UC celebrates record graduating class at commencement

UC celebrates record graduating class at commencement

UC kicks off three days of ceremonies at Fifth Third Arena

The University of Cincinnati on Thursday kicked off its three-day spring commencement recognizing the largest graduating class in the 205-year history of the university.

UC celebrated its doctoral hooding and master's recognition ceremony at Fifth Third Arena in front of thousands of the graduates' friends and family.

Commencement continues Friday with two undergraduate ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and concludes with a third undergraduate ceremony 10 a.m. Saturday.

Tickets are required for all guests. The arena allows only clear plastic bags.

In his commencement address, UC President Neville Pinto quoted 1980s cultural icon Ferris Bueller in urging graduates to embrace the important things: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Pinto told graduates to make time for themselves to think and reflect - moments of mental rest that creative geniuses from Albert Einstein to Lin Manuel Miranda credit for their greatest inspirations.

And he closed with the abiding philosophy of writer Henry David Thoreau, who spent two years contemplating the world from a tiny cabin next to a Massachusetts pond: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived."

Miss the ceremony? Watch it here

President Neville Pinto addresses students during UC's Doctoral Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony at Fifth Third Arena. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

About the spring class of 2024

UC will confer 7,521 degrees to 7,391 students. (Some students are earning multiple degrees.) Both represent new records dating back two centuries at UC for a single graduating class, based on preliminary figures from UC's Office of Institutonal Research.

UC will award 539 associate degrees, 4,549 baccalaureate degrees, 252 doctoral degrees, 1,886 master's degrees, 3 micro-credentials and 292 professional certificates.

This year 15% of graduates are first-generation college students. And 210 students come from Cincinnati Public Schools. Nearly 3% of grads are U.S. veterans or dependents of veterans.

New this year, three students will graduate from UC's micro-credentialing program as electronic health records specialists. UC also will celebrate its first spring graduating class in the new master's of legal studies program.

The spring class of 2024 has the largest-ever percentage of master's and doctoral graduates, representing more than 28% of graduates. And nearly 15% of grads participated through distance learning programs.

Graduates hail from 84 of Ohio's 88 counties, a new record. They come from 47 states and 76 countries as far away as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Philippines and Japan.

Women represent 56% of the spring class of 2024. And 57 grads will celebrate their birthday during the three days of commencement.

UC graduate Cesseli Chambers-Thacker delivers the student address at UC's Doctoral Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Bearcat pride

Carl H. Lindner College of Business graduate Cesseli Chambers-Thacker presented the student address to her classmates.

"Some of us are the first in our families to reach this milestone while others come from a long line of scholars," she said.

"Though our paths may differ, they converge at this triumphant moment of unity. We stand together not only as graduates but as resilient individuals and architects of change, laying a foundation for a just and sustainable global society," she said.

"At the University of Cincinnati 'Next Lives Here,' which means we are next. Congratulations, Bearcats! We did it."

Pinto recognized graduate Shelby Hetzer, recipient of UC's Presidential Medal of Graduate Student Excellence.

UC College-Conservatory of Music student Jadyn Riggs sang the national anthem and led graduates in the singing of the Alma Mater.

UC students sing the Alma Mater at the conclusion of commencement at Fifth Third Arena. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Following a legend

UC graduate Chin Hua "Odin" Ou is following in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. Armstrong came to UC to teach aerospace engineering after leaving NASA. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an engineer and test pilot who worked to improve the aerodynamics of aircraft.

UC is celebrating its largest-ever spring commencement. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

No sibling rivalry

Siblings Jaina and Benton Hellmann are graduating together this year.

Jaina is an Honors Program student who conducted research at a pediatric hospital while studying chemistry in UC's College of Arts and Sciences.

"Our project focuses on how your body develops an immune 'memory' against antigens that have invaded you before," she said. "I never dreamed of doing biomedical research. I've seen myself grow as a researcher and team member at UC."

UC students take photos during commencement. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Embracing empathy

UC caters to students such as Quincy Allfree who - like the poet Walt Whitman said - contain multitudes.

Allfree enjoys art and drawing, but he also wanted to learn more about how to reach a bigger audience. So he double-majored in marketing and business information systems in the Lindner College of Business.

Become a Bearcat

Whether you're a first-generation student or from a family of Bearcats, UC is proud to support you at every step along your journey. We want to make sure you succeed - and feel right at home.

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