JN
Jose Nieto
  • economics
  • Class of 2016
  • Iowa Park, Texas

Jose Nieto of Iowa Park graduates from Bates College

2016 Sep 13

Jose Nieto, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jose M. Nieto of Iowa Park, Texas, graduated after majoring in economics at Bates. He is a 2012 graduate of Iowa Park High School.

Bates College graduated 462 students from 32 states and 43 countries. Cumulatively, the Class of 2016 performed approximately 17,500 hours of community service, exemplifying Bates' commitment to community learning and civic action.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, often called "one of the most courageous persons the civil rights movement ever produced," delivered the address at Bates' 150th commencement ceremony on May 29. In his speech, recounting his first meeting with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis said that the great civil rights leader "inspired me to stand up, to speak up and speak out." Lewis told the graduates, "You must find a way to get in the way and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. You have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate, when you leave here, to go out and seek justice for all. You can do it. You must do it."

He was joined by fellow honorands Lisa Genova '92, best-selling novelist and a member of the Bates class of 1992; Daniel Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness"; and Robert Witt, a member of the Bates class of 1962 and a leader in higher education.

Bates is internationally recognized as a leading college of the liberal arts, attracting 2,000 students from across the U.S. and around the world. Since 1855, Bates has been dedicated to educating the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community.

With a commitment to affordability, Bates has always admitted students without regard to gender, race, religion or national origin. Cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action, Bates prepares leaders sustained by a love of learning and zeal for responsible stewardship of the wider world.