Celebrating Regis’ Global Community: Regis MSDP Graduates Gather in Nairobi

This past July, Regis’ Masters of Sustainable Development Practice (MSDP) hosted a graduate celebration at the Jesuit Hekima University College (HUC) in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together global graduates from East and Central Africa to recognize and celebrate those who were unable to travel to the United States for their own commencement ceremonies.

This gathering of Regis alumni was organized by Regis’ MSDP program and kindly supported by HUC’s leadership, bringing 12 students from cohorts dating back to 2017, and across Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda. Most of the event’s costs were generously covered by the Rotary District 5450 Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) Local Action Group, which has previously partnered with Regis to support scholarships for students in the global south.

Each of the attendees was a previous recipient of the Regis Practitioner Scholarship award, which operates on a one-to-one basis: for every domestic student enrolled in the MSDP program, Regis will offer one scholarship to a deserving student from the Global South. The award covered 98% of their tuition, allowing them to find postgraduate careers in the NGOs, nonprofits and government institutions of their communities.

M.D. Kinoti, Ph.D., program director and professor of the MSDP program, who organized and attended the event in person, shared how recognizing these graduates emphasizes Regis’ role as a global partner.

“The event, along with the scholarship grants awarded to these students, reflects Regis University’s ongoing commitment to global service, in alignment with our mission: ‘To build a more just and humane world through transformative education at the frontiers of faith, reason, and culture,’” said Kinoti.

Each of the graduates was given a commemorative letter from Regis’ provost, Jake Bucher, Ph.D., presented in the same folios bearing the Regis seal that they would have received at a traditional Regis commencement.

Coming together to celebrate these Regis graduates’ ongoing commitment to justice and leadership not only recognizes their individual achievements but also the lasting impact of a Regis education. To represent his fellow graduates, Vitu Tembo, M.S.D.P., a graduate of Cohort 22 and current development practitioner and accountant from Malawi, declared the significance of experiencing a “graduation” event.

“This celebration is also a tribute to resilience. Many of us could not make it to the United States due to visa challenges, but here we are, together in Kenya, proving that barriers cannot stop us from achieving our goals or connecting as a global community,” said Tembo.