Immaculate Heart High School Graduates Celebrate 117th Commencement

Actress, activist and former student Yara Shahidi, Class of 2017, addresses Immaculate Heart graduates as commencement speaker. (Photo: Nick Boswell)

Shimmering in white and bearing bouquets of red roses, 115 graduates crossed the stage at the iconic Hollywood Bowl and received their diplomas during Immaculate Heart High School’s 117th commencement.

The May 30th ceremony marked a milestone for the Class of 2023, and the seniors clearly savored their moment – as well as their bonds with each other – as they shined under the lights before a cheering audience of families, friends and faculty.

Immaculate Heart High School awarded diplomas to 115 seniors at the Hollywood Bowl during its 117th commencement. (Photo: Nick Boswell)

Addressing the several hundred people in the stands, class speaker Asha Goyal acknowledged the strong ties shared among her classmates. “Immaculate Heart is more than just four years; it is a community,” said the senior, who received the school’s Distinguished Scholar Award and will attend Yale University next fall.

Even when the students were separated by the pandemic as freshmen and remained apart throughout sophomore year, “we still felt the IH sisterhood,” Goyal continued. “Returning to school, able to hug each other once again, our bonds were only strengthened. And these bonds will last throughout our lives,” she added.

Senior Asha Goyal delivers a passionate speech as the selected class speaker at commencement. (Photo: Heidi Eligio)

Now, with the hearts on their class rings pointing outward, Goyal said the graduates will take the wisdom gained from their Catholic education to enrich the world. “The future is, of course, not certain, but the Pandas of 2023 are certain to persevere as women of great heart and right conscience.”

As the evening’s commencement speaker, actress and activist Yara Shahidi recalled her own experiences as a former student of Immaculate Heart Middle School and High School and a member of the Class of 2017. “While I might not have graduated from Immaculate Heart, I forever consider it my alma mater as I was truly shaped by my years here,” said Shahidi, who went on to become a breakout star of ABC’s prime-time comedy series black-ish and is now an executive producer and lead in the spinoff series grown-ish.

Members of Immaculate Heart High School’s Class of 2023 sang two songs and the alma mater during the May 30th ceremony. (Photo: Heidi Eligio)

Shahidi, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University last year and continues to receive accolades for her work as an advocate for equity, encouraged the graduates to follow their own path and “stay curious, stay open, and know that regardless of what you do, your only obligation to your own community is to be your full self.”

The 23-year-old remembered being told that lives rarely unfold as planned “and I can really attest to that,” she said. “What I’ve discovered, so far, is that my path has been found in the pivot. Obstacles have been the necessary catalyst for me to look in new directions.”

Immaculate Heart’s award winners this year, and the colleges they will attend, include (left to right) Angela Echaorre, University of California, Davis; Maddie Garcia, University of Pennsylvania; Talula Zies, University of Southern California; Asha Goyal, Yale University; Jamie DeNeve, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; and Maya Bryant, Howard University. (Photo: Heidi Eligio)

For example, as an Immaculate Heart freshman Shahidi said she was devastated when she did not make the mock trial team. Later, however, she joined the school’s speech and debate team which “was integral in activating my passions – passions I could have only discovered from late night case review sessions and pep talks with my teammates,” she said.

“If there’s anything I ask that you bring with you from Immaculate Heart into the world is your sense of curiosity,” Shahidi said. “All of your interests, all of your passions, have an indispensable place in our world – a place that only you can fill.”

Joining Shahidi on stage were Immaculate Heart’s retiring theology chair Maria Pollia, who offered the commencement’s invocation, IHHS Principal Naemah Morris, who conferred the diplomas, and Immaculate Heart President Maureen Diekmann, who also congratulated the graduates on their achievements.

Immaculate Heart High School & Middle School is located at 5515 Franklin Avenue in the Los Feliz Hills of Los Angeles near Griffith Park. Founded in 1906, the Catholic, independent, college preparatory school educates and empowers young women in grades 6-12. For more information, visit immaculateheart.org.