December Commencement Confers 652 Degrees in Two Fieldhouse Ceremonies

UW–Porter Falls conferred 652 degrees on Saturday at two December commencement ceremonies in Ironclad Fieldhouse: 574 bachelor’s degrees and 78 master’s degrees. Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey conferred the degrees. About 5,400 guests attended across the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. ceremonies, and another 2,700 households watched the livestream.

The commencement address was given by Teodora Vik ’05, an industrial technology graduate who runs a 210-person precision machining company in Lake City. She told graduates to hang on to their old lab notebooks.

“Twenty years from now you will be in a meeting where someone confidently explains something you know is wrong,” she said. “Somewhere in a box in your basement is the notebook where you were wrong about the same thing in 2023, and the page where you figured out why. Keep the box.”

A few of the graduates:

• Russell and Kendra Aho of Founders Triangle, father and daughter. Russell, 52, finished a B.S. in operations management that he started in 1991. Kendra, 22, finished a B.S. in dietetics. They were in different ceremonies, so each sat in the audience for the other.
• Sgt. First Class (Ret.) Luis Ortega, 44, who earned a B.S. in cybersecurity in three and a half years while working nights for the county 911 center.
• Thirty-six first-generation graduates, each wearing the gold cord from the First-Generation Student Center.

“December graduates took the long way, or the interesting way. A co-op semester, a change of major, a year off to take care of somebody. I have never once met a December graduate who got here by accident.”

— Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey

December graduates may also walk again at the May ceremony, and about a quarter usually do. Diplomas are mailed once final grades post and degree audits clear, usually within eight weeks. What to wear and how the day runs are covered on the commencement and regalia pages.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu