CARE USA President and CEO and University of Virginia alumna Michelle Nunn will be the keynote speaker during the Batten School’s 2019 Academic Regalia Ceremony on Saturday, May 18, at James Monroe’s Highland. Nunn, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UVA with a bachelor’s in history and a minor in religious studies, will address Batten’s Class of 2019 during this special ceremony, which marks the tenth anniversary of the Batten School’s first graduating class.

The ebullient young man who goes by Pobo is many things – a graduate student in UVA's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, one of the elite throwers in NCAA track & field, an accomplished chess player and teacher, among them – but on this night he was an amateur working with a pro.

For Kyle Gardiner (MPP ' 16), the Batten alumni network cannot be underestimated. Gardiner, who will welcome 2019 Batten graduates into the alumni community at this year's graduation ceremony at James Monroe’s Highland, credits much of his personal and professional success to his Batten network—a network that is still relatively young by university standards.

2019 Batten graduates received year-end recognition with an impressive range of accolades honoring academic achievement and attributes including intellectual curiosity, athletic success, character, service, kindness, and leadership.

During my first year at the University of Virginia, I knew that I wanted to apply to the Batten School. At the beginning of my second semester at UVA, I attended a Batten School information session. Shortly after, I called my Mom and said, “I have found the graduate school for me!”

Six University of Virginia students were selected for this year’s Governor’s Fellows program, the largest contingent from a single school in the state. Of those six, three are Batten students or recent graduates.

“I have always been interested in serving something greater than myself,” said Nate Jewell (BA’ 16).

“My mother was a professor of nursing at the University of North Dakota, and she served as associate dean of the School of Nursing for a number of years,” said Volden. “So, I grew up with an example of what it meant to be a valued professor and an academic leader. Although I thought of pursuing other paths along the way, this one felt very natural to me as I finished college and started into graduate school.”

The University of Virginia has been recognized for Social Entrepreneurship @UVA’s commitment to fostering innovation and empowering the next generation of future changemakers and citizen leaders.

Working on issues related to rural poverty may not be as glamorous as other high-profile policy issues, but for Evelyn Immonen (MPP ’18), the margin of good that can be done in just one small town is worth the effort and commitment