 Hello everyone, my name is Iskari Rushing, pronouns he, him, his, and I'm the academic program specialist for the Rockham Professional Development Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate Program. You may recognize my name from some of the many emails you received from me detailing different events for the program, asking for feedback, and the multitude of services I send out to you all. You may also recognize me as the previous GSSA for the 2019-2020 school year. I want to say congratulations to all of you who completed the certificate program. I have truly enjoyed returning to the team and meeting more of you. I want to say thank you for welcoming me and also for humoring me with my icebreaker questions before our workshops. I learned a lot of new facts about elephants and a few new dessert recipes as well. The questions and comments you all made in various workshops helped my own growth and understanding around DEI, and I also thank you for that. You've all persevered through an extremely difficult year. This past year has brought a number of devastating events into all of our lives, from the ongoing pandemic to the increasing incidents of violence against the AAPI community. We are all still reeling from the capital riots and the continued violence against the black community perpetuated by the police and sentiments of anti-blackness in this country. Yet, despite all the negativity, there are things to celebrate as well, an increased number of vaccines available to combat the coronavirus, an increased focus on mental health and higher engagement in our political system. I want to say thank you for all of your flexibility and patience as we dealt with technology snafus and learning more about Zoom together. Participating in the DEI certificate is simply one of many steps to increasing our awareness about social issues and working towards creating a more just society for us all. I am honored to have been a small part of your DEI journey, and I cannot wait to see all the positive changes you're going to make and bring to the world. While I didn't think we would find ourselves here in this virtual space one year later, I cannot help but be optimistic for the future as people everywhere continue to speak out against injustice. Congratulations again on completing the DEI certificate, and go Blue!