, Class of 2021. Jess also majored in anthropology and wrote a senior thesis, cooperatives in Massachusetts, development, and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Heather Stratton. Heather Stratton, Class of 2021. Heather Stratton is senior speaker for the Class of 2021. Congratulations, Heather. Perneth Lupolati, Class of 2021. Not here. Perneth is a finance and economics double major from Mills, Massachusetts. Connor Van Dyke, Class of 2021. Connor is from Dalton, Massachusetts. Congratulations, Connor. Sophia Ventura, Class of 2021. Nope. Yuhan Wang, Class of 2021. Nope. Yuhan is from Wuhan, China and has been at UMass for three years. Jonas Webler, Class of 2021. Jonas is from Brookline, Massachusetts and works at Gallagher Insurance. Michael Benjamin Wexler, Class of 2021. Michael is from Holliston, Massachusetts and double majored in economics and communication. Congratulations, Michael. Alexander M. Nguyen, Class of 2021. Alexander was an elite collegiate chef. Yi Yang, Class of 2021. Miles Kilgallan Yun, Class of 2021. Miles is also completing a minor in Chinese. Jihan Zhao, Class of 2021. Vivian Zhu, Class of 2021. One second. The video's jumped off. Yeah, sorry. Can I leave it off, please? Yes, please. Thank you. Congratulations, Vivian. Thank you so much. OK, so that concludes our list. Congratulations to everybody who is graduating. Fantastic. So congratulations to all. And I'd like to make sure that we didn't miss anybody. Is there anybody who arrived late who should be recognized as a member of the Class of 2021? So now is a good time if you're in attendee. Raise your Zoom hand if we didn't get you. We'll get you in right now because this is a department that remembers everybody. So please let me know if, yes. So yes. So in fact, we have PhD student Jonathan Jenner. I'm going to bring him into the panel. And I will remind you of Jonathan's dissertation topic. So he was advised by my colleague and friend, Professor Muangee Wah Gatenji. And Jonathan will receive his PhD for dissertation entitled Three Essays on Sociolinstitutional Ecosystems and Labor Structure. So congratulations, Jonathan. Awesome. Last call, is there anybody who we should have recognized but did not? Well, I want to thank all of the participants. The chat box remains open. Shout it out. Let people know what you're thinking. I'm going to welcome my colleague, James Heinz, back to the stage. James. This one last round of congratulations to everyone. Undergraduates and graduates of the Class of 2021. It's been a rough ride, but you made it through. We're very proud of you. Now go out and do great things. We have a closing video, and then we're going to have a round of applause for everyone at the very end. So just hang on. So if you're not on gallery view, change your view to gallery view so you can see everyone. And once again, congratulations, everyone. Come on, everyone, cheer. Congratulations, everybody. Congratulations, everybody. Congratulations. So happy for you. Congrats.