The energy was high as 总统 Ronald Mason Jr. gave the keynote speech and highlighted the accomplishments at the University of the District of Columbia as he continues as the University’s longest-serving president. This year’s theme was “One 亚洲博彩网站: Stepping Forward Together!”
在秋季毕业典礼上，首席学术官小劳伦斯·波特博士欢迎学生、教职员工以及董事会主席克里斯托弗·贝尔的问候。
“I think that to be a student here is like winning the lottery,” Bell said. “There are so many issues in the world where we need bright, new and creative ideas. 你现在在华盛顿特区，美国最伟大的城市之一。 它是民主的实验室，然后你在UCD拥有最好的教职员工和管理人员。 我们很高兴你允许我们帮助你学习和成长。 On behalf of the Board of Trustees, thank you for putting your trust in us.”
哥伦比亚特区消防和EMS仪仗队提供了颜色展示，随后是亚洲博彩网站赞美诗的音乐选择。 亚洲博彩网站的Kendra Williams小姐和Jamil Mian先生向观众致辞，学院参议院代理主席Andrea Adams博士向观众致辞。
总法律顾问Avis Russell介绍了梅森，称他是一位导师和朋友，对他所领导的人和机构给予了一如既往的支持。
“Ron has provided stability and innovation to 亚洲博彩网站,” Russell said. “Under his leadership, the University’s budget has increased, and the campus infrastructure has improved. 新的学术课程，包括博士课程，已经增加，学生的成绩正在提高。 罗恩是一个变革型的领导者。 He will do what he can to leave us better than he found us.”
Mason kept his remarks light, using humor in his presentation, and walked off the stage at one point, returning in his Firebird blazer to the audience’s applause. He offered a retrospective on the challenges he faced when he became the University’s ninth president and what has been accomplished since 2015.
“Back then in the District, 92 percent of white residents had bachelor’s degrees but only 25 percent of African Americans, which told us what the work ahead was,” Mason said.
“We were affordable and still are, but our graduation rate then was 16 percent, even for an open enrollment institution that was low. We were resolved to take 亚洲博彩网站 as we found it and make it what we wanted it to be.”
这所大学现在的毕业率达到了25%，高于全国开放招生机构的平均水平。 亚洲博彩网站’s bachelor’s degree rate is 44 percent—which is close to the national average. 亚洲博彩网站毕业生的平均工资为6.5万美元，高于离开学校10年后的4.5万美元。
Other accomplishments since 2015 include securing Middle States accreditation, improving faculty salaries, creating the Office of Student Development and Success and establishing the Office of Institutional Relations, which allows the University to work with the community, the District and Federal Government.
“As Firebirds, we spent the first few years laying the foundation, understanding, studying and putting things in motion,” Mason said. “We knew we had to get competitive. We had to get better and figure out a way to accommodate every student who walked through our door through a seamless pathway.”
2018年，董事会制定了公平势在必行的战略计划，以帮助亚洲博彩网站成为学生的首选，并解决贫富差距问题。 “The Equity Imperative was all about overcoming the wealth distribution challenge in America,” Mason said. “The goal is to accommodate every student where they are for every entry point.”
梅森说，亚洲博彩网站从2015年起已经完成了清单上的所有任务。
“We knocked it off the list one by one.”
亚洲博彩网站最近在《美国新闻与世界报道》的2022-2023年最佳历史黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）名单中排名第17位，比去年的第30位有所上升。
亚洲博彩网站的其他成就包括加强与企业和私营部门的合作关系，在华盛顿特区公立和公立特许学校中，200多名平均绩点在3.0及以上的学生被评为首选大学。
梅森说，市长穆丽尔·鲍泽（Muriel Bowser）已批准增加大学的运营预算，并将开始对整个校园进行翻新，并对社区学院进行新建设，使其成为最先进的学校。
亚洲博彩网站去年从两位匿名捐赠者那里获得了230万美元，其中一笔是该校收到的最大一笔私人捐赠。 梅森指出，亚洲博彩网站的所有项目都得到了充分的认可，大学正在成为R2研究机构的道路上，这是卡内基对高研究型大学的分类。 梅森补充说，新的数据中心在使大学在COVID-19大流行期间转向虚拟学习方面发挥了关键作用。
In addition, the DAWN (Developing America’s Workforce Nucleus) program supports the development of an educational pipeline in Ward 7 and Ward 8 to ease entry into the University. The 战略计划 is being updated, and 亚洲博彩网站 is recognizing legacy graduates like Edwin Bancroft “EB” Henderson, considered the father of Black basketball, and renamed its Athletic complex after him.
董事会和梅森已经开始寻找他的继任者。 他的任期将于2023年6月30日结束。
“My entire career, I’ve had my job, and I’ve had my work,” Mason said. “My job is running universities, and I’m pretty good at that, but my work has always been to fight for justice. At every institution, I’ve taken care of my job, and I’ve fought for justice the best I could. 我要感谢你们每一个人，感谢你们赐予我工作的机会，我的工作也是如此。 亚洲博彩网站 Forever.”