Speakers

Guest Commencement Speaker

Dr. Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte

Dr. Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte has long combined presswork and an academic career. She joined the Journalism Department at The University of Texas at Austin in 1987 and became an affiliate of the Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies. In 1991 she became the second woman and first minority ever to be awarded tenure in the then Department of Journalism. Besides numerous articles and book chapters, she is the principal investigator or director of several grant-funded projects.

She is a 2010 recipient of a Kellogg Foundation three-year grant to collect the voices of long-time residents of East Austin displaced by ongoing intense gentrification of the area. Her teaching, research and publications have tracked this interest in social justice issues such as the exclusion of voice, minority invisibility and housing insecurity for more than 30 years. Her first investigative piece on this topic “40% of Foreclosures Involve Latino Owners” appeared in the L.A. Times on 12/26/1984. It detailed mortgage scams targeting Latinos and other ways to force out minority homeowners.

Her three-year Ford Foundation research grant also explored the curtailing of voice and patterns of newsroom exclusion. This study produced the comprehensive 2003 report released at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.— “Diversity Disconnects: From Classroom to Newsroom.”

Read Dr. de Uriarte’s Full Bio

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Student Commencement Speaker

Eden Baron-Williams
Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy ’23

Eden Baron-Williams is graduating with a Master of Arts in Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy with a specialization in Sexualities. In addition to her Master’s, Eden is completing training in Somatic Attachment Therapy through The Embody Lab in which she is receiving official certification. In Fall 2023, Eden will be opening the doors to her private practice, Creative Belonging Psychotherapy where she will be providing therapy for individuals, couples, and hosting group therapy.

Eden’s journey at Lewis & Clark College included working as the Graduate Assistant for The Office of Health Promotion & Wellness in which she trained advocates in trauma-informed sexual assault response and taught a Sexual Health & Wellness course to undergraduate students. Eden hopes to continue teaching in the topics of psychology and social justice alongside her private practice. Eden also plans to continue writing throughout her career, which will include writing for her therapy practice in the form of blogs and articles, and has plans to write a novel in the years to come! Outside of the therapy room, Eden can be found frolicking in her garden with her husband and their two dogs, hiking the forests of the Pacific Northwest, planning a road trip excursion, getting involved in creative projects, and cooking for loved ones.

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Past Commencement Speakers