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 celebrated its largest graduating class in its 205-year history during three days of commencement ceremonies.

Thousands of friends and family filled Fifth Third Arena on Friday for the first two undergraduate ceremonies. UC on Thursday celebrated its doctoral hooding and master's recognition ceremony.

Commencement 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 noted that the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the cancellation of many high school graduations across the country.

"I recognize that for some of you, this is your first graduation ceremony," he said. "So I want you to have a fun and enjoy this for both graduations."

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 this weekend. (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 all 50 states and 81 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.

Undergraduate student speaker Ritika Joshi from UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science tells graduates that they will always be united as Bearcats. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Marking milestones

In her student address to undergraduates, UC College of Engineering and Applied Science graduate Ritika Joshi said her classmates all belong to a special community.

"Each of us has embarked on our own wild ride, navigating twists, turns and unexpected detours to arrive on this incredible day," she said. "Here we are today, united as Bearcats and bound by our victories."

Joshi, a computer science major, referenced UC's motto, Juncta Juvant, or strength through unity.

"UC has prepared us for the global stage with the empowering mantra Next Lives Here by providing transformative co-ops, global opportunities, cutting-edge research and lifelong connections through student organizations," she said. "We are eternally grateful for these invaluable experiences."

President Neville Pinto honors UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services Dean Lawrence Johnson with the President's Award for Excellence during commencement. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Notable awards

Pinto surprised UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services Dean Lawrence Johnson with the President's Award for Excellence. Pinto said it marks just the fourth such award he has presented during his seven years as president.

"I consider it the highest honor that I can bestow as a president," Pinto said.

Under Johnson, the college has seen its enrollment triple in size over the past two decades.

Johnson is known to many at UC for hosting an annual back-to-school barbecue on UC's Uptown Campus. Pinto announced that the site of those welcome-back parties is now called the Lawrence J. Johnson Lawn.

"What we will miss most about you doesn't come from your kitchen. It comes from your heart," Pinto said. "It is your leadership, your compassion and your love for learning."

Pinto also recognized graduates Shelby Hetzer, Mia Morales and Rebekah Littlepage, recipients of UC's Presidential Leadership Medal of Student Excellence. This year's other recipients are Lance Entsuah, Gibin Mannathikulathil Raju and Maya Goertemoeller.

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 during the Doctoral Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony.

"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."

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

Some graduates of UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science wear decorated hardhats to commencement. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Making up for lost time

UC graduates such as Raya Fitch missed out on celebrating their high school graduations in 2020 after the pandemic prompted the cancellation of public events.

Fitch studied political science in UC's College of Arts and Sciences. She said it was important both to her and her family to celebrate her accomplishments together in person now that they could.

"It means a lot to me," she said.

UC Blue Ash nursing student Madeline Martin posed for photos for her family in the plaza outside Fifth Third Arena. She and her classmates likewise missed out on her high school graduation in 2020, she said.

"I didn't get to walk in graduation, so this is extra special," she said.

"She got her diploma from the principal in her driveway," her mom added.

A UC grad waves to supporters from the floor of Fifth Third Arena. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

UC Professor Brian Howe records his colleague and UC College of Law graduate Kanisha Ervin, who worked with him as a postdoctoral fellow on the Ohio Innocence Project before earning her master's degree this week in public administration. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

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

Carl H. Lindner College of Business graduate Ejiro Agoba recites an original poem to classmates for commencement. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

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

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

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