More than 1,500 students will celebrate the completion of their academic degree programs in the 2020 spring virtual commencement ceremony May 15. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. through YouTube.
Complete information for graduates can be found at commencement.uccs.edu/virtual. The ceremony will be available on the commencement site on Friday, and is free and open to the public.
Format
The ceremony will take place in two waves, one for all graduating students and another for each individual college.
The main ceremony begins at 1 p.m., and will feature messages from notable alumni, elected officials and the conferral of doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees, welcome to the graduates into the alumni association and the keynote speaker. Chris Bell, associate professor of media studies, will serve as the commencement marshal.
Each individual college ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., and includes a message from each dean and the individual recognition of each graduate. The length of each college ceremony will be dependent on the size of the college.
Commencement speakers
JayJay Porcadilla, the 2019-20 Student Government Association president and one of two recipients of the Student Achievement Award, will deliver the commencement address.
CU President Mark Kennedy will address graduates. Regents Linda Shoemaker, Sue Sharkey and John Carson will deliver the Norlin Charge to the graduates.
Ways to celebrate
There are multiple opportunities to celebrate commencement, for the graduates, their families, alumni and community members.
- Facebook frame: Add a frame to your profile by going through the process to change your profile picture, add a frame and search for UCCS.
- Print-from-home signs: There are a variety of signs that can be printed at home to show support for the Class of 2020.
- Send a personal message to the graduates: Write a message to the Class of 2020 by using the Kudo Board.
- Purchase mementos: The UCCS Bookstore provides a range of materials to remember the commencement ceremonies.
- Each graduate should have already received a mortar board, and undergraduate students should have received a tassel.
- Each graduate will receive their diploma cover, Latin honor cords and commemorative programs shortly after the ceremony. Graduate students will receive their tassels in the upcoming mailing.
Alumni Association
Upon graduation, each student will join nearly 48,000 UCCS alumni. Enrollment in the UCCS Alumni and Friends Association is complimentary and offers special events each year to keep alumni engaged with their alma mater.
The alumni association also offers a black and gold legacy cord for graduates with an immediate family member who is also a UCCS graduate. Students who donate to the class gift will also receive a blue cord in recognition of their gift back to UCCS.