2025 BLI Graduation

Dear Class of 2025,

You have navigated a demanding academic schedule while pursuing your personal interests and volunteering in organizations and communities you deeply care about with grace and compassion. We have watched your growth as you share your stories, including triumphs and tribulations. Your resilience and generous support for your fellow BLI community members have been amazing experiences. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed and are deeply appreciated.

We wish you an inspiring and insightful life where you blossom in your capacity to spotlight invisibilities and, importantly, foster a culture of dignity. Your role in this is crucial, and we have full confidence in your ability to make a significant impact. We hope your life is brimming with opportunities for your growth and your capacity to build and strengthen communities that promote dignity, kindness, peace, and well-being.

Congratulations, Class of 2025!!!
Go Blue!

With Metta,
Ram Mahalingam, Ph.D.
Director, Barger Leadership Institute

Barger Leadership Institute
Class of 2025

It is with great pride that we announce the Barger Leadership Graduates who have participated in our advanced leadership programming!

Applied Leadership Fellows at the BLI serve as the liaisons between the BLI's professional staff and its student members, allowing the Institute to maintain a close connection to the community that we serve. These students deepen their leadership and professional development by working to learn in a fast-paced, collaborative team environment. This year's graduating seniors are:

Aayana Anand
Taylor Burnham
Meaghan Ennis
Priya Kalra
Julia Kassab
Thomas Mezgebu
Olivia O'Connell

Leadership Teaching Fellows at the BLI mentor fellow students to develop their leadership, by instructing the BLI leadership courses. These students play a significant role in developing course content, leading discussions, modeling the habits, and supporting student project teams. This year's graduating seniors are:

Yena Kwon
Veronika Senzer

The Social Transformation Fellowship, supports undergrads with the exploration and development of their ideas. Teams are supported in designing and implementing evidence-based projects that seek to bring about small (and big) wins for the complex, ambiguous problems that exist in our deeply interconnected world. In this experience, BLI provided teams with funding, mentorship, training, and opportunities to master effective leadership habits. This year's graduating seniors are:

Erin Alcott (2023)
Mayee Chen (2022)
Emma Cordova (2022)
Pranav Desurkar
Pooja Kannappan
Julia Kassab (2022)
Atishay Kumar
Camelin McKay
Shriya Mehta (2023)
Akhila Akhila (2022)
Miti Shah (2023)
Elyse Soracco (2023)
Aarti Sridhar
Saarang Suryavanshi
Maxwell Wen
Tianyu (Darrin) Zhou

In collaboration, M-LEAD and the BLI offers the Leadership Certificate at the University of Michigan to recognize exceptional student leaders on campus who involve themselves in experiential, class-based, and service leadership learning. This year's students graduating from the Leadership Certificate program are: