Table of Contents

1. The 2025 Commencement ceremony in pictures

2. Meet the USC Price School valedictorian 

3. Graduate speaker is a homelessness advocate

4. What else is (commencement) news 

5. Brookings President delivers Commencement keynote

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get USC Price School news in your inbox each month.

Want to see more photos? View hundreds of pictures from the event at the USC Price School’s Flickr page here. 

And check out more pictures of our graduates and award winners on our Instagram page.

For someone who has just graduated college, Sydnee Yu has already had an impact on society.

• Yu, the USC Price School’s 2025 valedictorian, has been an intern at the National Science Foundation, a research fellow for Times Square’s business improvement district, a section editor of a college magazine, and a program coordinator for a USC initiative funding artwork about climate change – just to name a few.

But her most important role can’t be found on her extensive resume. The Bachelor of Science in Urban Studies and Planning is the oldest of three sisters, and her role of “Big Sister” is where her mind went when she learned she was valedictorian.

• “The first reaction I had when I found out I was valedictorian was, ‘I can’t wait to tell my parents and my sisters and be able to share with them that this opportunity of going to USC has paid off – and also it’s something that they can do,’” Yu said.

Read more about our valedictorian. You can watch her Commencement speech here.

Elijah Dow’s public service career began in his hometown of Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

• When he was 19, Dow noticed his community grappling with the rising problem of homelessness. He felt the city’s proposed solution – simply pushing people who were unhoused to a faraway part of town – was wrong.
  
  
• That turned him into an advocate for people experiencing homelessness, which brought him to USC, where he’s a Graduate Research Assistant at the Homelessness Policy Research Institute.

What’s next: Dow, the Commencement graduate speaker and a Master of Public Policy, now has an ambitious career goal: He wants to return home, run for local office, and use what he’s learned about policy to help the community where he grew up.

Read more about our graduate speaker. You can watch his Commencement speech here.

🏥 Prestigious post-grad plans: MHA grad Gianna Marino landed an administrative fellowship at Mayo Clinic, one of the best hospital systems in the world. Read more

🚆 A unique transit perspective: MUP grad Ashley Espinosa knows the Los Angeles Metro system better than almost anyone. She’s inspected all 100 Metro train stations. Read more

🏡 Building a real estate career: BRED grad Averie Roskwitalski has cultivated personal relationships and technical skills she will use as an analyst at Rialto Capital. Read more

Cecilia Elena Rouse, president of The Brookings Institution and the first Black American to become Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, was the keynote speaker at our Commencement ceremony.

Her message to graduates: Every generation has faced major challenges – from economic uncertainty to geopolitical crises – and like their Price forbearers, the Class of 2025 can make the world’s problems their purpose.

In her words: “The truth is, there’s never been a graduating class of USC Price that didn’t walk into fear; that wasn’t forced to face some kind of uncertainty,” Rouse said. “No one gets a free pass through the hard stuff. But if you’re sitting here today, I doubt you were expecting one.”

• “This is a public policy school. So, I think it’s fair to say a lot of you applied here because you wanted to make a difference,” she added.

• “Like every graduating class before you, the world’s problems are your purpose; the world’s cruelties, your call to action.”

Read Rouse’s speech to the Class of 2025. You can watch her speech above or here.

We want to hear from you!

Email your news tips, story ideas, or comments to: pricecom@usc.edu

Did you receive this email from a forward?

Sign-up for USC Price newsletters to continue receiving news and updates.

Give a gift to support USC Price's mission to improve communities worldwide.

USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
650 Childs Way Suite 312 | Los Angeles, CA 90089 US

Unsubscribe The Price Post