Ryan Carty, Maggie Cavalenes headline virtual fall convocation

Ryan Carty (ABJ ’09) and soon-to-be graduate Maggie Cavalenes will not be at a loss of topics related to overcoming challenges and persevering when they address the fall Grady College graduates during virtual convocation ceremonies.

The ceremony will be available for viewing beginning at 11 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2020, and will include comments from Dean Charles Davis, a virtual roll-call of graduates complete with self-submitted pictures and short videos, a welcome message from Grady Society Alumni Board President Lauren Izzo (ABJ ’05, MA ’07), comments from Carty who will deliver the charge to candidates and reflections from Cavalenes who was selected to be the distinguished senior speaker.

Carty currently serves as recruiter in GMS, partnerships and consumer marketing for Facebook. He is well-known here not only from his time as a student, but also serving as the college’s liaison with the UGA Career Center followed by its first director of experiential learning from 2014 to 2016. Since that time, Carty has served in various recruiter roles at Tegna and Truist, before joining Facebook early this year. During his time as a student, Carty served as a college ambassador and held a T. Howard Foundation internship and went on to earn a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in professional counseling from UGA.

Cavalenes was selected to be the distinguished senior speaker based on an audition process among graduating seniors. She graduates with a degree in public relations, a minor in women’s studies and a Public Affairs Communications certificate. Cavalenes was very involved with campus activities during her time as a student including serving as social media editor for The Red & Black special publications, co-president of HER Campus UGA, executive communications director of Student Government Association and a Tieger Fellow for the Public Affairs Communication Program, among others. She also held several internships during her time including positions, among others, at the Disney College Program; Guardian; and Tupperware Brands where she is currently focusing on social media strategy in their Early Talent Identification Program. Cavalenes is from Cumming, Georgia.

Cavelenes was interviewed for a profile in spring 2019 at which time she talked about what it’s like to be a student with initiative and a positive attitude: “There’s no need for negativity in an empty space – I try to come into things with positive energy and with the hope of receiving good things back.”

Fall graduates are invited to submit pictures and short videos for the video production produced by StageClip. Graduates who did not receive an email from StageClip with a link to submit materials should email Karen Andrews at KarenA@uga.edu for further instructions.

The ceremony will be available to watch any time on the UGA Grady College YouTube channel and on the college graduation webpage.