2024 Commencement Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients UConn
“CONGRATULATIONS!”
Kelly Ha ’19, ’21 MSW (Bachelor of General Studies – Saturday, May 4, 2:00 p.m. – Student Union Theatre)
Kelly Ha is a licensed social worker and the co-founder of the #IAmNotAVirus campaign, an anti-Asian discrimination and racism awareness movement which came to prominence during the rise of COVID-19, when multiple members of the AAPI community were being targeted. Since then, the campaign received global recognition, created a mental health workbook in collaboration with the UConn AASI department, provided training in corporate and educational settings, and hosted a BIPOC book drive to increase literacy and representation in Connecticut school system. Ha worked on the Make Us Visible movement, which made Connecticut the first state in the country to include AAPI studies in the public school systems with overwhelming bipartisan support. Ha is also the recipient of the 100 Women of Color award and Hartford’s Finest. Ha spoke on the panel for the 2022 Regional Summit on Innovation & Inclusion through the AA & NHPI Lens as part of the White House Initiative.
