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The �鶹��Ƶ community came together on the Fairfax Campus on Thursday to celebrate more than 4,600 graduates.

�鶹��Ƶ’s Leah Adams and Amarda Shehu were among 12 Virginia educators honored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as 2022 Outstanding Faculty Award recipients, the council announced Thursday.

�鶹��Ƶ senior Eva Noroski spent a month assisting alumna and Elephant Trails keeper Ashley Fortner at the National Zoo, researching elephant sleep patterns.

�鶹��Ƶ will honor more than 4,600 summer and fall graduates on Thursday, Dec. 16, in two Winter Graduation ceremonies at EagleBank Arena, marking �鶹��Ƶ’s first indoor graduation ceremonies in two years.

On average, pre-pandemic, around 45 �鶹��Ƶ Korea students had been studying at the Fairfax Campus each semester. The program peaked at 84 students this fall, but they expect more than 100 students this spring.

The Core Campus Project, which transformed the center of the Fairfax Campus, is wrapping up after five-plus years of planning and construction.

Lily Patterson knew she wanted to make things when she began her studies at �鶹��Ƶ. “I just wanted to turn physical things into something that’s really cool and awesome,” she said.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has not seen peace for more than three decades, but in November 2021, �鶹��Ƶ’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution helped the country take a leap in a hopeful direction. In the province of South Kivu, the school gathered representatives from 21 armed groups, the Congolese government, military, police, intelligence services, religious leaders, civil society groups, and peace advocates. Not only did everyone discuss a path toward peacebuilding, but they also signed a peace accord to solidify it.

The Fast Grants program within the Mercatus Center will aid in the development of a potential pan-coronavirus vaccine.

When graduating psychology major Dorothea J. Tyree attends �鶹��Ƶ’s Winter Graduation on Dec. 16, she will be wearing a stole that shows the flags of her native Romania and Germany, where she lived as a teen.

�鶹��Ƶ alum Shaza Andersen, BA Area Studies ’89, is the featured speaker at the 2021 Winter Graduation ceremony.