‘Choose hope, choose love when everything is pushing in the other direction,’ she tells students and faculty

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek surprised Southern Oregon University graduates on a sunny Saturday morning at the school’s 99th commencement ceremony.

“It’s an honor to be here to celebrate your graduation,” Kotek said, speaking before graduates and their families and friends at Raider Stadium.

Kotek, who congratulated each graduate on the stage during the more than two-hour event,  described the tumultuous times facing the class of 2025.

“I know that young Americans today feel conflicted about their world, about themselves, about our democracy,” Kotek said. “Young people have serious misgivings about the future.”

At the same time, Kotek offered words of hope and described her own life journey, dealing with depression and coming out to her family as a lesbian when she was 24.

At the time, she moved from the East Coast to Eugene to start a new life that helped shape her view of politics.

“You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible,” Kotek said, quoting Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. “Choose hope, choose love when everything is pushing in the other direction.”

Kotek wasn’t listed on the commencement itinerary, but it was widely known that a surprise guest was expected.

This is the first commencement ceremony Kotek has attended since she was elected governor in 2022, and the first by a governor since then-Gov. Kate Brown’s virtual speech to high school and college graduates in 2020, during the COVID-19 era.

Kotek became the first lesbian speaker of the House in 2013 and was also the longest serving speaker in Oregon history.

“Good politics is believing in others,” she said.

In addition to Kotek, a number of legislators sat in the audience, including state Rep. Pam Marsh and Sen. Jeff Golden, both from Ashland.

About 880 students graduated, though not all of them attended the ceremony.

Kenwanicahee (Kenwani) Kravitz, Native Nations Liaison at SOU, spoke during the ceremony. 

“It is my honor to be the native nations liaison for Southern Oregon University, she said.

The Oregon National Guard provided the color guard for the ceremony.  Casey Shillam, executive vice president and provost, was the master of ceremonies.

Holden Cook, who received a bachelor’s in music, sang the national anthem.

SOU President Rick Bailey said Kotek offered inspiration to the class of 2025 as they become the future leaders of our region.

“Today our governor gave us all a beautiful and gracious gift by taking the time to help us celebrate our graduates,” Bailey said after the event. “All of us were honored to host Governor Kotek, who exemplifies the transformative power of higher education and serves as a powerful role model for our university and our graduates.”

Alison Orozco-Rush, a Grants Pass resident who received her masters in teaching, said the highlight of the ceremony for her was seeing the governor.

“I can’t even believe she was speaking,” she said. “I do appreciate her message of hope.”

Parker Boom, who graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in creative writing, was the student commencement speaker.

“I see in everyone here their own poetries, their private expansiveness, their multitudes in their tiny, wild languages,” Boom said

Like Kotek, Boom also expressed concern about world events and the changing American landscape.

“In this moment, where all of our systems bear down upon us, exposing their rust and teeth and human pain, it is difficult for anything to feel meaningful,” Boom said. “I’m certain many of us, even in this celebration, feel uncertain, exhausted, and afraid.”

She said higher education and intellectual camaraderie are being attacked and urged her fellow students “to hurl ourselves against billionaires, monarchs, oligarchs, and regimes; to place ourselves between the sword and the neck; to insist on all our lives.”

She ended her speech with cheers and applause by saying, “Trans and queer people have always existed, and always will. Black lives matter; BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) lives matter. We will all be free.”

One of the oldest graduates was Ken Khosroabadi, who received his bachelor of arts in communication.

In a wheelchair after shattering his knee in a fall a few weeks ago, the 73-year-old came to the United States to train as a pilot when he was in the Iranian military in the 1970s. After the Iranian revolution in 1978, when the American-backed shah was overthrown, Khosroabadi, who was then married to an American, stayed in this country, ultimately owning a gas station in Ashland.

Khosroabadi, who now lives in Medford, credits his successful graduation to the support he received from SOU, citing the TRIO program, which helps with tutoring, counseling, mentoring, financial assistance and other support programs.

“They made it so easy,” he said.

Khosroabadi, who has two children who graduated from SOU, was something of a daredevil in his younger days, skydiving, flying ultralights and his wrestling days.

With various surgeries over the years, Khosroabadi said he’s “the bionic man.”

After getting his diploma, Khosroabadi said, “The highlight for me was Dr. Bailey. He recognized each student.”

A posthumous bachelor of science degree in education was also given to Starla Stewart.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com. This story first appeared at Ashland.news.