b'GrAdUATe AddreSSJUliAn E. Nixon AniAmAl And VeTerinAry SciemceSSpeech Delivered at the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony, August 10, 2023My Two Responsibilities as a Ph.D. RecipientI stand here elated, humbled, and conflicted. Because at this very moment I am in the sight of the many who have championed my cause, yet I belong to a fraternity of so few. There are far too many people to count that have supported me on this journey and yet the PhD Pantheon that I have now gained membership to is yet a familiar place. Because I learned that only 7% of the Ph.D.s in the world are held by some-one who looks like me, and only 3% of STEM Ph.D.s are held by those who identify like me as well. I am elated, not because I have set a bar for others, but because I have made a destination more reachable. I am humbled, not because of the honor but because of those who have proved to me that I could when I began to feel as though I could not. And I am conflicted, not because I am confused, but because I feel both the released weight of the doctoral process and a new weight of my responsibility with this great achieve-ment.I do think of my career moving forward and I do think of updating my LinkedIn profile. I do think of the future oppor-tunities, and I do think of the conversations that I will have with my toddler when she hears people call me "doctor". But I also think of the little boys and girls of color that will now see a future of hope in me. I was once told, "When you get that degree don\'t become too important." But this degree is not only about me. I am now a reflection of the George Washington Carver\'s, the Percy Julian\'s, the Victor Glover\'s, The Dr. Curtis White\'s, Dr. Drew Lanham\'s, The Dr. Oliver Myer\'s, The Dr. William McCoy\'s, the Dr. Harrison Pinckneys, the Dr. Carlyle Brewster\'s, the Dr. Constancio Nakumas, the Dr. Juan Gilberts, the Dr. Harold Cheathamsand my list goes on and on and onWhat I speak of is not to be mistaken as random rhetoric or a brief break in boredom during this grand event. What I speak of is not hot air or space to be filled because no one could find something else to say. What I speak of is the greater purpose of our degrees. What I speak of is your personal responsibil-ity to this degree and your personal responsibility to others. Let me explain.First, you have a personal responsibility to this degree. It is being presented to you with a degree of power and authority, and with those two tools you can now adjust the equity within the world. We have spent years of our lives generating data, studying samples, formulat-ing conclusions, surviving 7'