When SMU announced human rights as a major, graduation dates changed for two students.
Though they won’t be graduating with the majority of their classmates in May, Shirin Tavakoli and Samantha Matthews will be the first students to graduate from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in human rights. And, they are doing so in the same calendar year the major was created.
“It’s something I’m really passionate about, so it’s worth staying an extra semester,” Tavakoli said.
Tavakoli embarked on her senior year as a triple major in political science, international studies and history. Matthews, on the other hand, took two years of business classes then switched to psychology her junior year.
But in September, their plans changed.
Now, human rights is Matthews’ only major and Tavakoli, who is still a triple major, replaced history with human rights.
“If it was a major from the beginning, it would be my only major,” Tavakoli said.
Though it’s Matthews only major, she said it would have made her decision easier from the beginning.
“I’ve always thought to myself: ‘If only human rights were a major,'” she said. “And now it is.”
Dr. Rick Halperin, the director of the Embrey Human Rights Program, began teaching human rights at SMU in 1990. Classes were initially taught through the history department, but after receiving a $1 million donation, the human rights program officially launched July 1, 2006.
As more students became interested in the program, the Board of Trustees declared SMU the first college in the South and the fifth in the country to offer the major in September.
Tavakoli, who came to the U.S. from Iran in 2008, said she was sold on SMU after she saw it had a human rights program. Thus, she was overwhelmed with excitement when she found out she could now get a degree in what she was truly passionate about.
“Part of the reason I chose SMU was because of the human rights program,” she said. “I didn’t even think twice about it. And now that it is a major, I know coming here was totally worth it.”
Matthews, however, wasn’t aware of the program until she came to SMU.
“I actually didn’t learn about the program until AARO, so it did not influence my decision to come here,” she said. “But now that I’m here, I see it was definitely meant to be.”
Since declaring human rights as their majors, both girls admit the last few months have been a challenge.
“Being able to waive my language requirements helped me a lot,” Tavakoli said. “I’m in a field I’m really interested in, so while it’s been stressful, I love it.”
Matthews echoes Tavakoli’s outlook.
“It’s very exciting. Perhaps a little overwhelming trying to finish in one year,” she said. “But, overwhelming in the best sense because I’m taking classes I want to be taking.”
Yet, both girls say it’s been a relief to have the support of their parents.
“They know how important this is to me and couldn’t be more encouraging in my decision,” Matthews said.
While Halperin expects the number of graduates with a degree in human rights to increase over the next few years, he acknowledges that Matthews and Tavakoli are “an historic first for the university.”
“These first two graduates are clearly special in that they break a barrier for all future SMU graduates with a bachelor’s degree in human rights,” Halperin said. “We will clearly remember this very first graduating class of two wonderful people.”
