On March 25, Meredith Morgan and Matthew Sheehy, the chairs of the undergraduate and graduate student speaker selection committee, announced the selection of the class of 2024 student commencement speakers. The undergraduate student chosen is Ianna Gilbert ’24, and the graduate student chosen is Peter Thabet ’24. 

According to the email, Gilbert is a Computer Science and Environmental Studies major from Jamaica, New York. She is a Posse New York Scholar and has cultivated a passion for marine biology. Gilbert also holds many on-campus roles as a Roosevelt Fellow, a Study Abroad Ambassador and an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Environmental Studies department. 

Thabet is an MBA candidate at the Brandeis International Business school. His work focuses on finance and strategy. Like Gilbert, Thabet has been very active in the student population, and received the Orientation Leader of the Year award in 2023. He has also won first place in the annual Consulting Case Competition, and the Stock Pitch competition. Before coming to Brandeis, Thabet led a tech startup at the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. 

Each speaker will receive the Richard Kaufman ’58 Memorial Prize for Leadership and Academic Excellence.