'Life is made of stories': ASU English celebrates 24-25 grads
By Kristen LaRue-Sandler — May 14, 2025
On Tuesday, May 13, the ASU Department of English celebrated 2024-2025 graduates and winners of scholarships, fellowships and awards in a hybrid presentation and reception held at Ross-Blakley Hall on the ASU Tempe campus and online via Zoom.
Chair Manushag “Nush” Powell opened the event with lauds for the department’s talented faculty and students. “This is an amazing and dynamic department,” she said.
Featured faculty speaker Ruben Espinosa acknowledged that “it’s not an easy time to be embarking into the ‘real’ world.” But he exhorted graduates to step into their post-ASU lives with love and courage.
“We need to come at this, to discover solutions from manifold angles. That’s why we need you. It’s a calling of sorts.”
Dahlia Horani, a graduating English literature major who is the Dean’s Medalist in English for The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, thanked her family, teachers and peers. She said she was grateful for the community she found in the Department of English. “I wouldn’t be here today if I weren’t constantly inspired by the people around me.”
Horani is earning a concurrent bachelor’s degree in psychology along with a minor in sociology and drew a parallel between her scientific and literary studies of humanity. “Life is made of stories.”
The last featured speaker was Bob Sommer, co-founder and co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, a local independent business founded in 1974 by Sommer and his ASU English major wife Gayle Shanks, along with another business partner.
Sommer weaved references to Shakespeare, quotations from Ezra Klein and Margaret Atwood, and meditations by William Morris, as he made a case for creating beauty in the world. Sommer closed the event with donations of Changing Hands gift cards to every graduating student and award-winner in attendance.
The event was part of a week of celebrations at ASU, including multiple special ceremonies and the Alumni Association’s Golden Reunion for 50-year graduates, culminating in two convocations held by The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17. Graduating students from the Department of English will participate in the Maroon Ceremony on May 16.
Images at top, from left to right: Nush Powell, Ruben Espinosa, Dahlia Horani, and Bob Sommer. Photos by Ashley Sorensen.