2025 Student Commencement Speakers
2025 Student Commencement Speakers
Three outstanding graduating seniors from Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have been selected to address their peers as part of the three CAS Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 9, 2025. Mika Cutler, graduating with a BS in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience, will address the 9 a.m. Ceremony; Melina Wsol, graduating with a BS in Psychology, will address the 1 p.m. Ceremony; and Humaira Iffath, graduating with a BS in Biology will address the 5 p.m. Ceremony.
“Our student speakers embody the values of a Jesuit, liberal arts education, which includes thoughtful reflection, meaningful engagement, and a deep commitment to others,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We are proud to have them share their insights and experiences with the College of Arts and Sciences community during this important milestone in their lives. I also want to thank the selection committee for their care and dedication in choosing and supporting this year’s speakers.”
An overview of departments and interdisciplinary programs with their corresponding College of Arts and Sciences Commencement Ceremony can be found here.
Each ceremony will be live streamed, and more information can be found on the LUC Commencement homepage.
See below for more information on the 2025 Commencement student speakers.
MIKAYLA CUTLER
Major: Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience
Commencement: 9 a.m. Ceremony
Mikayla (Mika) Cutler is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Biology. Their time at Loyola has been defined by a passion for the slow burn of neuroscience research, particularly in the intersection of visual cognition and memory. Cutler was the recipient of the Pizzi Research Fellowship and the Loyola Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. They have presented research in Scotland–work that helped to serve as the foundation for their submission as co-lead author on a manuscript that is currently under review. Most notably, Cutler made history as the first undergraduate ever invited to deliver a full-length lecture at Loyola’s Seminar in Neuroscience. Cutler plans to continue exploring the field of research.
MELINA WSOL
Major: Psychology
Commencement: 1 p.m. Ceremony
Melina Wsol is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Psychology. A proud Romanian American from a small northwest suburb, Wsol found a calling in clinical child psychology through volunteer work at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She completed her psychology capstone through two different internships at Tuesday's Child, where she focused on behavioral intervention for children ages 2 to 6. On campus, she conducted research in Dr. Scott Leon’s PACE Lab, studying ways to improve mental health outcomes for children in foster care and presenting her findings at the Midwestern Psychological Association conference for two consecutive years. Wsol also served as a Psychology Student Instructor at the tutoring center, supporting her peers academically. Wsol is currently applying to PsyD programs with the goal of becoming a clinical child psychologist and hopes to serve children and families through both hospital-based care and private practice.
HUMAIRA IFFATH
Major: Biology
Commencement: 5 p.m. Ceremony
Humaira Iffath is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Neuroscience. Deeply involved both on and off campus, she currently serves at the president of Student Advocates for Medicine in Politics and volunteers to do triage at a free clinic in West Town. She co-founded the Association for Justice in Kashmir during her first year on campus and also founded the Muslim Women Run Club, a local community running initiative that combines wellness and sisterhood. Iffath works as a medical assistant and conducts cognitive and emotional research, which she plans to continue during her gap year before applying to medical school next month. She looks forward to continuing a path centered on service, advocacy, and compassionate care.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments, 31 interdisciplinary programs, and 7 interdisciplinary centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”
Three outstanding graduating seniors from Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have been selected to address their peers as part of the three CAS Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 9, 2025. Mika Cutler, graduating with a BS in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience, will address the 9 a.m. Ceremony; Melina Wsol, graduating with a BS in Psychology, will address the 1 p.m. Ceremony; and Humaira Iffath, graduating with a BS in Biology will address the 5 p.m. Ceremony.
“Our student speakers embody the values of a Jesuit, liberal arts education, which includes thoughtful reflection, meaningful engagement, and a deep commitment to others,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We are proud to have them share their insights and experiences with the College of Arts and Sciences community during this important milestone in their lives. I also want to thank the selection committee for their care and dedication in choosing and supporting this year’s speakers.”
An overview of departments and interdisciplinary programs with their corresponding College of Arts and Sciences Commencement Ceremony can be found here.
Each ceremony will be live streamed, and more information can be found on the LUC Commencement homepage.
See below for more information on the 2025 Commencement student speakers.
MIKAYLA CUTLER
Major: Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience
Commencement: 9 a.m. Ceremony
Mikayla (Mika) Cutler is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Biology. Their time at Loyola has been defined by a passion for the slow burn of neuroscience research, particularly in the intersection of visual cognition and memory. Cutler was the recipient of the Pizzi Research Fellowship and the Loyola Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. They have presented research in Scotland–work that helped to serve as the foundation for their submission as co-lead author on a manuscript that is currently under review. Most notably, Cutler made history as the first undergraduate ever invited to deliver a full-length lecture at Loyola’s Seminar in Neuroscience. Cutler plans to continue exploring the field of research.
MELINA WSOL
Major: Psychology
Commencement: 1 p.m. Ceremony
Melina Wsol is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Psychology. A proud Romanian American from a small northwest suburb, Wsol found a calling in clinical child psychology through volunteer work at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She completed her psychology capstone through two different internships at Tuesday's Child, where she focused on behavioral intervention for children ages 2 to 6. On campus, she conducted research in Dr. Scott Leon’s PACE Lab, studying ways to improve mental health outcomes for children in foster care and presenting her findings at the Midwestern Psychological Association conference for two consecutive years. Wsol also served as a Psychology Student Instructor at the tutoring center, supporting her peers academically. Wsol is currently applying to PsyD programs with the goal of becoming a clinical child psychologist and hopes to serve children and families through both hospital-based care and private practice.
HUMAIRA IFFATH
Major: Biology
Commencement: 5 p.m. Ceremony
Humaira Iffath is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a BS in Neuroscience. Deeply involved both on and off campus, she currently serves at the president of Student Advocates for Medicine in Politics and volunteers to do triage at a free clinic in West Town. She co-founded the Association for Justice in Kashmir during her first year on campus and also founded the Muslim Women Run Club, a local community running initiative that combines wellness and sisterhood. Iffath works as a medical assistant and conducts cognitive and emotional research, which she plans to continue during her gap year before applying to medical school next month. She looks forward to continuing a path centered on service, advocacy, and compassionate care.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments, 31 interdisciplinary programs, and 7 interdisciplinary centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”