Arts and Sciences honors new graduates during May 3 commencement ceremonies

Florida State University will celebrate its Spring 2024 graduates Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, with six commencement ceremonies at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

College of Arts and Sciences graduates will participate in two ceremonies on Friday. Doctoral students will be hooded at the 9 a.m. ceremony, while undergraduate and master’s students will cross the stage during the 7 p.m. ceremony.

The evening ceremony will feature a commencement address from U.S. Rep. Neil Dunn from Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Tallahassee. Nearly a quarter — more than 1,800 — of the 7,813 degrees FSU will award this spring are undergraduate and graduate students from arts and sciences disciplines.

“Spring commencement is our largest, and it allows students to close out one chapter while looking ahead to the next,” said Sam Huckaba, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We hope to send off graduates in a way that meaningfully celebrates their achievements while cementing a long-standing connection to the college and university.”

Judah Bachmann, Bella Bozied, and Cynthia Norris are among the college’s 1,810 Spring 2024 graduates. Bachmann and Bozied will receive bachelor’s degrees, and Norris will be awarded a doctorate.

Bachmann earned his bachelor’s degree in linguistics through the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. During Summer 2023, he participated in FSU International Programs’ intensive French study abroad program in Paris to learn the language from native speaking faculty while being immersed in the French culture.

“The intricacies of human communication fascinate me, and linguistics offers the ideal environment to explore those intricacies on a scientific level,” Bachmann said.

Last spring, Bachmann recognized the need for community within the Linguistics Program, so he co-founded the Linguistics Organization, known as LINGO, a student-led organization where FSU undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty can collaborate and connect on topics related to this area of study.

Through the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, Bachmann conducted arts-based research through his position as an audio editor on “Open Call,” a podcast focused on interviews with contemporary fine artists. Bachmann was also the co-sponsorships and outreach senior film programmer for FSU’s Student Life Cinema through which he organized more than 25 individual film-related events including the FSU Middle East Film Festival.

Bachmann will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this fall to pursue a master’s degree in linguistics.

Bozied is also preparing for the future by combining her study of humanities and science by double majoring in editing, writing, and media through the Department of English and information, communication, and technology through the College of Communication and Information.

“EWM strengthened my writing, rhetoric, and comprehension skills while ICT built my confidence, leadership, and technical skills,” Bozied said. “Pairing these two majors taught me intertwining skills that make me a more competitive job candidate and a better leader.”

Bozied served as editor-in-chief of Philia, the publication of FSU’s Panhellenic community. Simultaneously, she was the president of Her Campus FSU, an online female-oriented magazine with nationwide college chapters.

“Her Campus gave me a space to cultivate my voice and strengthen my portfolio,” Bozied said. “I’ve interviewed incredible people such as Gabrielle Carle, who was a member of the FSU Soccer Team and won an Olympic gold medal on the Canadian national team in 2021, and Devyn Flaherty, who was an FSU softball star.”

Bozied won the Department of English’s 2023 Gerald Ensley Emerging Journalist Award for her article “Transforming the World One Book Donation at a Drive.” She will continue at FSU this fall, pursuing a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications.

Norris first enrolled at FSU in 2003 and completed a bachelor’s in health teacher education in 2007 before going on to earn a master’s in public health from Florida A&M University in 2009. Now, just over 20 years since she first came to FSU, Norris has earned a doctorate in developmental psychology from the Department of Psychology.

“I’m a first-generation student, so graduating with my bachelor's and master's degrees was a huge celebration for my family,” Norris said. “A doctorate has an even broader impact, showing what can be achieved by individuals from Black and brown communities."

Before returning to FSU, Norris worked for the Florida Department of Health for a combined eight years. She is both a McKnight Doctoral Fellow and Institute for Educational Sciences FIREFLIES Training Fellow for her interdisciplinary training and research in educational sciences with a focus on reading.

“Throughout my public health career, literacy as a social determinant of health was a common thread,” Norris said. “This broadened my career interests, including children's health and educational outcomes. Postgraduation, I’m excited to apply my training to support research that has broader implications for the public.”

Following graduation, Norris will join FSU’s Office Research Development as the research development coordinator for STEM disciplines where she will work with faculty to foster new research ideas and develop grant proposals and research collaborations.

For more about FSU’s Spring 2024 commencement activities, a full schedule of events, and livestream links, visit commencement.fsu.edu.