DesRoches to 2023 Rice graduates: 'You have accomplished a great thing and are now free to use your knowledge and expertise'

Rice University President Dr. Reginald DesRoches presided over his first commencement ceremony at the Houston private research university, according to a school-issued press release. 

Rice’s 110th graduation exercises were held on Friday and Saturday, with the event split between Rice Stadium and Tudor Fieldhouse on campus.

Reflecting on when he earned his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in a tweet, DesRoches expressed pride in every member of the latest graduating class. 

“You have accomplished a great thing and are now free to use your knowledge and expertise to make a difference in people’s lives,” DesRoches, who assumed Rice’s presidency last summer following the departure of Dr. David Leebron, said.

According to the release, DesRoches’ first Rice commencement was graced by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who delivered the keynote address. 

Ceremonies included the conferral of master of business administration (MBA) degrees on Friday and Saturday’s bestowment of doctorate and advanced degrees, in addition to the undergraduate event that punctuated the weekend. 

There was a somber moment amid the festivities when the university conferred its first posthumous degree to Kamryn Sanamo, a member of Martel College who died earlier this year from brain cancer, the release said.

The threat of inclement weather had school officials worried, but none of the ceremonies required changes, according to the release. 

Aside from the occasion being the first he presided over at Rice, DesRoches will remember it more for a personal reason since his daughter was among the graduates. 

“This graduating class of undergraduates is special to me in many ways, one way being that I got to hand out a degree to my baby girl,” the president said in a tweet. “Shelby, Paula and I are so proud of you!” 

Per the release, the Rice Class of 2023 had a very special distinction. 

“You are the last class to experience campus before COVID, the first class to define what the new normal at Rice is and you’re full of the most accomplished, smart and determined people I have ever known,” Gabby Franklin, the outgoing president of the student association, said to the latest group of former Owls.