The University of North Florida's Hicks Honors College proudly hosted a naturalization ceremony on November 19 at UNF's Adam W. Herbert University Center that left both student and faculty participants feeling hopeful about what it means to be American.

A naturalization ceremony, typically held in the federal courthouse, is a special event that culminates the naturalization process where immigrants officially become citizens of the United States. The new citizens take an oath of allegiance and receive a citizenship certificate.

To celebrate this powerful moment and to recognize the people who worked so hard to attain citizenship, the Hicks Honors College coordinated with the Honors National Identity and Migration course to provide students with a real-world experiential opportunity connected to the class's studies of American national identity.

"This ceremony provided hundreds of UNF students from the Hicks Honors College the unique opportunity to witness a live civics lesson," said Dr. Scott Brown, interim dean of the Hicks Honors College. "Our students' participation in the American democratic process takes education beyond the classroom and into the real world."

Delivering the citizenship oath to 49 new citizens was the Honorable Marcia Morales Howard, United States District Judge and former member of the UNF Honors Dean's Council. The event included a presentation of colors by the UNF ROTC, a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful by UNF choral student Lavonya Johnson, a presentation of flags to the oldest and youngest citizens and a speech from Dr. Rahul V. Deshmukh, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and Jacksonville native proficient in Spanish, French, Marathi and Hindi.

Over 500 people were present during the ceremony, including UNF students, the new citizens and families, officials and dignitaries. The new citizens and their families were paired with a UNF student ambassador who spoke their language. The students learned about the journey and what it means to be American through the eyes of those who worked hard to achieve citizenship and had the honor of introducing them during the ceremony.