Meet Urvi Chakraborty, Sociology's Outstanding Senior for 2024

April 21, 2024 - Karessa Weir

MSU Department of Sociology has selected Urvi Chakraborty as the Outstanding Senior for 2024 in recognition of her academic achievements, involvement in student groups, and professional development activities while attending MSU. 

Each year, one student who will be graduating with a Sociology major and will participate in the May graduation ceremony is chosen to represent the Sociology department during the ceremony.  The student is recognized formally as the Senior of the Year in sociology. 

"Urvi was a student in SOC 478: Climate Change & Society and SOC 488: Sociological Theory. In both classes Urvi was a class leader, whose critical thinking guided the intellectual development of her peers. Urvi will go on to do great things!” said Dr. Ben Marley, Assistant Professor of Sociology. 

Urvi, originally from Ann Arbor, “kind of always knew” she wanted to study sociology. She also minored in Women and Gender Studies. 

“Even before I came to college, I found it very interesting to study societies and how humans function,” Urvi said. “To me, history is just what people did, but sociology is why they did it.” 

But she attributes her commitment and enduring interest in the discipline to Dr. Marley. 

“My first class with Dr. Marley taught me how intense sociology is. I realized these are things you don’t see in everyday life. It gave me a totally different perspective on the world,” Urvi said. “Sociology has given me this new lens to how I can see things.” 

She also expresses her deep appreciation for the support of her mother, Mala Chakraborty. Urvi lived the first 11 years of life in India before coming to Michigan with her mother.  

“My mom was super important and supportive to me doing the sociology major,” Urvi said. “Super strong and generally supportive and really appreciate that.” 

Following graduation, Urvi plans to attend graduate school to get her master’s degree in library and information science with a long-term goal of being an outreach librarian in a public library.  

“Libraries connect communities. They are some of the last few remaining community spaces that anyone can access without money,” she said. “The public library is a really good space for people to gather. If you are unhoused, or need a place for your kid to go while you are at an interview, you can always go to the library. I want to have a role in that. I see this as the best way for me to give back to my community.”