About 500 students participated in commencement ceremonies Dec. 18 at the Broadmoor World Area, including a number with UCCS ties.
The event featured comments by university dignitaries, as well as UCCS alumnus and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, 68, who graduated from UCCS in 1975, following his service in the U.S. Army where he was a correspondent and managing editor of the Southern Cross, the biweekly newspaper of the 23rd Infantry Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service.
“When I was discharged from the army I came running to the University of Colorado here in Colorado Springs where I took my first creative writing workshop from Dr. Alex Blackburn, and I’ve been writing poetry ever since,” Komunyakaa said. “Class of 2015, you are blessed in a historical moment where questions dare to prevail. At least, we hope, with our fingers crossed, that we are a long ways from McCarthyism. You possess the freedom of questions, and you are armed with the foundation of hope. Remember that art is also pragmatic because it dares to question the future through the past and present.”
Amanda Allee, director of student and judicial affairs, Office of the Dean of Students, earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Research and Policy.
Also graduating were Marc Rogers, spouse of Jevita Rogers, director, Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment; Joshua Kenyon, son of Stacey Howell, customer service specialist, University Center; and John Radabaugh, son of Rich Radabaugh, instructor, School of Public Affairs. Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, while Kenyon earned a bachelor’s degree is geography and environmental studies, and Radabaugh earn a bachelor’s degree in visual and preforming arts.
More photos available on Flickr at https://flic.kr/s/aHskrW7qwt
— Photos and video by Jeffrey M Foster
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