Undergrads from the School of Social Ecology, above, celebrated completing their bachelor’s degrees at the 2025 winter commencement ceremony. The keynote speaker was alumnus Les McCabe (’80, B.A. social ecology), below. Photos by Steve Zylius
Social Ecology’s newest graduates are feted at Fall Commencement ceremony
About 130 cap- and gown-clad School of Social Ecology students were celebrated in the Bren Events Center during the morning commencement ceremony today.
A total of nearly 470 new graduates received Bachelor of Arts degrees in urban studies, social ecology, criminology, law & society, psychological science and, for the first time in school history, psychology. Last summer, what had been the Department of Psychological Science changed to the Department of Psychology, and enrollees had the option of declaring their major psychology or psychological science.
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Willie Banks served as the master of ceremonies, Provost Hal Stern conferred degrees, and alumnus Les McCabe (’80, B.A. social ecology) delivered the keynote address.
McCabe followed his time at UC Irvine by obtaining master’s degrees in social work and public administration, with a focus on nonprofit management, from the University of Washington in Seattle, as well as a doctorate in administrative and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh.
Along the way, he worked as a clinical social worker with foster children through the Casey Family Program and CEO of the Institute for Shipboard Education (where he’d been a Semester at Sea student) and the national environmental organization Global Green. Since 2017, he has been the president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southern California, which educates young people about business, economics and free enterprise.
Despite that wealth of experience and experiences, McCabe credits the people he met at UC Irvine with shaping the person he is today.
“Personally, I grew up in a very homogeneous, middle-class, white community,” he said. “And when I arrived at the school, I encountered for the first time in my entire life, at 17, a truly diverse world. Black, brown, Asian, LGBTQ+, first-generation, immigrants, international students, who are of different religions, different cultures, and different worldviews, all living together in the same residence hall. That was my introduction to cross-cultural understanding and respect. What I didn't know, what I didn't know then, was I was really getting my first glimpse of the world beyond my bubble.”
He assured the Anteaters that their worldviews shifted some time during their time at UC Irvine, even if they won’t realize it until days, months or years from now. McCabe says his moment came during his field study placement with the Southeast Asian Resettlement Division of Catholic Community Charities in Santa Ana.
“Back then in the late ’70s, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees were arriving in Orange County to rebuild their lives, just as my own immigrant relatives once did,” he said. “Looking at some of you today, I can’t help but imagine some of your families may have been a part of that very journey. Years later, in 1994, as part of my work in international education, I helped lead the first American academic program, Semester at Sea, to Vietnam after the war, with over 600 students.”
McCabe advised the grads to “pursue your careers and graduate school with passion, but don’t forget to pursue life. In international education, we often said, ‘If you don’t go, you won’t know,’ and it’s true. Graduates, be open, be vulnerable, be human. The people you meet here and beyond will help you become who you are meant to be.”
Later at the same podium, Dean Jon B. Gould formally introduced new graduates of the School of Social Ecology. “Bachelors, please come forward and families get ready to cheer,” he said shortly before joining Associate Dean Susan Charles in congratulating and posing for pictures with grads at each end of the stage.
Banks concluded the ceremony by having all the Anteaters rise and, for the first time as UC Irvine graduates, deliver a hearty “Zot! Zot! Zot!”
— Matt Coker
The full ceremony is available on YouTube.