UCCS conferred a record 1,107 degrees to students during the university’s virtual commencement ceremony for the summer and fall graduates in the Class of 2020. The videos for the main portion of the ceremony, as well as for each of the six colleges, is available at YouTube.com/UCCSedu.
UCCS awarded 18 doctoral degrees, 265 master’s degrees and 824 bachelor’s degrees, a new record for the fall commencement ceremony.
Chancellor Venkat Reddy, CU President Mark Kennedy and this year’s distinguished alumna Patty Erjavec ’15 shared words of wisdom with the new graduates.
“Commencement is a joyful time. It’s a time for us to reflect on the work that has been accomplished and the work that is yet to be done,” Reddy said. “Challenges are ever present in our lives, but especially as we experience this year. The coronavirus impacted our city, state, nation and world. As students, you rose above every setback you faced with demonstrated courage and resilience, and you did not give up on your dreams. Your triumph today is not just that you succeeded in the face of difficulty, it that you are stronger and better equipped to take on every obstacle that may come your way.”
Erjavec, the president of Pueblo Community College who earned her Ph.D. from UCCS in 2015, encouraged the graduates to focus on their future, make friends instead of enemies, and use any disappointment they have to guide their path to success.
“Your opportunity lies in how you handle the setback. Do not let your disappointment of missing out on a typical graduation keep you from moving forward and doing the great things, the ambitious things,” Erjavec said. “Travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, but as you do, do so with kindness as doers, as accomplishers, as dreamers – as your best self.”
“We find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic that has unsettled our present and accelerated forces that will disrupt our future,” Kennedy said. “You may feel you face challenges no other graduating CU class has had to face. But consider those who graduated during the Great Depression, or the turmoil of World War II or the conflict in Vietnam. We can choose whether to live life mired in resentment or buoyed by gratitude. This key decision will color your entire life. I urge you consider gratitude. You will be happier for it.”
Regent John Carson from Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District delivered the Norlin Charge to the graduates. First delivered to the graduating Class of 1935 at the University of Colorado Boulder, it is part of each commencement ceremony at the four CU campuses.
“Commencement does not mean, as many wrongly think, the breaking of ties and the beginning of life apart,” reads the charge. “Rather, it marks your initiation in the fullest sense into the fellowship of the university, as bearers of her torch, as centers of her influence, as promoters of her spirit.”
“The university consists of all who come into and go forth from her halls, who are touched by her influence and who carry on her spirit. Wherever you go, the university goes with you. Wherever you are at work, there is the university at work.”
The UCCS Honors Ensemble provided music before the start of the ceremony. The University Choir, which included three graduating students, performed the National Anthem.
The 2020 formal commencement ceremony for summer and fall graduates is available on-demand via YouTube.