Envirolutions graduates its largest (and most celebrated) cohort

Ashely Kuo, Tonya Kennedy, Laura Lighty, Kate Cochrane, and me at the Awards Convocation Picnic

Graduation is always a bittersweet moment, as students who I have really enjoyed working with leave the campus for good. On the one hand I am very proud of my students, and happy for them that they get to finish their undergraduate education; for me, graduating from college was the gateway to full independence and adulthood, and I hope that it will be for my recently-graduated students as well. But it is also sad for me to see some of my students go, especially students with whom I have worked for all four of their years as Pratt undergraduates… my Envirolutions students.

This year the largest cohort of Envirolutions students ever have graduated. Alex Morpurgo (Industrial Design) finished in December, and today Tonya Kennedy (Interior Design), Laura Lighty (Industrial Design), Anna Walant (Industrial Design), Kate Cochrane (Interior Design), and Ashely Kuo (Interior Design) all graduated. It is a tribute to the success and growth of the club that we can count so many club members among the class of 2014.

This has also been a very special group. At some point in their Pratt careers nearly all of these students have served as a club officer, with Tonya and Laura serving as president and/or vice president (and/or co-presidents?) for a combined six semesters. This group has also accomplished a lot, most prominently getting recycling bins located on the Pratt grounds. They have been fun to work with and fun to watch as they have grown as leaders and activists.

And apparently these club members are also pretty good students! Laura and Tonya both won the award for Excellence in Academic Achievement, and Kate and Ashely won the Outstanding Merit award. On a campus where most students are “too busy with their studio work” to get involved in any sort of public service, it is amazing that these students were so involved in the club’s activities and still managed to be exceptional in their academic disciplines. Obviously this makes me very proud of these students, and proud of the kind of students who choose to get involve in Envirolutions.

Best of luck to the class of 2014! I doubt you need much!