December Commencement Confers 694 Degrees in Two Fieldhouse Ceremonies

UW–Porter Falls conferred 694 degrees on Saturday at two December commencement ceremonies in Ironclad Fieldhouse: 611 bachelor’s degrees and 83 master’s degrees. The 10 a.m. ceremony covered the Colleges of Engineering & Technology, Computing & Information Sciences, Science & Mathematics, and Business. The 2 p.m. ceremony covered Health Sciences, Education, Arts, Design & Communication, and Applied & Technical Studies.

About 5,900 guests attended across the two sittings, and another 3,100 households watched the livestream, which is archived and searchable by graduate name.

Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey conferred the degrees. The commencement address was given by Darnell Okafor ’98, a manufacturing engineering graduate who runs a 600-person medical-device plant in Lake City. He told graduates that the most useful thing he learned at Porter was how to be wrong in front of other people. “Every lab report I turned in came back covered in red ink,” he said. “I didn’t love it. But by senior year I could be told my design was wrong without taking it personally, and that has been worth more to me than anything I learned about tolerancing.”

A few of the graduates:

• Doris Kettleson, 61, of Cedar Bluff, finished a B.S. in welding and fabrication technology 39 years after leaving a two-year program to raise a family. She crossed the stage with her granddaughter, a sophomore in nursing.
• Two graduates of the registered-apprenticeship pilot, both electricians, who earned bachelor’s degrees in engineering technology while working full time. The program has since become the apprenticeship degree pathway.
• Forty-one first-generation graduates in the bachelor’s class, each wearing the gold cord the First-Generation Student Center gives out.

“December graduates are the ones who took a co-op semester, or switched majors, or went part time when life required it. Nobody finishes in December by accident. I think that makes it my favorite ceremony.”

— Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey

December graduates are also invited to walk again at the May ceremony, and about a quarter usually do. Diplomas will be mailed after final grades post and degree audits clear, usually within eight weeks. Graduates who need proof of completion sooner can request a letter from the Registrar. Information on regalia and what to expect on the day is on the commencement and regalia pages.

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