Baccalaureate student speaker announced

Stanford senior Lusciana Gomez is the 2023 Baccalaureate student speaker. She will address graduates at the Baccalaureate ceremony on Saturday, June 17, at Frost Amphitheater.

Senior Lusciana Gomez is the 2023 Baccalaureate student speaker. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)

Gomez said the ceremony is a special time for students to honor the aspects of the Stanford experience that often go overlooked.

“We’re able to reflect and remember what brought us here in the first place,” Gomez said. “It’s a time to share our vulnerability, gratitude, and community. While graduation is a time to celebrate our intellectual growth, Baccalaureate gives us a chance to celebrate our spiritual growth.”

Baccalaureate is an annual multifaith gathering for graduating seniors, graduate students, and professional students, as well as their families and friends. It is a student-led commemoration acknowledging the spiritual contribution to the academic journey and is organized under the auspices of the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life (ORSL). The event includes music from culturally diverse backgrounds, readings from different communities, and perspectives from the wide range of religious traditions represented at Stanford.

The ceremony takes place the day before Commencement. Each year, the presidents of the graduating senior class – in consultation with ORSL – select the student speaker from speeches submitted by graduating seniors.

“[In my address] I hope to convey the immense gratitude I feel for my time at Stanford and remind us of the magic we all felt on Day 1,” Gomez said.

Gomez is from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Throughout her undergraduate studies, she has been an active member of the Stanford community. She participated in the ITALIC Residential Arts Program, Stanford in New York, Stanford Pre-Dental Society, Stanford Women in Comedy, Stanford Stand-Up Comedy, and Stanford Students in Entertainment.

Gomez is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor is astronomy. In the fall, she will begin her coterminal master’s studies in community health and prevention research at Stanford and, later, plans to attend dental school.

In addition to Gomez, this year’s Baccalaureate speaker is Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, an innovative worship leader and the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America.

Baccalaureate will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. at Frost Amphitheater. The event is free, open to all, and no tickets are required. Gates open at 9 a.m.

The event will be livestreamed and broadcast live on Stanford radio station KZSU FM 90.1 and on kzsu.stanford.edu. More information is available on the Stanford Commencement website.