Class of 2017

Meet five members of the graduating class who are ready to make their communities—and our world—ever better.

They arrived in the fall of 2013 and soon will take their leave as members of the University of Rochester graduating class of 2017. Here is a collection of photos…

“The thing that really stands out most to me about my time at Eastman has been the amazing community that the school offers,” says the double major in classical saxophone performance and music theory.

“I was given something most people wouldn’t dream of receiving,” the computer science and business dual major says. “That comes with some responsibility. Whatever potential Rochester saw in me, I wanted to live up to it.” Meet the Class of 2017.

Goodlet graduates with a degree in political science and African-American studies. “We know that the number of minority students going into faculty work is low, so how can we get students of color to actually pursue the pipeline of becoming a faculty member?”

Colon will pursue her master's degree in teaching and curriculum as she works to become a high school English teacher. “Younger students need to see that there are people who went through the city school district who are minorities and are now in college and accomplishing things,” she says. “They can do it as well.”

After graduating with a degree in English—and earning social media fame for his viral buzzer-beating shot—Borst-Smith will be playing basketball professionally in Europe, something he says is both “exciting and nerve-wracking.”

Sophomore Leah Schwartz ’17 will spend six weeks this summer studying as a US-UK Fulbright Summer Institute participant. The program selects approximately 50 early college students from the United States and United Kingdom to participate in the summer academic and cultural exchange program.