Tamika Catchings, a superstar on the basketball court and an inspiration in the community, will address students at the campuswide Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis commencement ceremony. Catchings played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, cementing a legacy as one of the greatest women ever to play the game.
Amber Kriech is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Supervision, two certificates—in Human Resource Management and Technical Communications—and two minors—in business and sociology. She has been on the Dean’s List every semester at IUPUI and she is a Bepko Scholar. Kriech has had four internships, and she credits IUPUI’s faculty and staff with giving her the real-world knowledge that will make her successful in the workplace. While interning at State Farm Insurance corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois, she helped to plan professional development sessions for interns, and she completed a risk assessment for a new file-storing location that the company was using.
Kriech has macro- and micro-level perspectives of IUPUI because of her academic and volunteering experiences. She has helped to develop courses, including a grant-writing course, a service-learning course for the Department of Technology Leadership and Communication, and an occupational health and safety course. She is vice president of external affairs for the Student Activities Programming Board, director of recruitment for the Student Organization for Alumni Relations, a member of the Student Development Funding Committee, and a career services ambassador for the School of Engineering and Technology. She has expressed her appreciation for the many opportunities that she and other IUPUI students have to make an impact on campus and to grow professionally.
Each year, graduating seniors are invited to apply to be the IUPUI student Commencement speaker. The selected student speaker has a successful academic record (3.0 GPA) and a history of participation in campus and/or community activities. The student Commencement speaker gives a 3–5 minute speech in front of approximately 4,000 classmates and 16,000 guests at IUPUI Commencement.
