Emory University’s Class of 2025 celebrated the end of their undergraduate education at the annual Class Day Crossover ceremony on May 8. The event included dinner, a final Coke toast, a candle lighting ceremony, and Jessie (2011) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) actor Karan Brar’s keynote address.
The night’s events offered seniors a time to reflect on their last four years at Emory. During the dinner at the Dobbs Common Table, Claudia Vargas-Ramirez (25C) said that while her Emory experience has been a “roller coaster ride,” her senior year was an opportunity to enjoy the school and friends before graduating. Vargas-Ramirez said Class Day Crossover was an exciting way to reunite with classmates one last time.
“This is the first time that the whole senior class is together before graduation,” Vargas-Ramirez said. “Seeing people that I’ve seen since freshman year, but don’t really talk to and be like, ‘What are you doing after graduation?’ or ‘Here’s my contact. Let’s stay in contact after graduation,’ because graduation is in a few days, which is insane to believe.”
Following dinner, graduating students moved to the George W. Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC). Senior Director of Inclusivity for Emory College of Arts and Sciences Ed Lee III and Guyberson Pierre (25C) presented leadership awards to seniors, the recipients of which the University announced earlier this year. Brar’s keynote address followed the awards.
Vargas-Ramirez said she was excited when she heard Brar would be the Class of 2025’s speaker.
“When I saw my email pop up that he was gonna be our speaker, I was like, ‘Oh my god. This is gonna be fun,’” Vargas-Ramirez said.
During his speech, Brar emphasized the importance of embracing one’s authentic identity in the face of other people's narratives.
“I learned to stop using new labels to hide the parts of myself I’m most ashamed of,” Brar said. “You aren’t determined by the first things someone calls you, or even the first 50 things. In fact, I decided to lay all my labels out, side by side for them all to see, to see me in the complicated, messy reality I exist on a daily basis.”
Brar also spoke about the everlasting impact that graduating students have made at Emory, and how those experiences would continue to shape them post-graduation.
“You are now labeled as graduates of Emory University,” Brar said. “You are labeled by your major, your GPA, your freshman dorm, your fraternity, your sorority, your sports team, your friend group. However, you chose to spend your time here, whatever you loved, that loved you in return, that is now labeled to take with you and build from.”
Following the keynote address, students filed out of the WoodPEC with candles in hand as faculty and families lined the Emory Student Center promenade, cheering on the future graduates.
With Commencement coming up, Vargas-Ramirez reflected on her eagerness to graduate soon and celebrate the moment with her friends and family.
“I’m excited for my parents to be here and see this,” Vargas-Ramirez said. “I’m the first one in my family to graduate, and so this is a really big deal for me, but a bigger deal for my parents, who had been dreaming of this moment and moved here because of the opportunities and to give me the opportunity to be here and graduate. So, I’m excited to be able to celebrate that with my family.”
Jacob Muscolino (he/him) (28C) is a News Editor at The Emory Wheel. He is from Long Island and plans to major in History and Psychology. Outside of the Wheel, he is involved in Emory Reads and Emory Economics Review. You can often find Jacob watching the newest blockbuster for his Letterboxd, dissecting The New York Times and traveling to the next destination on his bucket list.
