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Senior Profiles
Congratulations seniors! Your impact on Beloit and those around you has been extraordinary. See all profiles. →
Thanks to the Office for Student Success, Equity, and Community for leading the effort to highlight the class of 2022.
- <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-6 senior-image"><img src="/live/image/gid/124/width/600/height/600/crop/1/src_region/0,0,754,754/9560_Mezekerta_Tesfay.rev.1651776453.png" class="lw_no_picture" alt="" loading="lazy"/><p><strong>Mezekerta Tesfay</strong><br/>Hometown: <strong>Grinnell, Iowa</strong></p></div><div class="col senior-detail"><h2 class="senior-name py-2 m-0"> Mezekerta Tesfay </h2><div class="senior-info"><div><em>summa cum laude</em></div><strong> Sociology</strong> with Departmental <span><ul class="multi_value"><li>Honors</li></ul></span><br/>Political Science Minor <p class="hometown">Hometown: <strong>Grinnell, Iowa</strong></p></div><div class="senior-awards"><a href="/commencement/prizes-awards/?name=Mezekerta Tesfay"><ul><li>Charles Grant Curtis Memorial Award for Excellence in Sociology </li><li>Department of Theatre and Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance </li><li>Pi Sigma Alpha </li></ul></a></div><div class="senior-quote"><em><p> “I knew Mez was special and a driven young woman the moment I met her at a welcome reception for “Domestic Students of Color” for Freshmen students. She wanted to know about clubs and resources that the college had to offer. I knew at that moment that she would be a great fit as student staff for my office. I wasn’t wrong she had a million ideas on how to educate and bring attention and awareness to the campus community around equity, diversity & Inclusion. Mez, see’s the value and worth of a quality education, one that should be available to every person, regardless of their background. I recall a speech she gave in 2020 at the Colleges MLK Convocation, these words still resonate with me - “As a member of the Beloit College community, it is not my intent to critique our efforts, but rather, our purpose. If we are committed to being a successful, inclusive and equitable community we must make sure these groups do not only function for minorities by minorities. But, for minorities by everyone. I challenge every able and willing person in this room to: Recognize where you fall into the majority. Look up the list of clubs and organizations at Beloit College and the surrounding communities and find a group where you become a minority. Go to a meeting or an event they are hosting and just see how it feels to be a minority and what you learn MLK said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” It is not the responsibility and job of minorities alone to support their communities and uplift them, it is everyone’s responsibility. And, when we fully realize this and practice it, I believe that we will have a community that does not need separate smaller communities within it. We will have achieved a community that MLK would have been proud of. I have no doubt YOU, Mez will go on to do and achieve amazing things, you will make your community and the world a better place for all. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next. Congrats!” -Daksha Howard</p></em><div class="m-3 clearfix"><a href="/commencement/senior-profiles/index.php" class="d-inline-block pull-right"><i class="fa fa-refresh fa-2x"/></a></div></div></div></div>
