12 exceptional graduates to represent SFSU’s colleges at Commencement
The students will be honored at the University’s Commencement ceremony at Oracle Park May 23
Twelve outstanding graduates will be honored during San Francisco State University’s 124th Commencement ceremony, to be held at Oracle Park Friday, May 23. They will represent their nearly 7,000 graduating peers in the Class of 2025.
As part of a longstanding tradition, each of the University’s six academic colleges selects an undergraduate and a graduate student to represent their classmates and wear their college’s academic hood during the ceremony. Additionally, two of the hood recipients, one undergraduate and one graduate student, will each deliver a Commencement address.
More details about the ceremony are available on the Commencement website.
Undergraduate Speaker
Belayneh Salilew
B.A., Social Work
College of Health & Social Sciences
Transnational social justice and human rights work have shaped Belayneh Salilew’s social work. His volunteer experiences in the Bay Area and Ethiopia, where he was born and raised, greatly influenced his trajectory.
As a high school student in Ethiopia, Salilew worked with SOS Children’s Village to run HIV/AIDS awareness-raising programs and programs for orphans and older adults. He also started One Person for One Orphan, a program under the Borderless Charity Association. Since moving to the Bay Area, Salilew has worked as a residential specialist at a foster youth organization and as a service specialist at Momentum for Health, a nonprofit agency providing mental health and substance-use rehabilitation.
After transferring to SFSU in the fall of 2023, he actively participated in both the on-campus and broader community. On campus, he served as president of Phi Alpha Honor Society, Mu Beta Chapter. As a Willie L. Brown, Jr. Fellow, he worked with the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to conduct secondary research on unhoused youth to help inform the department’s strategic goals. In the spring of 2024, Salilew participated in the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) Legislative Lobby Days in Sacramento to advocate for bills focused on the social determinants of health, reproductive health of incarcerated persons and the CARE Court Scholarship Program Act. This year, Salilew will lead a legislative team in lobbying for bills addressing priority issues for NASW’s California chapter. His achievements have been recognized by the San Francisco Foundation Black Excellence Scholarship.
For his capstone project, he focused on youth homelessness in San Francisco and why some youth choose to stay on the streets rather than use shelters. After graduation, Salilew hopes to pursue a master’s degree and become a licensed social worker focused on both micro and macro social work practices.
Graduate Speaker
Patra Holmes
M.S. Chemistry (Biochemistry)
College of Science & Engineering
A first-generation college student, Patra Holmes exemplifies the transformative impact SFSU can have on an individual. Holmes’ 14-year university journey — marked by determination and perseverance — earned her multiple degrees: first dual bachelor’s degrees (one in Biochemistry, another in Cell and Molecular Biology with a minor in Computer Applications), now a graduate degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry and a Graduate Opportunities in Learning Data Science (GOLD) Certificate.
Holmes discovered her true calling in research. She not only excelled as a scientist, but she became a dedicated mentor and advocate for students who did not initially see themselves as scientists. She created inclusive spaces for students through her work with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She also recruited and trained numerous students in biophysics research. \
In her graduate research, Holmes engineered novel protein probes to investigate how molecular crowding affects protein solubility in cells, offering insight into the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. She also advanced tools for studying cellular biophysics by contributing to the development of a laser-based polarization technique for measuring protein diffusion in living cells. While at SFSU, she earned the Data Science and Machine Learning for Biotechnology certificate, participated in the Promoting Inclusivity in Computing program and has been awarded several scholarships and fellowships.
Holmes is pursuing her Ph.D. at Columbia University, and she continues to use her position to positively impact others. She is conducting outreach to local middle schoolers with the Girls’ Science Day Program, represents her cohort in the Graduate Student Council and plans to join the Student Workers of Columbia Union Committee.
College of Ethnic Studies
Undergraduate
Eureka Sapiera Soriano
B.A., Race and Resistance Studies, Sociology
Eureka Sapiera Soriano is a second-generation Filipino American student who transferred to SFSU from Skyline College, where she earned associate degrees in Social Justice Studies and Sociology. She graduates from SFSU with a B.A. in Race and Resistance Studies and Sociology and a minor in Education.
During her time at SFSU, Soriano has been deeply committed to community engagement and student support. She taught Filipino American Studies to fourth and fifth graders at Longfellow Elementary School through the Pin@y Educational Partnerships, helping build meaningful relationships with students and families in the Excelsior District. On campus, she worked as an Access, Relevance and Community peer mentor and teaching assistant, supporting fellow students through academic guidance, leading class discussions and facilitating workshops rooted in social justice and student empowerment.
Navigating higher education as a woman of color from a working-class immigrant family has been a journey filled with both challenges and growth. Through her experiences, especially within the College of Ethnic Studies, Soriano has found healing, love and a strong sense of community that has shaped her academic and professional path.
She hopes to continue giving back by working with youth and serving communities like her own. After graduation, she plans to gain more classroom experience as a substitute teacher while preparing for the social science CSET exam. Her long-term goal is to earn a teaching credential and pursue graduate studies in education and ethnic studies, with the vision of becoming a public high school ethnic studies teacher in San Francisco.
Soriano’s work is guided by a deep commitment to equity, cultural empowerment and educational justice — principles that have grounded her journey and will continue to shape her future.
Graduate
Luseane Anga ae Fonu Tutoe
M.A., Ethnic Studies
In 2023, Luseane Anga ae Fonu Tutoe earned a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Critical Pacific Islands and Oceania Studies (CPIOS) at SFSU. She returned to SFSU and is now graduating with an M.A. in Ethnic Studies.
A Tongan Pacific Islander scholar, Tutoe grounds her work in the values of an Indigenous Pacific Islander lens. Before coming to SFSU, she struggled to find institutional spaces that supported her full identity as both a Pacific Islander and an academic. Through her experiences in sociology and CPIOS classrooms, she discovered a deep connection to the field of ethnic studies.
Tutoe’s graduate research centers on the navigational wealth cultivated by Pacific Islander students and faculty in the Bay Area, reframing harmful narratives and uplifting the community’s resilience and knowledge systems. Her work challenges stigma and emphasizes the strength found in Pacific Islander educational journeys.
At SFSU, Tutoe has served the campus in multiple roles, including as a CPIOS research intern, a member of Associated Students’ Marketing and Communications Team and a leader in the Pacific Islander Student Association (PISA). She has helped organize events celebrating Pasifika lives, culture and scholarship. Among her proudest moments are planning the AAPI mural celebrations, interviewing students and faculty for the Pasifika in Focus campaign and “getting into good trouble” on the picket lines.
Tutoe was also honored as the 2024 Graduate Student of the Year by the Division of Student Life at the Alli’s Awards.
Tutoe credits CPIOS and its faculty with leaving a lasting impact on her academic and personal journey. She plans to carry that legacy forward through teaching at the community college level and continuing to uplift Pacific Islander communities in all that she does.
College of Health & Social Sciences
Graduate
Manuel Lopez
M.A., Family and Consumer Sciences
A first-generation college student and child of immigrant farmworkers, Manuel Lopez navigated complex academic systems, financial aid, employment and housing without family guidance. Having experienced food insecurity himself, he understands the importance of community nutrition resources and is dedicated to advocating for and increasing awareness of these programs among his patients. His interest in nutrition began when he realized that his parents, who had chronic diseases like diabetes, did not have access to health care and lacked the financial resources and knowledge to access healthy foods.
As a Clinical Nutrition undergraduate at UC Davis, Lopez worked multiple jobs, including as a tutor supporting others’ education and as a College Corps fellow collaborating with initiatives to reduce food insecurity and increase access to healthy foods. At SFSU, Lopez completed a 10-month dietetic internship providing nutrition services to at-risk populations. During this time, he worked with Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit organization reducing food insecurity and health disparities, and a hospital providing care for adults and children. Lopez also worked as a dietetic technician throughout the internship and graduate school.
Despite a heavy academic workload, internship hours and employment, Lopez always performed above expectations in internship rotations and was entrusted with higher-level responsibilities than typically given to interns. Lopez’s work addressed the nutritional needs of premature and high-risk infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. His professors say he exemplifies the successful SFSU student, shown through his work ethic, determination, resilience, calm demeanor, humbleness, empathy and passion for working with the underserved.
After completing his master’s degree, Lopez began working as clinical dietitian providing medical nutrition therapy for hospitalized patients.
College of Liberal & Creative Arts
Undergraduate
Arabella Abad
B.A., International Relations, Chinese, German
Arabella Abad embodies the spirit of multilingualism and multiculturalism like few others. Fluent in three languages, Abad has demonstrated an exceptional enthusiasm for language learning and cultural immersion.
Born to Filipino parents, she spent part of her youth living in Germany and Korea. These experiences shaped her global outlook at an early age. At SFSU, Abad pursued a triple major in International Relations, German and Chinese. In 2021, she was admitted to the highly selective SFSU Chinese Flagship Program, a federally funded honors track for intensive Chinese learning. In 2022, she received the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. State Department, enabling her to study Chinese at Dalian University of Technology in China.
Following this, Abad studied for a semester at Heidelberg University in Germany, studying International Relations and advanced Chinese simultaneously. In 2023, she earned another distinguished honor, the Boren Scholarship, funding her participation in a year-long capstone program at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Additionally, she received the Benny and May Chin Scholarship in International Relations and was recently inducted into Phi Sigma Iota, America’s oldest foreign-language honors society.
Abad has deeply impressed her professors, no matter which language she spoke with them. Her long-term goal is to attend graduate school and pursue a career either in international education or diplomacy.
Graduate
Lorisa-Ann Renee Salvatin
MFA, Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts
Lorisa-Ann Renee Salvatin is a storyteller. While she has the artistry to entertain and perform, her true passion lies in collaborating with others to uncover and curate honest, heartfelt and compelling narratives. At the heart of her endeavors lies connecting meaningfully with others, and she has dedicated her academic and creative practices to understanding how storytelling has the power to shape communities and culture.
As a graduate student, Salvatin has focused on studying the intersections between sonic narratives, aesthetics and sociocultural perspectives. She has been active on SFSU’s student-run radio station, KSFS, hosting several special programs, directing and making other contributions. In addition, she has taught audio production courses in the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department, guiding students in exploring the connections between media theory, hands-on production and their lived experiences.
As Salvatin moves forward in her career in media arts and education, she hopes to continue inspiring students to think critically, create boldly and reflect deeply on the media they produce and consume.
College of Science & Engineering
Denise Louise Steffen
B.S., Civil Engineering
From the moment she arrived at SFSU, Denise Louise Steffen was determined to do more than just earn a degree. She wanted to find purpose, community and a way to give back. She is a first-generation college student earning her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and will be continuing as an SF State Scholar to complete her master’s degree with an emphasis in Structural Engineering.
She is working with Associate Professor Jenna Wong on a project investigating the structural dynamics of buildings with vegetated roof systems. This cutting-edge research blends sustainability with structural engineering and pushed Steffen to independently study steel design, learn programs for structural analysis and collaborate with industry advisors. She is also conducting sensitivity analyses to assess the performance of these structures under various natural hazard scenarios. Her outstanding research earned her a spot as an SFSU representative at the CSU Research Competition in Humboldt.
Steffen’s leadership highlights her passion to foster and impact the sense of community on campus. As a student assistant in the Engineering stockroom, she learned the ins and outs of supporting her department behind the scenes. With encouragement from mentors, Steffen became the professional outreach chair for the American Society of Civil Engineers and treasurer for the Engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, where she has played an integral role in revitalizing the SFSU Alpha Gamma chapter.
Steffen’s story is shaped by her personal journey. She is in long-term recovery from addiction and actively sponsors other women on their path to rebuilding their lives. Her experiences have instilled empathy, determination and responsibility — qualities that influence her relationship with colleagues and her professional passion. Steffen will continue her education in graduate school and hopes to become a licensed structural engineer who contributes to a future where sustainability and resilience are intertwined.
Graduate College of Education
Undergraduate
Priscilly Jireh Medrano
B.A., Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Priscilly Jireh Medrano is a proud first-generation college student from the Bay Area and the oldest daughter in her family. As the child of immigrants, she grew up helping her parents navigate complex institutional systems in the U.S. — an experience that sparked her passion for equity and advocacy. This lifelong commitment to supporting others has shaped her academic journey and career goals.
At SFSU, Medrano found a supportive community through the Educational Opportunity Program and participated in the Prep Médico Program, an initiative focused on addressing health disparities in the Latinx community. It was through this program that she was introduced to the field of audiology, inspiring her to pursue a path focused on bridging gaps in hearing health care and communication access, especially for underserved communities like her own.
Throughout her time at SFSU, Medrano has been active in research and leadership. She served as a research assistant in the Gray Matter Lab, where she provided Spanish-language AbSANT therapy to individuals with aphasia. She also contributes to the SFSU-UCSF Auditory Research Lab, studying how speech recognition in background noise affects individuals with both normal hearing and hearing loss. In addition to her academic and research work, Medrano has served as treasurer of the Student Academy of Audiology, helping to build community and raise awareness of hearing health issues.
Medrano graduates with a B.A. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and a minor in Latina/Latino Studies. She will continue her studies in the Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) program at Pacific University in Oregon beginning in the fall. She is committed to using her education to advocate for culturally competent, accessible care for all.
Graduate
Rudolph George Herrera
M.A., Equity and Social Justice Education
Rudolph George Herrera has spent over two decades supporting underrepresented students as a college advisor across the San Francisco Bay Area. He serves as the transitional support coordinator for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at SFSU. As both an alumnus of the U.S. Department of Education’s Upward Bound college preparatory program and a proud EOP college graduate, Herrera brings a deeply personal perspective to his work, grounded in his own experiences navigating higher education as a first-generation student.
Throughout his career, Herrera has guided countless students in local public schools and actively contributed to community organizations focused on educational equity and access. His dedication extends to the professional sphere, where he has presented at conferences and participated in initiatives addressing student retention, outreach, equity and inclusion in higher education.
Herrera is graduating with an M.A. in Equity and Social Justice Education from the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies and Instructional Technologies at SFSU.
His research examines the factors that influence admission and retention for first-generation college students, offering critical insights into the support systems that enable student success and degree completion.
Through his graduate studies and leadership within EOP, Herrera continues to champion educational access and advocate for systemic change. His work reflects an unwavering commitment to uplifting first-generation students and advancing equity across the educational landscape.
Lam Family College of Business
Undergraduate
Leah Selk
B.A., Labor and Employment Studies
Leah Selk will graduate Summa Cum Laude with a major in Labor and Employment Studies and a minor in Spanish. Since transferring to SFSU, she has designed an interdisciplinary degree with a focus on social justice, equity and diversity. Through SFSU Abroad, she spent a semester in Buenos Aires in 2024, an experience that deepened her international perspective and commitment to global fairness.
Selk received her A.A. at Peralta Community College, then studied at Sonoma State University before transferring to SFSU. At Sonoma State, Selk conducted interviews to design culturally relevant therapy materials for Latina/o couples.
After being diagnosed with autism, Selk became passionate about disability awareness on campus. She connected with disability resources at SFSU, which helped her succeed academically and personally. Selk believes her autism has enabled her to view political and social issues from different perspectives. She has pushed to make educational spaces at SFSU more welcoming to students with learning and other differences.
Selk is a lifelong learner of social justice and actively participates in community events. She understands the significance of community involvement. She has testified before numerous city councils, arguing for a mental health response team and a ban on police holds that cause positional asphyxia, among other things, to better our communities. She remains committed to learning from others. She has also been an LGBTQ activist who has participated in events uplifting the queer community at SFSU and elsewhere through community building and issue amplification.
Consistent with SFSU’s core values, Selk believes that diversity is humanity’s strongest asset. She is guided by her belief in fairness and equity, and after graduation, she plans to work for organizations that promote both labor and housing rights.
Graduate
Phan Quay Su
M.S., Accountancy
Phan Quay Su was born and raised in a small village in Vietnam, where she faced gender inequity. There were limited professional and academic opportunities available to women, especially within higher education. These limitations hindered her growth both academically and professionally. Instead of letting these challenges defeat her, they motivated her to achieve academic excellence, break down barriers and provide greater support to her local community.
As an international, first-generation college student, Su maintained a high grade point average while balancing multiple leadership roles and extracurricular class activities. While at SFSU, she was the treasurer for Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), an international honor society for accounting, finance and information systems. She actively participated in professional events like weekly BAP technical presentations, Meet the Firms and the BAP Annual Meeting in Las Vegas (2023).
She volunteered significant hours to the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for four years, providing free basic tax services to low-income families, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, F-1 and J-1 international students and individuals with limited English proficiency. During her tenure with VITA, she progressed from serving as a volunteer tax preparer to becoming the site manager and site coordinator.
Su was an accounting tutor with the University’s Tutoring & Academic Support Center (TASC), helping students develop a strong academic foundation through effective study strategies. She was the recipient of multiple awards including the International Student/Associated Students Scholarship, the Paul Wiese Memorial Scholarship, the Marcum Student Scholarship Fund and the Martinelli Family Scholarship.
Throughout her time at SFSU, Su developed communication, leadership and organization skills. After completing her M.S. in Accountancy, she plans to obtain a Certified Public Accountant license and work in the area of tax accounting with a public company or nonprofit organization.
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