It is once again, time to give our farewells to the graduates of UK. Any student who has or will receive a degree between August 2011 and 2012 are qualified to partake in the May 2012 commencement ceremonies.
This year’s will be the University of Kentucky’s 145th commencement ceremonies. They will be held Sunday, May 6 at Rupp Arena. At 9 a.m. will be the graduate and professional ceremony. The 1 p.m. ceremony will feature the graduates of College of Agriculture, Gatton College of Business & Economics, College of Education, College of Engineering and College of Nursing. Finally, at 6 p.m. the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Communications & Information Studies, College of Design, College of Fine Arts, College of Health Science and College of Social Work graduates will be presented. Graduates are not required but are encouraged to partake in the commencement ceremonies.
Each ceremony is expected to last almost two hours. As each student walks across the stage, their name will be read aloud and appear on the video screen, along with their major.
Each of the ceremonies will feature a hand-picked student speaker. Many students apply every year, while only three are chosen. Applicants must have contributed to the University through community activities or through their selected field of study, also they must show indication of established public speaking capability and present their prepared speech to the Commencement Speaker Selection Committee prior to the ceremony.
During the ceremonies, concessions at Rupp Arena will be open, so don’t worry about the families; they won’t have to starve while waiting to see their loved ones grab that precious diploma!
Something new to this year’s commencement is the addition of the Twitter hash tag. Students, along with their family and friends are encouraged to use the hash tag “#UKGrad” to gather tweets about the ceremonies.
For the family and friends that are unable to attend the graduation ceremonies, there will be live coverage via internet. The videos will also be archived and uploaded to YouTube for viewing the following week.
The different colleges will hold receptions for their graduating students and family that can be found on http://www.uky.edu/Commencement/receptions.html.
Classic Photography, Inc. will be photographing each graduate as they cross the stage. Students and family can purchase the photos later on.
Once again, congratulations to this year’s UK graduates and good luck in your futures! Go Cats!