Social Justice Advocate to Address Graduates at University of New Haven’s Winter Commencement

During the ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, December 15, at 2 p.m. at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, the University will award more than 700 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

December, 13, 2019

Kica Matos, a national advocate for immigration reform who served as deputy mayor for the City of New Haven as part of the administration of Mayor John DeStefano, will be the featured speaker at the University of New Haven’s Winter Commencement on Sunday, December 15. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at the Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford.

As part of the ceremony, the University will award more than 700 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Matos, who has lived in New Haven for nearly 20 years, is the director of the Center for Immigration and Justice at the Vera Institute. She joined Vera earlier this year after spending seven years as the director of immigration rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C.

The University will award more than 700 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

In addition to her role with the DeStefano administration, Matos previously spent five years as executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, New Haven’s oldest Latino community-based organization. During the ceremony, Matos will be presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

The University will also award an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree to Marilou “M.L.” McLaughlin, who served as the dean of the University’s College of Business from 1981 to 1994. Under her leadership, the College expanded into new programmatic areas vital to the University’s growth and development.