On Friday, December 16, 2011, eight Knowledge River scholars received their Master's degree from the University of Arizona's School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS), and another received her Digital Information Management Certificate, also from SIRLS. The commencement ceremony included special guest speaker 2011-2012 President of the American Library Association, Molly Raphael, who spoke to the graduates and guests about the urgent need to continue to advocate for libraries. Tucson-REFORMA Chapter Vice President and KR graduate, Berlin Loa, was honored by the SIRLS Faculty by being selected as the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Fall 2011 semester.
Library Student Organization (LSO) chapter president Dolores Pedroza presented the faculty awards at the ceremony. The Knowledge River December 2011 Master of Arts Graduates from Cohort 9 included Tucson Chapter Reformistas Diana Almader-Douglas (Tucson-REFORMA chapter secretary), Mariaelena de la Rosa (Tucson-REFORMA chapter member), and Berlin Loa (Tucson-REFORMA chapter Vice President), as well as Guadalupe (Lupita) Flores, Nancy Godoy, Jamie Navarette, Dolores Pedroza, and Mariel Watt. Rachel Castro, August 2011 graduate, received her DigIn Certificate. Jessica N. Hernandez, KR alumna and former Tucson Reformista, also received her MS degree in Educational Technology from the University of Arizona this semester.